When people told me they knew everyone, I would challenge people (nicely) and say, “Really, you know everyone? Because as much as I wish I did, I don’t.” They would then admit they didn’t know everyone. They just knew the people they knew and liked and often felt that growing the church would threaten that.
The truth is, at 100-300, many people are unknown. And even if ‘we all wear name-tags,” many of the people in your church don’t really have anyone to talk to about what matters. The one big family idea is, in almost every case, a myth.
Once you get beyond a dozen people, start organizing in groups. Everyone will have a home. Everyone who wants to be known and have meaningful relationships will have them. And a healthy groups model is scalable to hundreds, thousands and even beyond that.
2. The people who hold positions don’t always hold the power
In many small churches, your board may be your board, but often there are people—and even families—whose opinion carries tremendous weight.
If one of those people sits on the board, they end up with a de facto veto because no one wants to make a move without their buy in. If they are not on the board, decisions the board makes or a leader makes can get ‘undone’ if the person or family disapproves.
This misuse of power is unhealthy and needs to be stopped.
In the churches where I began, I took the power away from these people by going head to head with them, then handed it back to the people who are supposed to have the power.
In two out of three cases, the person left the church after it was clear I would not allow them to run it anymore.
It’s a tough call, but the church was far better off for it. When the people who are gifted to lead get to lead, the church becomes healthy. When we got healthy, we grew.
