Customer Reviews

One Size Doesn't Fit All: Bringing Out the Best in Any Size Church

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McIntosh divides churches into three sizes--small (15 to 200 worshipers), medium (201-400), and large (401+)--then describes how what makes each size congregation tick is different. Obviously, any such generalizations are oversimplifications, but they are nonetheless useful.

In my work as a church consultant, I have used quotes and insights from this book to help churches understand what changes are needed to allow them to go to the next step of growth (for example, transitioning from decision-making by committees to decision-making by staff as part of the transition from medium to large) as well as to understand aspects of why the church has quit growing (for example, a medium-size church is clinging to ways of operating that are appropriate for a small church).

McIntosh makes this three-way comparison in 11 areas, including structure, leadership, primary role of the pastor, decision-making, etc. One of the simplest comparisons is that the small congregation needs their pastor to be a Lover, the medium congregation needs an Administrator, and the large congregation needs a Leader. This helps to explain, for example, how a Lover pastor who can grow a congregation from 50 to 200 may not be able to take the church further if he or she is not a strong administrator and continues to relate to members primarily one on one.

My one qualification about this material is that it seems to me that a number of the changes that McIntosh has described as taking place in the medium-to-large transition would serve the church better if they take place before the church reaches 400. (Perhaps the author is describing what is more than what should be.) For example, it seems to me a church that transitions from being committee-led in decision-making to being staff-led earlier than 400 is more likely to experience effective visionary leadership.

I use this material to help churches see why they are stuck, how their church culture will have to change to remove growth barriers, and to show some churches that certain changes in their culture/structure are overdue. This sometimes sheds light on why a church is feeling frustrated with structures and processes that used to work well when they were smaller.

If your church is up against any of these issues, this book is well worth your time.

This book focuses on church administrative structure and related insights that are intended to smooth the path to church growth and making disciples (p. 11).

The book's older fictional pastor who presents McIntosh's ideas says: "'According to my figures, most churches could grow around 5 percent a year if they retooled and refocused their resources on making disciples.'" (p. 118)

What does "making disciples" mean. McIntosh doesn't really say. He doesn't look to scripture for ways of measuring success in making disciples. Even disciple making factors like difference in lifestyle from secular culture or biblical literacy are not used. Growth in church attendance is the only clearly defined goal.

To facilitate growth rate McIntosh looks to American corporate structure. The pastor is seen as a business administrator. Thus, the pastor of a church with 800-1,999 attendance needs to act like a corporate president, 250 to 349 attendance as middle manager, 200 to 249 as a supervisor, 75 to 199 as a foreman. (p.65) To be successful, the pastor must "'understand where the leadership power resides and work with it. . . .'" (p. 57)

So, what is the success rate for churches following the McIntosh plan? The book's young fictional pastor sees phenomenal growth--going from 35 in his church to 280 five years later--a 50% a year growth rate! As for real world success rate, McIntosh gives no stats from the 500+ churches he has served.

He does mention one real example of churches implementing a size-based strategy similar to his own. (p. 19) Unfortunately this mid-sized denomination posted a small negative growth rate from 2000 to 2005 (according to information compiled by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research taken from The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches).

This book seeks to give pastors and churches helpful advice on being more successful at making disciples. Sadly, even in the limited area of church growth, the evidence points to major flaws in the plan.

Did I get your attention? I realize that the pastor's best friend is God and best human friend is a spouse. I realize the most important book in the pastor's library is Scripture. But this book is VALUABLE with big letters!

This book is valuable because it is solid and practical. None of it is novel. None of it is new. It is not experimental. It is all based on time tested proven data, readily available from a variety of sources and should be taught in any pastoral leadership course.

This book is valuable because it is written with an easy to understand, step-by-step style that will open the eyes of laity on church boards. I took my church boards through this book, 3 chapters/week for 4 weeks. By the time we finished we had prepared an action plan that is turning our church around.

This book is valuable because it lays down unmistakable guidelines to expose dysfunction. By the time our boards had finished this book there were few people who could hide dysfunction behind pious language. The people saw it for what it was.

DRAWBACKS:

The book does have a couple of drawbacks. It is written in story form. Some of my congregation did not like the story. They just wanted the meat of the material. Chapter after chapter added to one overall chart. By the time the book was half finished I had people who skipped the chapters we were on and went to the final chart.

RESPONSE TO CRITICS:

Most critics of this book point to its lack of theology and spiritual depth. That is not the point. Some pastors are competent but do not have a godly character. Others have character but lack competency. Some leaders have great personal spiritual depth, but lack public presence. Today's churches and church leaders need to have it all. Granted, this book has limited scope, but it doesn't pretend to be a theological work. It attempts to be a management tool. Leadership doesn't have to be "either/or", "it should be both/and".

ADVICE:

The drawbacks do not compare to the advantages. EVERY church board in EVERY church should go through this book, if for no other reason than healthy self-diagnosis.

In response to the other reviewers, I do concede that this book has its weak points. It is not as expansive as other organizational/management books out there (i.e. "secular leadership" books) and yet does not have the spiritual core of some other Christian leadership books (i.e. Purpose Driven Church).

But as a youth pastor of a church, I find the book to be practically applicable where I am. Our church right now is 500+ congregants, and yet, much of the growth has been recent growth (with a recent new building too). Many of the church's older members, as well as the others in leadership, are still very fond of a "small church" model, and they find it hard to transition into a medium/large church model. Some of the issues that McIntosh raises are very valid- in part because most seminary training does NOT cover the practicalities of church ministry (can I get an AMEN from pastors out there?)

Seminaries will not teach you "how to run a board meeting" or "how to communicate vistion" or other nuts & bolts. Oftentimes, a pastor has great theological training... but then falls flat because of church politics, interpersonal dynamics, or organizational pitfalls. This book addresses the organizational side of things, not comprehensively, but practically.

I believe, when considered in terms of the scope of the author's intent (or, what I believe his intent to be), it communicates what it set out to communicate: that churches are different- part organism (i.e. alive) and part organization (i.e. structure). The book is short, succinct, and written like a "conversation" between two pastors, compared to some other books that read like statistical research papers. This is a resource that I can recommend to my church board, tell them to read it, and they can, without feeling intimidated.

I didn't read into it as saying "all churches must push to be large churches." I think a church by its nature MUST grow- the early church in Acts did. And as a church grows, its leaders must be able to chart the course ahead. This fits my church, struggling with a small-church mindset + large church attendance.

Not all churches are the same... hence one size doesn't fit all. This book may not fit your church and your context, but that's ok. I think that's the point. If you are a leader in a small church, that's great... this resource might remind you of the blessings you have in being a small church. If you are part of a medium sized church, then this will remind you of where you've been as well as where you are going. And if you're in the small percentile of large-church, then this gives some "organizational tips for pastors"... easy to understand, practical, and short. It does not overwhelm the already-full schedule of a pastor

This book is a good discussion starter for why your church may be stuck at a certain level. It offers some good tips on how a church mught break through a given attendance barrier and what obstacles need to be overcome.

This is a book for church leaders to read together. The first question they must answer after reading the book is, "Do we want growth badly enough that we are willing to change?"

This was a relatively fast read and kept me interested right up until the final couple chapters where it seemed to drag a bit. The book is essentially set up like a fiction story about two pastors: one mentoring another. The one being mentored just became the pastor of a small church and has no idea how to minister in such an environment.

So the book revolves around the differences between small, medium, and large churches. It actually is chalk-full of good insights, but it became redundant after a while which made the later chapters drag on (also the narration seemed to stave off at the end as well).

I liked the book, though I do disagree with a few of his ideas...such as the concept that a church is "large" after it has over 400 members. That still seems to be a medium church to me. So, other than some of the ideas related to church size, I can definitely see a lot of the ideas working out in churches.

I would recommend the book to pastors, lay-leaders, deacons, and Bible college students.

***Kindle edition: Formatting was good, so no worries if you are considering it for your kindle.

This was a fantastic read in the dynamics of church growth. The book is a narrative of a dialogue between two ministers over the challenges and the opportunities for the various size congregations. The book basically deals with the small church 35-200, the medium church 200-400, and the large church 400-1000. The book talks about the process of growth with a practical understanding of the various situations and problems at each level. As I was reading the book, I was thinking that often different sizes congregations are trying to use small or large or medium methods to grow the congregation, but this is a pointless endeavor. This book was one of the most helpful books I have read on ministry in the last year. The sections on how are decisions made in the various size congregations was extremely helpful. The problems that one faces in the different sizes was excellent. The book deals with all the major questions one might have in helping a congregation grow. It dealt with how the minister should operate, to how the leaders perceive the church. This book will help any minister to engage in the best practices that will lead to growth in the congregation. Preachers quit beating your head against the wall and go buy this helpful book on church growth.

I read this book several years ago and was struck by the information. It is a must read for a growing church to help you prepare for the changes your church will go through and it helps you understand the stage you are at.

The book is very helpful as I pastor a small church.It put things in prospective concening church growth.

This book offers many, many insights into the structure and organization of churches and the milestones that they need to prepare for as they grow. It has been immensely helpful to me as an elder, because it helps me to better oversee the church body given its size and current structure. It has also helped me understand what needs to change to help it function better (e.g. adding more staff, etc.).