Thom Rainer published a blog article on November 28, 2022, entitled “The New Very Large Church.” One of the statements in the article said that churches with an average attendance of more than 250 are now considered to be “very large churches.” He went on to highlight some of the implications of this “size-mic” shift in the church.
Dale gathered some of the 95Network team to discuss their reaction to Thom’s post. Jason Allison, Jon Sanders, Greg Moore, and Brent Carter share their insights into the shifting paradigm of the local church. The small and midsize church continues to be the “backbone” of the church in America. We hope you will find encouragement as well as some wisdom on how to navigate these changing times through today’s 95Podcast.
Links to Resources Mentioned or Related
- 95Podcast Episode 153 “Untapped Church” w/Derek Sanford
- 95Podcast Episode 115 “How To Be A Pastor And An Entrepreneur” w/ Jon Sanders & Les Hughes
- Resource from Jon Sanders: “How To Hire Staff With No Budget”
- Email: Jason Allison
- Email: Jon Sanders
- Email: Greg Moore
- Email: Brent Carter
- 95Network – Soul Care Essentials
- 95Network – Healthy Church Assessment
- Read Stalled: Hope and Help for Pastors Who Thought They’d Be There By Now
- Watch Podcast on YouTube
Key Takeaways
1) Now is the time to step back and evaluate your mission and vision. There is certainly a major paradigm shift happening within the local church nationwide. Continuing down the same path you’re currently on will almost certainly not end well.
2) Evaluating your discipleship process is a must. The need for effective mentoring and relational discipleship is so desperately needed.
3) It’s ok to serve in ministry through the bi-vocational avenue. Financial consistency and security may be harder to find while pastoring churches with diminishing budgets.
4) At the end of the day, this is a wonderful time to embrace change! It’s likely that Jesus has some new trails for you to pioneer that will require walking in step with Him on a daily basis.
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