Church: Is big really beautiful?

When it comes to church, is big really beautiful?

It rather depends on what you mean by that. There are some great things that larger churches can do that smaller churches only dream of. On the other hand, those of us who serve in smaller congregations – and I include myself – know the value of intimacy and connection that you have to fight for amongst greater numbers.

My theological outlook on church wants to express the old adage slightly differently. It’s not that big is beautiful. Local is beautiful. That’s the measure. The beauty, loveliness, wonder and excitement of church is a gathered congregation of individuals who are connected together by virtue of where the Lord has placed them.

And yet, though local is beautiful, it is not everything, nor indeed does it need to pretend that it needs to be. Churches instinctively know this. They work together on world mission; they join forces to lobby politicians; they might send trainees off to a training institution, and so on.

It’s why I believe there is a place in the Christian firmament for big tent events. For many years, events like Keswick, Bible by the Beach, The Aber Conference and Word Alive have served churches like ours and yours by doing what we find hard to do together. At best, this isn’t undermining the beauty of the local church; it is adorning it.

Think of the kids

Our church is probably not untypical. We have a reasonable number of children and young people. But we couldn’t say we had critical mass. If a church had one boy and one girl for every year, that would be just under 40 children. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Yet for each child that could be a pretty lonely existence.

Events therefore serve the beauty of the local church by giving our young people inputs and numbers they would not gain elsewhere. I am positive about children growing up in smaller churches. There is a joy in intergenerational friendships. But I also know it’s not without challenge. And events mitigate some of these and serve our churches as we seek to disciple our kids.

Dig deeper

Most churches have pretty full programmes. Our Sundays are planned out; midweek groups or prayer meetings are scheduled and follow a set pattern. There may be a little wriggle room to do something out of the ordinary; maybe hosting a visiting missionary, or praying for a particular topic.

Yet what most of us struggle to do is to tackle important topics in greater depth. There’s little space for a four-session marriage refresher, or a detailed look at what it means to enjoy Jesus. As a result I wonder if we end up making our weekly sermon bear much more weight than was ever intended.

And unless our churches are incredibly well connected, we are unlikely to be able to access the very best speakers and specialists. Where can we find such input? Hello, events!

Get connected

I also find value in meeting others who are facing the same challenges as I am. Some of that happens naturally in church, but the more people there are, the more the likelihood of making such valuable connections. We’ve planned a new Easter event, Rising Lights, to step into the Word Alive gap. And as I’ve helped shape the programme I’ve been thinking about how we connect leaders together, or Christians working in education, or those caring for relatives with dementia. There’s great strength in numbers.

Of course, I’m an advocate for Rising Lights! I have skin in the game. But I’ve personally benefitted from other events following all kinds of different models. Days, weekends, weeks, residential, non-residential, men, women, north, south, east, west – the cake is cut all kinds of different ways. I’m happy to warmly commend them.

The local church is still the Spirit-filled, God-ordained expression of the Beautiful Bride. But she is made more beautiful when she is shaped and fashioned into what the Head of the Church, Jesus, intends for her to be. That’s what’s really beautiful. And events can serve this great purpose.