I have been to a few large influential Churches now. Some larger than others, some not so large. I think the smallest Church I have attended for any length of time was about 20 people. The largest is far and above that.

There are a few challenges I have noticed with having a large Church with Global influence.

1: The Pastors/Vicars/Rev are always traveling. 'Global ministry' calls them to events all over the world. The negative of this is that it means the Church is without the person called to be responsible for it, and disciple it's people. The end result is the local Church is neglected while the global ministry grows. But as the local Church is the foundation of the global ministry the international ministry can quickly become hollow.

2: A side effect of a large global church is that a competitive nature creeps in with other churches, through no ones fault. I think it is just inherent to having a large, globally recognised church.

3: Finances are harder to track and more easily spent. A small church is generally forced to spend each dollar/pound/euro wisely. As the Church grows and the leaders are away traveling more people are required to manage the church.

4: People slip through the cracks. People are so busy 'doing' they forget to watch out for each other. The 'Business of Church' consumes peoples time and little pastoral/mentoring occurs. Churches create programs like small groups to solve the problem which can go some way to helping people connect but the core benefit of having the church leaders in church talking to people after each service is lost.

5: Someone gains, someone loses. Often the traveling Minister/Pastor can make financial gains through selling their resources or receiving love offerings. Some put this straight back into their local church or similar ministry. Some put it in their retirement fund. If it is put into the retirement fund is this ethical?

Keen to hear your thoughts...