Israel Galindo in Chapter 5 of his book The Hidden Lives of Congregations discusses how size shapes congregational relationships, leadership functions and congregational forces. I agree with him that the size of a church is not indicative of its ability to be the “Church”. I also agree that in the United States we have bought into the hype that “bigger is better”. In the metropolitan area of Washington, DC there are several mega churches with membership in the thousands of persons. One cannot say that these churches are not doing ministry. It appears, however that people may join or attend these churches because they are popular. Galindo describes congregations with membership between 10 and 50 persons as a Family-Size Congregation. The people who make up these congregations are biological family or persons who have married into the family. I agree with Galindo that this type of church can be a “closed” system by virtue of the fact that there are so many Family-Size congregations in the United. States. We call them “store-front” churches in my area. The notion that it is challenging to gain entry into this system is evident by …show more content…
In the African American church, no matter the size, there is a strong sense of identity. This is evident by a “us” versus “them” mentality. However, some churches are able to break the mold by growing to become a Shepherding-Size Congregation. This church has between 50 and 150 active members. I agree with Galindo that this size congregation is heavily dependent on its pastor for their spiritual needs. Further, the congregation is also dependent on the pastor for the operation of the ministry. I think some of this dependency is because the pastor does not want to relinquish some of his or her responsibilities to lay leadership. This may relate to lack of