Does this crowd make my church look too big?

What if my church is too ginormous to be a church?  This is a question many of us struggle with as we look at what has happened in the church growth movement over the years: Ginormous, supersized conglomerates with tens of thousands packed into stadium seating to watch a show on a jumbo tron. Multi-site campuses where the only “live” element is the rock band, smoke machine and programs for plugging in and serving the community.

Where are the shepherds who are guarding watch over the sheep? Where are the pastors and elders who take the time to visit the sick and the shut-ins, or to lovingly exhort a member who has backslidden? Do today’s megachurch leaders even know who comes and goes these days? I suppose they do if they look in their info-gathering database. But do they look out among their flock to see who may be missing, or hurting, or lost?

What is the purpose of “church,” anyway?

Pastor Randy White has some great insights in his new series of articles. I‘ve interviewed him many times about his departure from the Church Growth Movement.  This one is titled, Churches Are Too Big!