[SuperJon]

feel free to dismiss this since my rep on this stuff isn't, well- you know...

[add in the fact I know nothing about anyone of the players involved in this mess]

having said that- whatever happened to going to a nice little church of a hundred people or so then going home and having a sandwich and watching Nascar or the NFL?

this crap with 15k people, 65 pastors, books, satellite campuses, what a joke

the Church has become an industry. These people are totally missing the point, IMHO

give the world yet another reason to laugh- this time, legitimately.

I think there's a time and a place for both style. For me, personally, the traditional small church completely turned me off from the idea of church. For others, the flash turns them off. There's a balance in between and there are different church styles for different people.

[Sly Fox]

I am with SJ. For the record, I am involved in one of those mega-churches in Houston ... just not Joel's.

[flamehunter]

I am with SJ. For the record, I am involved in one of those mega-churches in Houston ... just not Joel's.

I may have given the impression that I didn't like mega churches as a whole, that's not what I intended. I do think however that a lot of people do attend them because they can blend into the background and "do church" without getting involved. I see that at my own church which is fairly large. But if the pastor(s) are preaching the word then it can change their hearts anyway, regardless of their intent. In the end it doesn't matter the size of the church you attend as much as what you do with the opportunities presented you there.

[BJWilliams]

Ive been part of a megachurch both at home and in Lynchburg. my church here is a very large one, but they very much encourage people to get involved as much as possible. Once the wife and I get through the new members class (one starts in the next week or so I think), we will be plugging in and I'm excited for the opportunity. your mileage may vary when it comes to church size I reckon.

As far as preaching the word, I love my pastor, Bishop McBath. He preaches in a practical way that anyone can understand, layman or otherwise

[Sly Fox]

I'd put the involvement rate of our church up against most small churches any time. We average around 7500 for worship and around 6000 in Life groups. That percentage puts us in the top percentile of all SBC churches regardless of size and is even higher compared to most other Evangelical churches. If anything, large churches tend to be easier to become engaged in since you are more likely to find like-minded people in similar life stages.

Frankly the only correlation to the OP of this thread is that Driscoll's ego became so inflated that it allowed him to lose perspective. That can happen with leaders of churches both big & small.

[PAmedic]

aaaaaaaaannnnnndddd yet another thread devolves into how great something connected to you is. surprise surprise.

thanks again BEEJA.... SLY

your last sentence was dead on tho... ironically enough

[SuperJon]

He stepped down yesterday.

They've had 7-10 of their pastors resign or get fired.

They dropped from 12,000 to 8,000 in the span of a week and had to close two campuses.

I've said it before, but this is a case study in church leadership gone wrong.

[alabama24]

Here is the announcement: http://marshill.com/2014/10/15/pastor-m ... esignation

[JK37]

That word "domineering" gets me. Breaks my heart! He's far from the only.

[olldflame]

Mars Hill Church is being dissolved. Branches will become autonomous or merge with other churches in their area.

http://news.yahoo.com/seattle-megachurc ... 06002.html

[SuperJon]

Ultimately I believe this is a good thing. Multiple healthy local churches are much more effective then one giant, unhealthy church.

[JK37]

Is the entire church unhealthy because of the fault of one man? I don't know enough here, so I'm genuinely asking.

[Sly Fox]

The entire church was built to reflect the authoritarian leadership and cluture of that one man. A fresh branding will help these churches to continue on without the baggage.

[SuperJon]

Is the entire church unhealthy because of the fault of one man? I don't know enough here, so I'm genuinely asking.

Their leadership structure was completely unhealthy. It came down to three men leading the entire thing with no checks and balances. When elders/staff confronted them, as they were instructed to do, those men were fired.

Starting over was needed.

[phoenix]

I'm not a big fan of multi-site to begin with -- it seems like you can do the same thing with multiple church plants. Multi-site that has been essentially built on one man's personality? Not a good thing at all. Praying for these churches that they will recover from this shakeup and move forward stronger and healthier.

[SuperJon]

I hated multi site. Then I loved it. Now I'm coming back to the middle on it. To be effective and healthy, it has to be done a certain way.

[thepostman]

I go to a multi-site church but I am not the biggest fan of it. I do think that NCC does it pretty well, but I am still not a huge fan. What I am a huge fan of is their emphasis on reaching the lost in this city and around the world and making it very difficult for member not to find it easy to get plugged in and do something. That is something large, multi-site churches sometimes lack on.

[ALUmnus]

Multi-site to me has just always come across as cult-of-personality church. Is one guy really that essential that he has to export himself out to multiple congregations? Of course, some poeple consider having multiple services to be essentially a multi-site model, just within the same building. It's interesting to talk about, at least.

[alabama24]

Multi-site to me has just always come across as cult-of-personality church. Is one guy really that essential that he has to export himself out to multiple congregations?

Multi-site ≠ "cult of personality" church. There are PLENTY of "single-site" churches which are "cult of personality." One of the things I love about Northpoint is how Andy develops other speakers. He speaks about 2/3 of the time with other staff members speaking the rest of the time.

MOST churches have a single speaker for 48-52 weeks out of the year. When someone else speaks, they are "filling in." That isn't the case at NPCC.

[ALUmnus]

No doubt there are many local churches that are all about the pastor. That's not a good thing.
But that doesn't mean that the multi-site model doesn't breed that mentality. I think it does.

[thepostman]

As is the deal with anything it all depends on how you approach it and if there are proper checks and balances in place.

[Sly Fox]

ALUmnus - I suspect you are equating multi-site with video venues. Most multr-sites have moved away from that approach toward live speakers at each site. That had led to the teaching pastor concept where multiple pastors are out front working several venues. Many multi-sites establish primary speaking pastor for each site and then rotate other teaching pastors through to keep it fresh.

[ALUmnus]

Regardless, I don't see how there would not at some point be serious confusion or problems in church governance and discipline.

"keep it fresh"? Again, consumerism dominating the modern church.

[From the class of 09]

Why "keep it fresh"? We don't need the gospel being presented in a way that relates to 21st century america...why be relevant to them?


/sacasm

I'm of the opinion that as long as the gospel is being preached I don't care if you're old time southern baptist singing amazing grace, a multi-site non-denomination church with fog machines, or a house church with five families.

We're a diverse people who serve a big God he speaks to us in different ways/settings.

[alabama24]

+1 '09