How Big Should Your Church Be?

“‘Bigger is better’ is not always right. We all know big churches that, from our vantage point, don’t look to be preaching the gospel faithfully or ministering the way Christ would want us to minister. But we also don’t want to say that bigger is automatically ‘badder’—that those churches automatically have sold out.” – Kevin DeYoung

In 2012, Matt Chandler, Mark Dever, and Kevin DeYoung sat down to talk about how we should think about church size. Chandler was and is the pastor of The Village Church in Texas. A large church by anyone’s definition, The Village’s leaders announced in 2017 that they would transition their five campuses into five autonomous churches. Dever is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) in Washington, D.C. where attendance averages around 1,000 people. CHBC leaders have made a convictional choice not to hold multiple services, thus capping attendance at the capacity of their auditorium. At the time of this recording, DeYoung was the pastor of University Reformed Church, a congregation of around 500 in East Lansing, Michigan. He has since moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to pastor Christ Covenant Church, a congregation with around 1,800 members.

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Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?

In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.

But the Gospels are historically reliable. And the evidence for this is vast.

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Matt Chandler is the lead pastor of teaching at The Village Church in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, and the president of Acts 29. He has authored several books, including Take Heart, Mingling of Souls, Recovering Redemption, To Live Is Christ to Die Is Gain, Creature of the Word, The Explicit Gospel, and Joy in the Sorrow. Matt and his wife, Lauren, live with their three children—Audrey, Reid, and Norah—in Highland Village, Texas.

Mark Dever (PhD, Cambridge University) is a pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., the president of 9Marks, and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He is the author of many books, including Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. He and his wife, Connie, have two children.

Kevin DeYoung (PhD, University of Leicester) is senior pastor of Christ Covenant Church (PCA) in Matthews, North Carolina, and associate professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte). He is the author of more than 20 books and a popular columnist, blogger, and podcaster. Kevin’s work can be found on clearlyreformed.org. Kevin and his wife, Trisha, have nine children.