Ben Sternke

Field notes on life and mission with God after Christendom

mid-sized communities

Why Size Matters in Missional Communities

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When I’m talking with people about Missional Communities, they often ask me why MCs need to be “mid-sized,” aka consisting of 20-50 adults. Why not just add a “mission focus” to a small group and call it a Missional Community?

I addressed this in my Missional Communities Series, but the short answer is that mid-sized communities hit a “sweet spot” of being small enough and big enough: small enough so everyone can be known and cared for, but big enough to do more substantial mission together. Small enough to care, big enough to dare. But are there other reasons? Sure.

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Why I Believe in Mid-sized Communities, Part 1

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Over the past few years I’ve spent a lot of time looking into church planting practices, approaches, methods, etc. I’ve also been looking at the mission context we’re working in here in Fort Wayne, listening to the Spirit, and learning about how I am wired as a leader.

One of the practices I’ve come across is that of organizing a church as a network of mid-sized missional communities (MCs). MCs are “extended family”-like communities of 20-50 people with a common mission focus, usually a relational network or a neighborhood. One of the first questions I asked was “What’s the big deal with mid-sized communities? How are they different from small groups with a mission focus? Or from a house church?”

When I first asked the question, I had no idea how deep the rabbit hole went! But after a lot more reading, talking, and observing in various contexts, I have come to believe that organizing a church as a network of mid-sized missional communities holds tremendous promise in reaching post-Christian contexts.

We are making some transitions this summer in our church plant that will allow us to build the foundation we need to move in this direction.

I want to take the next few days to blog about why I believe in mid-sized missional communities from a biblical, historical, and sociological perspective, highlighting how they are different from small groups, and sharing some of the specific transitions we are making this summer in our church plant that will move us in this direction.

In the interest of making this series as informative and helpful as possible, though, I would love it if you would leave some questions in the comments.

As you read what I have written so far, what questions pop up for you?

I’m looking forward to the conversation!

Next post –> What Does It Look Like?