Why does it seem that so few people want to give a small church a chance? David Fitch suggests some answers in his blogpost “Why Do American Christians Prefer Big?”
Fitch says that bigger is often seen as a sign of God’s presence, that a celebrity pastor is a known quantity, and that “Big church is less messy,” i.e. in a big church you can easily come and go, take it or leave it. It caters to the search for the “convenient.” He also suggests what small local missional communities to overcome these habitual ways of looking at church.
Here’s a sample: “Of course, missional communities should not try to “compete” with this. Nonetheless, I think our gatherings must be intentional about displaying that God is present in this gathering and He is mightily at work in this body of people. It just looks different and (can I say this?) it is more real (less clouded by celebrity and special effects). Missional leaders should keep the gathering simple and be intentional about leading us into an authentic encounter with the living Christ from which we are sent into the world.”
Check Fitch’s post out and see what you think.
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