This is a sample article featured in the November 2002 issue of Quadrant

Or they can be! Roman Catholic churches are usually very large in terms of people attending Mass on a Sunday, and are untypical of the majority of churches in England. If we exclude these and look at the Anglican and Free Churches, then the Table shows the percentages of churches of a given size in 1989 and 1998 and the proportion of total Sunday attenders at these churches. There are many small churches (70% with congregations of up to 100 in 1998), but collectively they account for a much smaller proportion of Sunday worshippers (32%, or a third).

Sunday attendance	Churches		People
Sunday attendance	1989 %	1998 %	1989 %	1998 %
50 or under	38	44	12	12
51 to 100	25	26	20	20
101 to 200	29	19	42	28
Over 200	8	11	26	40

The Table shows that the proportion of churches with congregations between 100 and 200 declined 10% in the 1990s (from 29% to 19%) but the percentage of the largest churches (over 200) increased slightly from 8% to 11%. Two-thirds of all churchgoers attend churches with more than 100 in the congregation (this has remained the same at 68%), however, the percentage attending the largest churches (over 200) has increased from 26% to 40%.

The 8% in 1989 represents about 1,300 Anglican churches and 1,500 Free churches; the 11% in 1998 represents also about 1,300 Anglican (not all the same as in 1989!) but 2,500 Free churches, showing it is the number of the latter which have increased.

In 2002 the very largest churches (750 or more) were 0.1% of all churches but accounted for 1% of all churchgoers (10 times their number). The 2002 edition of the Body Book lists nearly a thousand churches willing to be known as charismatic. The 12 largest, include 3 Anglican (numbers 1, 4 and 8). The first figure is the total Sunday congregation in 2002 and the figure in brackets the figure for 2000.

Some of the largest churches in the country, like Kingsway International Christian Centre (8,000 strong) are not in this book, and therefore not in the above list. Some very large Anglican churches (like Holy Trinity, Cheltenham or Christ Church, Clifton) are not listed either.

It may seen from this list that 6 of the twelve have remained the same size over the past 2 years, 5 have grown and 1 has declined. However only seven of these churches were in the list of the largest 12 two years ago, which means that five in the previous list have dropped below 850. A large church has no guarantee it will remain such in perpetuity.

What draws people to large churches? Some research undertaken last year through Focus Groups showed that the key factors (in approximate order of importance) were:

People came initially to a larger church primarily because they were wanting fellowship, a spiritual home, and knew of the church’s reputation (usually through a friend). They stayed primarily because of the preaching, the worship, an easy-to-follow service, the welcome, the range of activities, and the personality of the leader.

The minister is crucial to the larger church. (All large churches that I know of are led by a man, although other staff members often include women). His personality effectively directs the culture of the church. His gifting is the attraction behind the teaching. His motivations – achieving and affiliating – drive the church. People rarely come to his church primarily because of who he is (or his life-stage) since the church is large enough to cater for all; they come because of what he does (interpret scripture meaningfully). He needs to be: a good communicator, a team leader, with a vision and some administrative ability.

Larger churches are involved in evangelism, but provide practical discipleship as well. While many people want a “caring congregation”, a split between pastoral care and a preaching ministry are usually accepted in larger churches, so that, for example, the minister is not necessarily expected personally to visit when someone is ill.

Most larger churches were described as “prayerful” and a key result of attendance was that attenders desired to pray more. The quality of the prayer ministry in a larger church is vital.

Is there any difference between a large church and the average cathedral, many of which have relatively large congregations, some of which are growing? The main differences would seem to be:

Larger Churches	Cathedrals
A congregation, ie, warm people	A church, ie, a lot of people, often casual visitors
A welcome	Anonymity
Building irrelevant	Beautiful building
Size not important	Size induces awe and reverence
Preaching crucial	Preaching much less crucial than atmosphere, historicity, tradition
Worship important	Choral music central

Larger churches are critical for the future of the church in England. How are their leaders trained? Usually by experience in smaller churches. Is this the best way?

One American comment: “Because church leaders and laity come out of atypically large churches they are often unprepared for ministry in the more common small congregations that dot the US.” How far would this be true in the UK? Is going to a larger church a “one-way ticket”?

The larger the church the greater percentage of time the senior leader will need to give to think strategically. How train leaders to think strategically? Well, for a start, by reading Major-General Richard Dannatt’s booklet Training Leaders to Think Strategically (available from Christian Research)!

Sources: The Body Book, Pioneer, 2002; The Tide is Running Out, Christian Research, 2000; Larger Churches Report, Peter Brierley, Christian Research, 2001; Religion Watch, Volume 17, Number 7, May 2002, Page 4.

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