How Big Is Your Church?

Well, there is a question that frustrates and annoys me in equal measure, and yet it remains the most persistent question we get asked by Christians when they learn that we are pastors leading a local church.

The question frustrates me because it misses the heart of what church is about, and it annoys me because at its simplest level it reduces church to a numbers game, and church should never be about numbers, or as one pastor we once knew used to say 'bums on seats'. 

The question also annoys me because it assumes that church is all about numerical growth. Whilst growth is great, it's not the most effective and glorifying metric we can use to measure the effectiveness or success of a church.

My preferred question is How much of an impact does your church have on your community?

If we're going to approach churches from this perspective, things change dramatically! The Gathering for example, may be a few people gathering on a Sunday morning or Wednesday evening, but the impact of the church on the community is huge.

As a church we directly impact over 10% of the populating in the community. That puts The Gathering in the mega-church bracket, but we most certainly are not of that ilk!  

What The Gathering is, is a church that loves to give. 

This week alone we have given ten sets of bedding to the local homeless shelter, we have given food to two other local soup kitchens, and we will be serving over 100 litres of fresh homemade soup tonight. On top of that we are serving a dozen or so local primary school kids through our Homework Clubs, and from next month these will begin to grow back to their pre-Covid levels, which we're very excited about.

The Gathering is a church that believes that the blessings God pours into the church and into our lives are meant to flow through us to bless others. 

His blessings are not trophies to keep and boast about. This is why we dedicate Thursdays as being Thankful Thursdays, in which we put aside our prayer requests and focus on thanking God for all He has done and is doing in us and through us.

That's how big our church is.