Has anyone here left the mega-church and went back to a smaller community church? How did the transition go for you?
My church is large, has 6 campuses, and while the teaching is great, we feel like we're just a number and there to watch a nice show. It's also too liberal and I don't want our kids to grow in such an environment.
Yes. For a long time, I heard people say that the advantage of a smaller church is that 'everybody knows everybody' and I found that to be true, at least in the case of the one smaller church I've tried over the past 11 months after being in and around medium to larger churches my whole life.
I've also concluded that knowing everybody and vice versa may not necessarily be a good thing. That's up to the individual to decide, and I don't see how anyone could decide until they've tried both environments. I wouldn't speculate on what you THINK you might like best until you've tried both. You don't have to completely leave the megachurch to visit smaller churches. Alternate between them forever if you want, enjoying the benefits of each. What each church actually decides to DO can depend on budget, number and quality of volunteers, wealth level, and who knows what else you may notice. I wouldn't go by physical size of the building or number of campuses. You can only be in one place at one time.
What used to be a large congregation I know of has shrunk in attendance because of it's liberalism. That means it's now closer to a 'everybody knows everybody' church, supported as much by rich widows as anyone else, who have been there their whole lives, literally. The sentimental value outweighs the liberalism, and/or someone in their immediate family is gay and they're just thankful that their loved one is willing to show up sometimes, cause a more conservative church is absolutely out of the question for that loved one to ever step foot in.
You look married, so this probably doesn't matter, but rare is the single adult who can attend a smaller church where there are very few other singles there...maybe a handful between ages 23-50. Churches of all sizes are partial to couples, especially ones with kids, and especially in smaller churches where any sort of singles ministry is non-existent. They just don't see the need. Even for the larger churches, they often cater to so-called 'young singles' up until age 30, then they figure if you still aren't married, they can't help you....you're on your own. After that, there may be a divorced class (though they won't call it that), made up of folks who went to church in their 20s to find a mate, found a mate, stopped going to church, divorced, and now they're back to hook up again. As one woman I know of put it, she "needed to do some husband hunting." She chose a wealthy mega-church with the largest 40+ singles ministry in town. They go out to lunch together each Sunday, and eat together and play board games every Wed. night. If you can't find a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th husband there, you probably won't find one anywhere without help from a dating service. Good luck with that. (not you, but whoever might stumble on this reply).