This summer I spent time with the statistical report of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
- One-quarter (25.7 per cent or 238) of PCC congregations reported average worship attendance in 2005 as 30 or fewer. A further 20.3 per cent (188 congregations) reported attendance between 31 and 50. That is, nearly half (46 per cent or 426 congregations) of PCC congregations had 50 or fewer people in worship.
- The other end of the spectrum, 7.5 per cent of PCC congregations (70) reported their average worship attendance in 2005 as 200 or more.
Analyzed this way the figures confirm: The Presbyterian Church in Canada is a denomination of small congregations.
There is another way to look at the figures:
- The 70 largest congregations in the country (those with 200 or more in worship) account for 30.8 per cent of all the Presbyterians who are in worship on a given Sunday. (Five of the nine largest congregations in the PCC are Korean.)
- At the same time, six per cent of Canadian Presbyterians worship on Sunday with 29 or fewer people.
To paint this picture even more starkly: the nine largest Presbyterian congregations in the country have a combined attendance greater than the combined attendance of the 238 smallest congregations.
Depending on what is counted, two very different pictures of the church emerge. These divergent pictures create challenges for presbyteries. For presbyteries are charged with overseeing the ministry of the congregations within their bounds, but a one-size-fits-all approach does not work.
Presbyteries have a couple of hundred congregations with 30 or fewer people in worship to relate to and look after. Congregations this size function in a particular way. Like a family, decisions are made through extended conversation and finally arriving at consensus. Worship reflects the particular needs of the congregational family, and the minister is the family's spiritual guide. Questions about financial viability are always close to the surface as these congregations are constantly negotiating ways to stay open.
Yet nearly one-third of Presbyterians worship in congregations with 200 or more people in worship. These congregations are served by a team of program staff. The leadership team casts a vision and works to implement goals. Congregations over 200 face challenges in managing personnel, articulating vision and developing and staffing new programs.
These two types of congregations often seem to speak different languages, sharing little in common. For example, the sessions of congregations with 200 or more are likely to give a great deal of thought to the study paper on Multiple Minister Congregations sent down to sessions by the General Assembly and spend very little time discussing the Lay Missionary study paper which was also sent down by the assembly. Meanwhile, the sessions of congregations with 30 or fewer in worship are likely to have a significant conversation about the Lay Missionary proposals while sending the Multiple Minister document to the recycling bin. Both congregations with 30 or fewer and congregations of 200 or more are here to stay, along with the experiential and cultural divide that exists between them.
Despite the differences between small and large congregations, there are approaches that can benefit both types of congregation. Two of the habits presbyteries need to encourage in both large and small congregations are:
- High expectation culture: Presbyteries should expect excellence of themselves and of the sessions to which they relate. Excellence is not an issue of congregational size; both large and small congregations can be committed to excellence.
- Recognition of local leaders: Presbyteries should encourage congregations to recognize and use the gifts of the lay people in their pews. Both small and large congregations would benefit from having leaders who innately understand the congregational culture and do ministry that makes sense in their context. Congregations would be supported in employing program staff on the basis of ministry gifts and not on the basis of credentials.
Focusing on these two habits will assist presbyteries in finding flexible ways which support both small and large congregations in developing personalized patterns of ministry that are sustainable in their context.
