Intimacy in a Large Church
April 1st, 2008 | by Noel |For the next several posts, I thought I’d focus on some thoughts on my experiences pastoring a large church. Maybe I’ll do this all month…who knows? I’ll still podcast on whatever you want (see the poll on the right), but my text posts are going to be large church related.
Today, I was standing in the middle of the construction debris on the stage in our new auditorium, talking with a couple from our church.
They (like me) grew up in a small church.
They (like me) have spent most of their adult life in a small church.
And (like me) they are now plugged in and excited about what God is doing at Riverview, which is no longer a small church.
I was explaining to them the various things we have done architecturally to create a space that can house 1200 or so people, but still feel as intimate as possible. I was lamenting over the fact that we may have to do some video of the person teaching on a few screens so people can see better. I felt that seemed less intimate. They disagreed and felt it would add to the intimacy because you could see the teacher’s facial expressions better that way.
After our meeting, I got thinking, “why is it important to me that the service feel intimate?”
The answer I had for myself was “people want an intimate service.”
Hmmm…I wonder where I got that idea? I wracked my brain. Where did I get it into my head that “smaller is better” or “intimate is better?” And the bigger question that loomed in my head is “when did ‘what people want’ become my definition of ‘better?’”
Large churches are often criticized for being consumer-driven. Having talked with lots of large church pastors, I don’t think that is a true characterization. Most never set out to have a large church. They just did things that either attracted the unchurched (ideally) or church shoppers (less ideally). They just became a large church as a result.
I find it ironic that in trying to maintain a small church feel in a large church, I was inadvertently becoming consumeristic. Maybe accepting and being excited about being a large church (even if that means projection of the teachers on a screen) would be a less consumeristic attitude.
Tags: consumerism, Large Church, technology
By Art on Apr 3, 2008
Either way one could look at it as marketing; then there’s the question, “is the weekly teaching in fact the center of Riverview or is it a cultural catalyst into intimacy.”
I’d say you and Steve are both animated enough to read from a coliseum’s distance. Fortunately I’ve seen a lot of agape pouring from you pastors & Riverview as a whole.
By Stephanie on Apr 7, 2008
Hi Noel, I used to go to MSU and attended Riverview for some of the time while I was there. I was just thinking last week when I went to see what Riverview was up to and saw you were indeed building a larger building how “sad” I was that you were doing that. So it’s very God-led that you then happen to post on this topic. I think that my fear in a church like Riverview becoming so big (though you already have A TON of people, just a small building), is that in the smaller space, you do feel like you are being directly spoken to by the pastor, you feel close to the band, because you are. Large churches do tend to have more of a “we are trying to entertain you so you’ll like church and keep coming” feel, where you feel like you’re just in a commercial that runs once a week for an hour and a half. I feel like, at least for me, is keeping the service feeling intimate and cozy, instead of like a commercial (or a movie in a huge theatre), so it feels like a conversation, not sitting around and watching tv. You are certainly selling something (a relationship with Christ), but you don’t want to be overly consumeristic about what you have to sell.
By Noel on Apr 8, 2008
It is, indeed, a bittersweet thing like any change. At the same time, I am excited because so many people have come to know Jesus at Riverview. If I try to keep it small (for my sake), I am merely being selfish. It’s an interesting paradox.
Know that our goal is to maintain the intimacy all we can, it just may look a little different than it does now.