Ed Young, pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Dallas, Plano, Miami, FL. and maybe elsewhere says, that churches tend to hit a glass ceiling when their church rolls reach 15,000-17,000.
As I’ve talked to pastors of other large churches, we’re finding that the 15,000-17,000 mark is somewhat of a glass ceiling.
When you reach those numbers, ongoing challenges like traffic and crowd congestion move to new heights. That’s the point when you need to make critical decisions about satellites, building a bigger worship center and expanding other areas like children’s ministries, parking and more.
There’s not one right answer for every church, and we’re excited that God has led us, at this point in time, to expand through our other campuses. We’re finding that multiple locations allow us to reach diverse groups with the same great end result—a vibrant, healthy local church passionately committed to the Great Commission.
I personally feel that if a church is over 500 you should be hitting a glass ceiling. Can you as a pastor or church leadership truly be a shepherd to a flock over 500? I know there are many that say you can and that’s why you bring on new staff, bring on new pastors and initiate all sorts of ministries but I really think you’re no longer a church body at that point.
It reminds me of those cousins or second cousins you never ever see accept maybe at a wedding or a funeral. We have trouble getting to know all the new faces at encounter and we’re only averaging 200-250 a week.
I’ve been told that Dr. Criswell was once asked when First Baptist Dallas would build a new sanctuary. He said he never would. If his church was more than 2,000 in membership, they’d simply build another church in another area.
I personally think 2,000 is probably too high – but I agree with the sentiment.
Thoughts? Agree? Disagree?
