Posted on May 6, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Myth of the Mega and the Missional Community

I commonly hear pastors of churches that range in size between 80-300 being quite critical of mega churches because of the lack of intimacy and community. Some pastors are concerned that they’ll lose that personal touch with the congregation if they get any bigger than 300. My concern is that by and large these pastors have already lost that personal touch with their congregations – sure they might be able to greet everyone of them at the door by name, but that’s as far as it goes. I fail to see how one can maintain a strong sense of Christian community in a congregation of just 80 people never mind 300.

I’m becoming more and more convinced that authentic community is impossible without being under girded by smaller communities. And so recently I’ve become increasingly interested in the concept of ‘missional communities’. I’ve heard some describe them as ‘more than a home group, less than a house church’. For definition purposes Michael Foster has links to a number of sessions on ‘missional communities’ done by Soma Communities in Tacoma, US. Soma Communities are one of the few churches out there pioneering ‘missional communities’ from a conservative theological background (see also: Kaleo Church in San Diego, US, and The Crowded House in Sheffield, UK). I’m beginning to think that whether you opt to go mega-church, stay in the 80-300 group or go even smaller your community would do well to be made up of a network of ‘missional communities’.

Community is the key context for gospel learning, gospel growth and gospel expansion. The New Testament is clear that right from day one small group meetings were the bread and butter of the Christian experience, there were bigger meetings and I’m always open to allowing for plenty of pragmatism with regards to size and style of meetings but I really think we need the core missional communities to cement the Christian community. We’ve tended to see holistic small groups as something of an add on to the bread and butter Sunday meetings which in reality rather turns the New Testament picture on its head. God is calling out a people for himself, not a programme. Our church experience should reflect that.