The In-Between Church: Navigating Size Transitions in Congregations

This is a fascinating and prophetic book. THE IN-BETWEEN CHURCH is based on the theory that congregations can be categorized into four basic types according to their average worship attendance. This theory was first promulgated by Arlin J. Rothauge in his booklet SIZING UP A CONGREGATION. The four types are: Family-, Pastoral-, Program-, and Corporation-sized churches. Rothauge's work was not about church growth per se, but about how new members are incorporated into congregations. Nevertheless, for more than three decades, countless workshops have used this size theory as a blueprint on how to grow congregations larger. In my opinion, most of these workshops have done little to stem the contraction of "old stream" neighborhood churches. Suburbia is dotted with congregations that are now a shell of their former size. Thankfully, we have THE IN-BETWEEN CHURCH with its tender and loving message that shrinking congregations can accept their fate with grace and dignity. While this book is advertised as helping congregations manage growth up or down, it's real value is in the downward direction. Anyone who participates in a no-longer-mainstream neighborhood church will find this book helpful in cutting back programs and developing member services that are better suited to the current size of the congregation. My only criticism of this book is that it doesn't discuss the serious financial tension that occurs when a pastor-sized congregation slips below 40 members and is struggling to pay the salary and benefits of a clergy person.

A helpful little book that articulates why churches get "stuck" in plateau zones, with worship attendance hovering between 50 and 70, or between 150 and 200, or between 350 to 400, or between 800 and 1000. There are invisible forces at work -- wrapped up in the identity and self-understanding of the church -- that inhibit growth at these levels. This book explains what those forces are, and offers a few suggestions.I have an interesting history with this book; initially, this book helped me to understand that we should not be counting members so much as we should be counting worshipers. More recently, I have come to think that even counting worshipers is not what we really ought to be measuring. How many people is your church helping to grow spiritually, and what is the rate of that growth? To what degree are people internalizing the gospel and seeking to live by it? Those, I think, are the real questions. Of course, those kind of numbers are difficult to measure!Nevertheless, this book is helpful if you believe that your church may be stuck!

Amazingly useful book. So many books don’t understand the Pastoral size church. It was also informative to hear about the family sized church and the difficulties these groups have

The author provides useful terminology and metrics for describing a church's congregation. She also helps answer the critical questions of whether to grow, whether to add staff, and whether to add another worship service. Additionally, she points out pros and cons of all those issues. Has served as a great source for our congregation's attempt to learn God's long range plan for our small church.

As a growing Mennonite church, we were interested in learning the best transitional methodologies. We see our self-image of a "small downtown church" is quickly becoming both incorrect and inadequate and we desire to make our "growing up" as painless as possible. This book is a useful tool in our quest to adapt to our larger congregation.

It was informative but not as helpful for the specific information I was hoping to find. Still a valuable resource.

Really a textbook for membership institutions.

I have to wait until I have time to finish it to say more.

It's a shame this book isn't better read in the UK.Steve Croft draws on it in "Ministry in Three Dimensions" for his appendix on types of church, but this book is the reason why he comes up with his logic, and is more satisfactory in its explanation.The main thesis is that churches have a self-identity that tends to preserve itself, whatever the pastor there tries to do.The four types are:a "family" church. Upto 50 members.a "pastoral" church. 50-150 members (NB Not meaning 'pastoral' as in 'caring' but as in 'pastor-centred': it's based on research in American Protestant congregatins where 'pastor' is a more natural term than 'priest', 'incumbent' or 'minister')a "program" church. 150-350 membersa "corporate" church. 350 members plus.Church congregations come to believe that the pattern they are used to is best, or just the norm.For example, in a 'family' church, often the pastor is less significant than a few key lay people, often in families. These lay people have been there for 40 years while pastors come and go. A pastor who arrives and immediately tries to do something new, will be essentially ignored, or maybe criticised.By contrast, in a 'pastor' centred church, the church is based around the actions of a 'pastor', who is the prime mover and activist (and expected to do everything!?). e.g. A Bible study at this kind of church wouldn't take place without the pastor being there. If someone's ill, it's definitely the pastor who visits.In a 'programme' church, a pastor is more withdrawn and works through some key colleagues, but is still available in emergencies.In a 'corporate' church, things are beyond this. But apart from Holy Trinity Brompton, and maybe the odd cathedral, in the UK, these corporate churches don't really exist.What Mann does well is, having set up these four models, she demonstrates the tensions placed on a pastor who tries to steer a church from one model into another model. And for me, and I suspect for most people, the key differences will be between "family" church and "pastor" church, and then between "pastor" church and program "church".Her point is that churches often self-regulate back into the chosen model: and the cost of this self-regulation tends to be felt by the pastor who's trying to negotiate things.What was apposite for my situation is that I am a curate at a C of E church that is "in-between" pastoral and programme i.e. it believes it is a pastoral church (where the pastor has an in-depth relationship with everyone) but the growth is tipping it towards a time when that's just unsustainable: there are too many people, so it needs to transform into a 'programme' church.When I read what Mann wrote, "congregations get nervy if they get past 150 adults on a regular basis: it means they might not know everyone, which is part of why they come to church in the first place," I had an epiphany of recognition. it's exactly what's happening with us. Part of them wants to grow; part of them doesn't really want to grow. Not in a nasty way: it's just that's not how 'church' is for them.The tension tends to get felt by the relevant pastor at points when a church is 'in-between'.This book is on the sociological rather than theological end, though it has theological consequences.It could be read with benefit to anyone involved in church leadership, especially anyone beginning to feel the tensions of what they suspect might be related to being an 'in-between' church.

There are 1001 books on church growth but this one looks at the particular challenges which face particular sized churches. My last church hit 150 attenders four times and came down in numbers each time. Now that I have read this book I have some understanding as to why this was.

It has been insightful to look at church growth with a business orientated view founded in biblical principles. Lots to think about.