Managing Transitions in Parish Size and Style
In Sizing Up a Congregation for New Member Ministry, a small pamphlet available from the Episcopal Church Center, Arlin Rothauge presents concepts concerning the relationship between church size and community style and organization that have become fundamental in congregational development. Rothauge identifies four distinct church sizes, each with particular ways of functioning:
Family (up to 50 members at Sunday services): At this size, lay persons take the important roles of "gatekeepers" and "matriarchs/patriarchs" while the priest (often part-time) is more the "family chaplain"
Pastoral (50 - 150 members at services): Here the priest is the center of pastoral support and parish life, seen as a series of concentric circles - leadership, fellowship and membership.
Program (150-350 members at services): The rector acts as enabler of ministries and chief administrator: there is at least one assistant; and members usually receive their pastoral support and experience spiritual growth through membership in a smaller program unit or organization within the parish (e.g., bible study group, choir).
Corporate ( 300 - 500+ members at services): The rector is chief of a church staff of lay and ordained persons with specific duties and ministries; community life is arranged in many subdivisons, with primary and secondary leaders and governing boards; often a new, satellite congregation is formed.
These four groups have been modified and expanded in various studies; for example, "Sizing Up a Congregation" by Douglas A. Walrath, published through the Alban Institute, expands Rothauge's categories to five and looks at issues of planning and communication as well as those discussed by Rothauge. Other Alban Institute publications address various aspects of the congregational size/style concepts.
Like many other parish priests, I have found Routhauge's concepts both intuitively and experientially valid, as well as useful in understanding and addressing the dynamics of my parish, which in the last 9 years has moved from family to a medium pastoral size. At the same time there is an important caveat to be offered in addressing such transitions.
Transitions in parishes do not occur with the clear precision or inevitability of mathematical models or sociological studies. The parish that has moved from 45 to 60 members for two - or even ten - Sundays does not automatically begin functioning in all (or even most) ways as a pastoral size parish. Quite apart from numerical growth, leadership styles (clergy and lay), ways of doing business, lines of communication all take a long time to change - and that change is often accompanied by conflict, anxiety and often a sense of loss (individual and corporate).
I find myself - and my parish - still in the midst of transition (and perhaps that is one of the hardest things about transitions: they don't stop just because one has reached a particular stage or bench mark). I would offer the following suggestions for managing - or at least living with - transitions in parish size and style:
Familiarize parish leadership (vestry, heads of organizations, and those matriarchs or patriarchs who may still be important in your congregation) with the concept of the parish size/functioning relationship. This may be done as formal presentations at a leadership retreat or in an adult education class; but it can be also be effectively conveyed in conversations, comments at meetings and even sermons. Giving vestry members Sizing up a Congregation is always a good start.
Recognize that the process of transition is a long and often bumpy one; and help parishioners, especially those in leadership, to accept this also.
Pick one or two areas in which change is particularly important if a parish is to move into another way of functioning and emphasize these. Two that always seem important are communications and ways of conducting church/vestry business. From sad experience I have found that moving from the informal, "unofficial " ways to formal, open methods with clear lines of authority is never easy!
Recognize that not everything can be done at once or as soon as you may wish it; and that parishes can often only deal with one new project at a time. If I had one thing to do over in the last nine years, I would have moved much more slowly and introduced many fewer projects.
Take time to listen for and respond to the anxieties and concerns of parishioners. People need to hear that the conflicts and feelings of being unsettled that often accompany change will not last forever - and are not inherently bad, nor are they not signs that the parish is collapsing. Remind yourself of that often also!
If there is any interest, I would find it helpful to hear from other clergy and lay people on ways they are dealing with transitions in their congregations. Perhaps the web page of this committee could host a discussion of the issues involved in transitions in parishes.
For more information contact:
The Rev. Linnea Summers Turner
Leeds Church
Markham, VA
