I have been struggling with something lately. I belong to a very large church (if not the largest in my city, right up there with the largest). It is a caring church, concerned with community outreach and growth. I have a good Bible Study group. My kids have wonderful children's classes. There are small groups available (although I haven't found one that fits me yet). But, even after a year, I do not feel this is my church. I do not feel comfortable here or even like I should be here. It is largely the daunting prospect of finding a new one that is keeping me here.
Are large churches Biblical? Rather than continuing my Beth Moore study today, I think I need to spend some time researching and praying about this. The unease in me could simply be the result of not feeling at home at my church... or it could be the Spirit nudging me to see what is around me. It could be a certain amount of frustration with my church for having not only a homeschooling senior pastor, but also a homeschooling music minister, yet maintaining a somewhat distant relationship to the local homeschool community because the church also runs a Pre-K through 5th program. Or it could be the Spirit convicting me to stop being lazy and look for a church that will inspire me to grow.
I have a lot to pray about. I would appreciate any prayers from you, as well. I will try to share what I find a little later.
we also belong to one of the Biggest churches in town.
I do not think there is anything UNBiblical about large churches. Is there? Does the study you're doing somehow indicate that?
Consider:
* The Hebrew model was the community, together, for corporate law reading & worship
* The Hebrew model included families together (this is a separate issue I struggle with at my big church)
* Jesus taught in the temples
* Jesus taught to big crowds
* Jesus also modeled the small group "inner circle" sort of learning
* the early church in Acts grew HUGE without any negative comments on it's size
* house churches came out of persecution ...
But that isn't to say whether you're where God wants you or not.
Our church is huge. It's hard to get to know people. We have "small church" adult classes as the basis for fellowship & more intimate teaching. But I think it's the *small group* Bible study & accountability where the heart of growth occurs. Our church has lots of homeschoolers (simply based on its size) but I would say the administration is fairly cool to homeschooling and none of the pastoral staff, elders, and maybe even administrative staff homeschools. BUT the teaching from the pulpit is very centered on Biblical Authority and passionate about God's leading and Glory. It's hard to argue with that.
I would love to see a "small church" group that was family based. But for now the church is deeply seated in the age-segregation model. :-/
Hi! This doesn't have anything to do with your post, but I don't see an email address here anywhere. I was trying to add you to my Bloglines, but can't seem to find an RSS either. I can just come over here manually to read, but if you have an RSS enabled, I'd sure like to add you to my daily reads. Can you email me at tsouza (at) centurytel.net? Thanks.
I hear ya'! We, too, go to a larger church and I feel so dog-gone thirst for TRUTH! We are prayerfully considering our options. May the Lord speak loud and clear to you (and then, will you please share what He says:) )
Consider that one of the last things Jesus told His disciples to do was to feed the sheep (John 21:17). Can a pastor, or a bevy of pastors, effectively shepherd thousands of people?
When we belonged to a mega-church, hundreds of lay people became shepherds of the flock as leaders of home groups. Sounds nice. Except none of us was *called* to be pastors/shepherds/elders.
Overly large churches can be effective at a lot of things, but knowing the state of their flocks (Proverbs 27:23) tends not to be one of them.
we just had to move our mouse's home so that our big fat cat "little kitty" wouldn't eat him. he's sucha sweet mouse and lets us hold him and play with him. if he wasn't a mouse i'd give him a big ole kiss right on the head. he's a sweetie.
if you find anyone who wants a kitty let us know.
maybe the pictures after they are born will steal someone's heart :)
3Kand1P
JULIE
What does your husband think? (I hope I'm not stepping out of line by asking that.)
I grew up in a very large church. I remember one Sunday morning skipping my youth SS class and going to my parent's class. I was in tears because I couldn't find any of my friends, and I felt lost. I didn't recognize anyone, and I'm not one to just go sit by myself or with someone I don't know - especially as a teenager in need of social strength by numbers.
I'll be praying that you will have wisdom in this situation.
We have always been in small to medium churches. I always envied the bigger churches with the resources for classes, libraries, etc. But, knew of the pros and cons of a big church via friends attending them. I don't know what my opinion is on big churches vs. smaller ones. If your heart is calling you to look around, perhaps God has a plan for you to help a smaller church with what you've learned at a larger one...keep praying...He will lead you. Then, you'll look back in a few years and say, "Wow, what a neat plan...thanks, God!"
P.S. Dana is still commenting on hsblogs...she left a few on mine on Friday. She is a sweetie.
