De-sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next

by Karl Vaters

Big churches didn’t create the problems facing today’s congregations. But our obsession with size has come at a great cost. We’re obsessed with bigness. Supersized meals and TV screens. Square footage. And  big  churches. “What’s the size of your church?” That question has stirred insecurities or stroked the ego of too many pastors. For a long time, we thought bigger was better. “Church growth” and “numbers” dominated our thoughts and conversations. But more than ever, people are feeling disconnected. Trust in the church is dwindling. In  De-Sizing the Church , pastor Karl Vaters takes us on a multi-faceted journey through our centuries-long obsession with size, both in and outside the church, and how it has negatively affected those who serve and worship in big and small congregations alike.  He also dispels some prevailing myths and affirms what was good and true about the Church Growth Movement. And he invites us to consider how removing church size from the equation can be an essential element in rebuilding trust, restoring relationships, and renewing our spiritual lives.  This book reframes the way we see the size of our churches and helps us see health and fruitfulness through de-sized lenses. The result? Renewed congregations that reach surrounding communities and faithfully engage culture.   

Genres: Church, Leadership, Christian

240 pages, Paperback

Published April 2, 2024

Reviews

[Cale Manley]

Thought-provoking and soul-searching. Some takeaways from this book:
1. Large churches are not the problem, and small churches are not the solution. However, the pursuit of bigness is a major problem in American church culture today.
2. Measuring and evaluating attendance is not wrong; it's necessary. But numbers don't tell you everything.
3. Discipleship fixes everything! Except attendance. Because low attendance isn't necessarily a problem and you don't need high attendance in order for discipleship to happen. But discipleship fixes everything else.
4. Just because a church isn't growing numerically, that doesn't mean it isn't healthy. There are large, healthy churches and large, unhealthy churches. There are small, healthy churches and small, unhealthy churches. Health is not measured by attendance.

Quotes:

The pursuit of bigness in the church is morally, theologically, and emotionally damaging.

We tell ourselves we're building bigger churches to serve the kingdom, but a lot of it is building bigger barns to feed our own egos.

We need to make up our minds that our goal is not Jesus and a bigger congregation, just Jesus, no matter the size of the congregation. We cannot serve God and numbers.

When we ask, "How can we get more people in the building?" we're asking the wrong question. Instead, start with a question that exposes our motives, like "Why do we want more people in the church building?"

Helping people read or listen to the Bible more often may be the best first step in discipling people toward maturity in Christ.

In unhealthy churches, the loudest opinions win the day. In healthy churches, opinions are respected, but they come a distant second to the truth of the gospel, even if those opinions are held by powerful people, the pastor included.

The kingdom of God is about servants who lead, not leaders who serve.

If we're chasing bigness in the church, we develop a bad habit of treating mistakes as if they were sins, and sins as if they were merely mistakes.

[Ben Fair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather than taking the route of bitter YouTube megachurch critic with click-baity thumbnails and controversial-sounding titles, Karl Vaters has provided a very balanced assessment of the recent (last 40-50 years) obsession with numbers and bigness in the church - acknowledging many of the positive and negative effects of the church growth movement. He holds up a mirror to the majority of popular evangelicalism in one hand, with hope-filled responses and suggestions for moving forward in the other. I was challenged, encouraged, inspired and excited all at once. Lots of notes and highlights. A great read.

[Jeff Noble · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book is an incisive indictment (much needed) on the culture of the church growth movement. The brief history of the CGM is helpful, although myopic. There’s much more complexity than Vaters allows. However, on the whole, we have much to account for in the church for unquestioningly embracing business principles in the church to promote “growth.”

The second half of the book is truly weak and meandering on practical ways to “de-size” the church. I didn’t find much in it to be helpful other than simply being aware of our need to avoid growth for growth’s sake. His scriptural support and spiritual exhortations were unfortunately not as strong in the second half of the book as in the first.

[Kristie M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very balanced yet honest assessment of the church growth movement- I always appreciate someone who looks back to our history to assess our present. It is a smart book written is an approachable way.

Most of us reading this book in Western cultures are the result of movements, including the CGM, and Vaters approaches this with humility and transparency.

I was taken by the opening notion of “what do we celebrate” (celebrate being the root word for celebrity).

These are some questions I will ponder as a result of considering Desizing the Church.

What platforms are no longer required?
Is discipleship the main thing?
Do our vision and mission statement actually connect us with Jesus’ mission?
Does developing our ‘brand’ inhibit our growth towards spiritual maturity?

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

SHOULD WE DE-EMPHASIZE ‘NUMBERS’ IN OUR EVALUATION OF CHURCHES?

Author Karl Vaters wrote in the Introduction to this 2024 book, “why do we define ourselves by numbers so regularly? And how have numbers become the default way that so many pastors and churches perceive our value in the kingdom of God?... for my entire four-plus decades in ministry the answer to the question ‘What’s your church running?’ has been the primary way pastors have defined themselves, their congregation… and their value. And it’s killing us. Literally and metaphorically. Our obsession … with big numbers, may be the major… contributing factor in pastoral burnout, church scandal, divisiveness … and many other church dysfunctions… Church size matters to us far more than it should… We need to de-size the church. Church growth is not the problem… BIGNESS is the problem. Bigness is an obsessive mindset… The idea of a church constantly getting bigger [began] as an outlier. Then it became a goal. Now it is the standard by which the performance of all churches is measured.” (Pg. 11-13)

He continues, “De-sizing is a new term. I coined it because new ideas need new words to express them… In the debate over church size here are three primary opinions: 1. Bigger is better; 2. Smaller is better; or 3. Size doesn’t matter. I propose a fourth option---neither bigger nor smaller is better, but church size does matter. However, it doesn’t matter in the way we think it does… It’s not about one size being inherently better; it’s about finding the right fit.” (Pg. 13-14) Later, he adds, “we have become enamored with trying to figure out how to make churches bigger. This book seeks to address a handful of questions that come from this sudden and all-encompassing change, as seen in four main sections, including: 1. Why is bigness a problem? 2. Where did this obsession come from? 3. What are the consequences of it? 4. What might be a better way forward? The answers … do exist… I hope to start us on a path to finding them.” (Pg. 19)

He suggests, “There are three big mistakes we tend to make with church metrics: overusing them, underusing them, and misusing them. First, there’s a tendency to overuse metrics to assess the health and strength of a church… Second, we mustn’t fall into the trap of underusing metrics… Third, misusing them… The issue isn’t really size. It’s about power and control… at the root of that is idolatry---taking authority that belongs to God alone.” (Pg. 30)

He summarizes, “Here are several of the key lessons… First… The McGavran stream was based on discovering and understanding how to do it. Second… is a ‘how this works’ approach… about providing answers based on specific examples…. Third… based on the dynamic personalities and skills of numerically successful pastors and Christian leaders… Fourth… ‘success’ is measured almost exclusively by attendance… Fifth… a very individualistic approach to leadership, growth, and salvation… Sixth… McGavran … start[ed] with a wide-ranging study of what God was doing in places as diverse as India, Africa, and the United States… Seven… McGavran’s original premise was to build bridges between people… Finally, the American stream celebrates the entrepreneurial pastor.” (Pg. 66-68)

He observes, “While… suburbs provided wonderful new opportunities for some, they were closed to others… Many of the churches that arrived in these new suburbs were modeled more after the shopping mall than the cathedral, creating a different set of expectations. If a church building looks like the mall, people subconsciously expect a consumer experience.” (Pg. 74-75)

He identifies the following ‘positives’ about the Church Growth Movement (CGM)… CGM emphasized the importance of the local church… CGM emphasized the importance of the global church… CGM emphasized new methods of research, assessment, and measurement… CGM inspired a wealth of shared information… CGM expressed an openness to change on extrabiblical methods… CGM encouraged church leaders not to settle for business as usual.” (Pg. 90-94) Then he identifies some ‘negatives’: “CGM often emphasized numerical growth over discipleship… CGM can fall prey to methodology worship… CGM used numbers as the proof that the church is healthy… CGM created winners and losers… CGM emphasized speed over depth… CGM created churches further divided along racial and economic lines… CGM can feel more concerned with big churches than actual church growth.” (Pg. 95-110)

He notes, “The size of the average American church is dropping. In 2000, the average church attendance was 137. By 2020 (but pre-pandemic) … it had dropped to 65… In the 1960s-70s, most large American cities not only didn’t have a megachurch … but the biggest church … was often under 1,000.” (Pg. 115)

He suggests, “‘Go big or go home’ became a rallying cry… elevating technical prowess above character. We’re putting gifts of the Spirit above fruit of the Spirit, and competence above character… ‘Go big or go home’ is a lie. It’s not motivating. It’s guilt-inducing. And debilitating… We cannot pursue both size and integrity at the same time. We have to choose one over the other. If we truly want to reach a hurting world with the gospel of Jesus for the glory of God, we must be people of integrity.” (Pg. 146)

He summarizes, “What might the church look like if we started de-sizing?... DECENTRALIZED LEADERSHIP…. The heyday of hierarchical power is waning, and fast… We live in a post-denominational era. Denominations are still with us… but they are no longer the primary way people identify their faith… New generations appear to have less focus on facilities than previous generations had. This is good… Small churches are the engine that drives the body of Christ around the world… We tend to notice and celebrate the small percentage of churches that are large and growing fast… almost exclusively, but there are as many people attending, worshiping, ministering, and sharing their faith in small churches… The church thrives on massive numbers of small churches ministering to millions of people.” (Pg. 199-202)

This book will be of keen interest to those studying contemporary trends in the church.

[Josh Olds · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2013, I accepted a job as a youth pastor at a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and served there until 2020. Across town in Tulsa, at a different church, there was very much a similar story. There was a youth pastor opening and someone from out a state found themselves a home as a pastor within that church. Full disclosure, I actually applied for that position as well—never heard anything back. In 2015 or so, that youth pastor and I became casual acquaintances and collaborated on some ministry things together for a couple years. Then, almost without warning—from my perspective—he was gone. The church, which had over 400 members in 2013, had dwindled to well under 100 and their youth program was almost non-existent. What caused such a radical shift? In 2015, a local megachurch opened up a satellite campus literally across the road from this historic community church. Big budget, big events, big entertainment, a huge staff subsidized by the other campuses—the mid-sized church that had been part of the community for decades just couldn’t compete.

In De-sizing the Church, small church pastor Karl Vaters traces the history of the church growth movement (which led to the proliferation of megachurches) and how that bigger-is-better obsession has led to negative consequences for churches both big and small. But even though Vaters has served within small-church communities for over forty years, he isn’t bitter about what the Church Growth movement has done. De-sizing the Church isn’t a screed against megachurches or a justification for keeping outsiders away. Rather, Vaters takes readers on a history of the Church Growth movement to evaluate its intentions, its goals, its successes—and where it lost its way.

A quote from the back cover copy captures it perfectly: “De-sizing is not thinking that big churches are bad—they’re not. It’s also not wanting churches to be smaller. De-sizing is not a refusal to look at or learn from numbers. De-sizing is about disconnecting our sense of value from our size.” In a consumeristic, capitalistic culture that is only sustained through continual growth, Vaters introduces a kingdom-minded community perspective that church health isn’t about butts-in-pews or dollars-in-coffers, but about being a faithful presence within the community that reflects the kingdom of God.

The first half of the book presents the background of the problem, taking readers through a history of the Church Growth movement. Part three shares the consequences of this obsession with size. Most relevant here is Vater’s assertion that Christian celebrity culture guarantees moral failure. The final part of the book gets into the practicalities of de-sizing. Vater offers practical checklists for readers to know if they need to de-size and how to do it. For example, in the chapter “De-sizing the Pastor,” Vater gives a ten-question Likert scale questionnaire for pastors to practically evaluate their own ministry. Much of the de-sizing that De-sizing the Church asks readers to do involves getting away from the pastor-as-CEO/church-as-entertainment model that can affect even small churches. Size is a concept, not just a number. Small churches striving for numerical size might indeed try the same things that big churches are trying, but their inevitable inability to compete will some lead them to falter. Rather, churches must offer an alternative to the consumeristic influences and instead build a community based on mutuality, equality, discipleship, and love.

De-sizing the Church is about looking at church from a different perspective—and how changing perspectives from a growth in numbers to a growth-in-Christ mentality can rebuild trust, restore relationships, prevent burnout and moral failure, and renew our spiritual lives. I will warn that this isn’t an easy task. It requires the whole church to buy into it. But if they do, and if you implement it, your de-sized church will have an outsized influence on its community.

[Rob Sumrall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karl Vaters has offered a gift to the modern church. The church has drifted towards the wrong goals because it has adopted the wrong metrics of judging success. Vaters defines "desizing" as "rethinking our approach to church size and numbers until attendance, finances, and percentages are no longer the primary factors we use to assess a local church's calling or effectiveness" (13). He deftly traces the influence of the Church Growth Movement and its unexamined integration into modern church leadership. I love how he traced dual strands of the CGM - Donald McGavran and his influence and influence of what he calls the American Stream of church growth. This historical survey helps the reader not only understand the problem, but the how the problem of over-emphasizing numbers was foisted upon the church. In the final analysis, Vaters argues that there is a Kingdom benefit for all sizes of churches; mega churches serve a purpose as do church of under 100 and everything in between. We serve the Kingdom better when we examine churches based upon signs of health and not merely from the rubric of bigness.

Pastors and church leaders need to read this book. One may disagree with some of Vaters' thoughts (for example, his disdain for denominations is irksome and overstated), but there is enough here to make this a necessary read for anyone in leadership within the modern American church.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the last twenty years of my pastoral ministry, I've served little churches. I have, over that time, come to love the human scale of the small church. They have strengths that large congregations do not, but our cultural bias towards size and growth mean that they're looked down upon as "starter" churches. If you're not huge, or you're not growing, there must be something wrong.

In this tight, well-considered, and engagingly written book, Vaters pushes back against this bias firmly but graciously. It's not a book about the small church, but rather an exploration of the assumptions and cultural currents that drove American Christianity to obsess over institutional growth. Having been steeped in the evangelical currents that drove this process, Vaters walks us through how a well-intentioned methodology for growth warped the expectations of a generation of pastors and church-goers.

Good meaty stuff.

[Dylan Dodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about why bigness should not be the goal for churches. I appreciated the humility the author had and even his own vulnerability in sharing his own tensions.

I also liked the emphasis that there is no best church size. In fact, numbers really have nothing to do with whether a not a church is healthy.

This book gives encouragement and relief to pastors who wrestle with the phrase "healthy things grow" (as it is not only unhelpful but often not even true). A church can grow and be unhealthy, and a healthy church may not be numerically growing at all.

Because it is such a niche topic, it is hard for me to rate this book. I'll say to my ministry friends that I found this helpful and would recommend it. I wish there was a little more to this book than there was, but I can't put my finger on what exactly that would be.

Still, glad to have read it and was encouraged.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. Some books like this seem to demonize (intentionally or unintentionally) one type of church - the large or the small. But Vaters threads a needle here with his invention to a new way, a “de-sizing” of the church. Basically, don’t make size the thing that matters.

As a pastor in a large church that aspires to be larger, I found this book to be quite stirring. In many ways it made me uncomfortable. In other ways, it comforted me. I sense God used this to help shape a long-coming warning to the leadership in my church and, as it turns out, to myself.

Thank you Karl for your experience, story, and heart. This piece you’ve produced will yield some protestations I’m sure, but some will heed your warning. And for those that do, they will be saved from a heap of heartache - both the leaders and their people!

Praise God!

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important check on pursuing growth for growth's sake in the church. Written with a friendly, even humble, tone, Vaters explores how the anxiety around numbers creates all sorts of problems in churches, and he validates the goodness of any church that has integrity and does good work, regardless of size.

My main critique is that the text is focused on pastors. None of the marketing copy says this book is aimed at pastors, by the way, so reading it as a non-pastor was like "Oh. This book isn't meant for my eyes." However, small churches by necessity have highly engaged members in leadership as well as in all of the "doing" that has to get done, so this book is actually very relevant for congregations at large. A little revision, and the book could've cast a far wider net and resonated with more people.

[Dan Gifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book provides an interesting look into how the Church Growth Movement of the 80’s/90’s has impacted the way churches function today. It rightly points out that a natural outcome of this is an obsession with numerical growth, which has had a devastating effect on what the church values and how it evaluates its effectiveness. The author comes to some conclusions that I don’t fully agree with, but the foundation of his premise is extremely valuable for discussing necessary changes to current trends in church leadership, ministry, and theology.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for any pastor. Vaters makes the case that evaluating numerical growth is not a biblical mindset for assessing church health, and instead urges us to focus on discipleship. Instead of the pastor-as-CEO model, he argues for the pastor-as-pastor model - pastors should be pastors, not celebrities or corporate executives. While Vaters writes for evangelicals, the numbers game impacts the mainline as well, and is helpful for any pastor who sees numerical growth or decline as indicative of impact.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Helpful lens for any size church. Keeps the right perspective on discipleship, community, evangelism for any size church. But also helps appreciate the smaller church which is so crucial in our landscape. Obviously some good critique of seeking bigger as better, and platform or celebrity in ministry.

[Kim Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is jolting from the very beginning. I would suggest all leaders read. Being part of a house church network this book confirms so much to me.
De-sizing everything needs to happen. Discipleship for everything also needs to happen.

[Brandon Boyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

The analysis in the front half of the book was a good summary and did present the good and bad of the Church Growth Movement. The recommendations in the second half were okay. Worth a quick ready if you are in church leadership.

[Anthony Giordano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book with good statistical analysis and great quotes. This book is full of encouragement for us small church pastors!

[Mike Fendrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but not really groundbreaking. Focus on discipleship.

[John Herrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such good points.