Congregational Size Theory
Congregations have been grouped by size by a number of congregational growth specialists who have found it useful to understand common characteristics among similar sized congregations. Arlin Rothauge in particular was instrumental in developing a theory of congregational size and the dynamics that each size grouping tends to produce. Other thinkers, such as Roy Oswald and Alice Mann, have further elaborated on his work. The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has also prepared papers on this topic for Unitarian Universalists, as most of the other items listed here are interdenominational. Here are some items that deal with this topic:
- Sizing Up a Congregation for New Member Ministry, by Arlin Rothauge
- How to Minister Effectively in Family, Pastoral, Program, and Corporate-sized Churches, by Roy Oswald
- The In-Between Church: Navigating Size Transitions in Congregations, by Alice Mann
- Preworkshop Assignments (PDF, 24 pages) for the Planning for Growth and Vitality Workshop for the Small Congregation: see pages 14-17 on congregational size
- Size Transitions in Unitarian Universalist Congregations (PDF, 10 pages)
For more information contact growthresources @ uua.org.
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Last updated on Thursday, March 8, 2012.
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