Church Growth

A Priest friend of mine said to me recently that when a church gets large it is more stable, but it becomes less friendly and more impersonal. I agreed with him completely; it is nothing new and we all know this. Yet in pondering that idea, it came to me that it may not be just an odd circumstance. Maybe that is what God often wants of the Church: good community, without presumption of our own security.

When a parish reaches a certain size, it has more income, more resources, and more ability to accomplish greater things; all good things. Yet, it also quickly becomes self-confident; which is not a good thing. The more "secure" a parish becomes in terms of its own status and abilities, the less it depends on God for what it needs. As a pastor I know that my priorities in my prayers have a lot to do with what the parish "needs". In other words, if I do not think the parish needs more people, I will be tempted not to pray as much for conversions. Many priests have fallen into this habit and end up more concerned with administration than with souls.

This is not to say that it is sinful for a parish to become "large"; do not misunderstand me. Yet, it may be the case that only some parishes (and few at that) can do "large" very well, and others end up with impersonal organizations that are just going through the motions. They have the presumption of effectiveness and success because they are still paying the bills and have warm bodies in the pews at Mass.

It is something of an English (i.e. ancient Anglican) tradition to have smaller parishes. No, it is not like it is expected, but it is very common, and it is not because some parishes fail to thrive so they remain smaller (though that does happen occasionally--but that is a universal phenomenon). Commonly, as Catholic parishes of the Anglican heritage grow, they will branch off and form new parishes. Yes, there is strength in numbers, but that does not only apply to the numbers in a single parish; it can also apply to the number of parishes.

It is not in my desires to have St. George become a "mega-parish" in any way. In fact, I would be happy and content if we never grew larger than about a few hundred people (right now we are at about 175 parishioners, so we are not there yet). No, I do not mean I want our growth to stagnate, but once we reach a certain size, then we are supposed to form new parishes. Imagine years from now: St. George in Republic, St. Beornstan in Joplin, St. Frithuric in Rogersville, St. Wulfgar in Bolivar, St. Ælfflæd in Marshfield, and St. Mildgyth in Branson (and, yes, those are all actual English Saints!). Now, that is what I call evangelism!