DAWN Fridayfax 1995 #40

News from Worldwide research

Small churches are 16 times as effective as large churches

Surprising result of a worldwide church-growth study

The German church-growth researchers Christoph Schalk and Christian A. Schwarz of the Ecumenical Church Institute (Emmelsbull bei Niebull, Germany) have just completed the first phase of what they call "the largest church-growth research project in history". In the 150,000 DM project, which they financed themselves, over 1,000 churches in 32 countries on all 5 continents must answer 170 questions. The 4.2 million answers enable for the first time empirical statements about worldwide principles and reasons why churches really grow.

The end of church-growth myths

According to Schwarz, many statements and so-called principles about church growth are not scientifically demonstrable, rather "the result of wishful thinking". He says that many much-loved theories and principles are nothing more than the self-protection mechanisms of stagnant churches which have developed their own theology and theories in self-defence. He continues by saying that some of these baseless theories have already attained "untouchable" status in many circles. Anyone who appreciates scientifically sound work can put these myths aside as a result of the study which will soon appear in book form.

Quality is measurable

Decades of church-growth research have brought 8 areas or elements of every local church to light, by which the quality of churches can be readily compared. These so-called "8 basic principles", which interact strongly with each other, should not be viewed singly, are as follows:

Goal-oriented leadership
Gift-oriented teams
Passionate spirituality
Functional structures
Inspiring services
Holistic house groups
Needs-oriented evangelism
Love-filled relationships

Here are some of the first results of the study:

Small churches are on average better churches

The study shows small churches (less than 100 members) to have a quality factor of 52 (50 is the overall average), whereas large churches (more than 300 members) have an average quality factor of 48. That means that small churches are "significantly better" than large ones regarding the quality of church life.

A theological training is a distinct hindrance to church growth

The study shows that 40% of all pastors of good-quality but stagnant churches have studied theology; 42% of them in good-quality churches with growth of over 10% per year; 62% of them in bad-quality but growing churches and an amazingly high 85% of them in bad-quality declining churches.

Small churches are evangelistically 1600% more effective than mega-churches

--------------------------------------------- Church size New believers New believers (% of church) (number) --------------------------------------------- 0 - 100 38% 32 100 - 200 23% 32 200 - 300 17% 39 300 - 400 7% 25 over 1000 4% 112 (average size = 2856) --------------------------------------------- Small churches with less than 100 members (average in the study: around 50) have won on average 32 new members in the last 5 years (which makes 38% of the total membership), large churches of over 1000 (average of the study: 2856) have won an average of 112: 4% of their total membership.

The studied large churches are on average around 57 times the size of the small churches (2,856/50 = 57), which gives the following incredible result: 57 churches of 50 members - giving a total of 2850 - have won not 112 members in 5 years, but 1830! That shows that statistically, small churches are 16 times as effective at winning new members as mega-churches. Two 200-member churches generally win twice as many people for Jesus as a single 400-member church.

Conclusion: We need to distance ourselves from our false fixation with the model character of large churches. Large churches are not only evangelistically less effective than small ones, but also hinder long-term initiative ("Just do it like us, and you'll see the same results!") It is much more important to observe the principles which function worldwide and can be locally applied. The study shows that the best evangelistic strategy is the co-operation of large and small churches with the aim of multiplying mostly small churches with a balanced measure of quality and quantity.

Source: Christian A. Schwarz FAX +49-4665-252 and Christoph Schalk FAX/Tel +49-931-29110, or 100045.1626@compuserve.com

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