Most Alabama Baptists church attenders gather for worship at smaller churches placing them with many others on the statistical stage of a national survey.
In fact, 60 percent of Protestant churches in the nation have less than 100 people attending during a typical weekend, while fewer than 2 percent have 1,000 or more attending, according to a Barna Research Group Ltd. survey.
“Small churches play an important and valuable role in the religious landscape of America,” said George Barna, director of the study. “They reach millions of young adults who have no interest in a larger church setting. They have tremendous potential for building strong community, as well as spiritual foundations.”
Among Alabama’s 3,217 total Southern Baptist churches, 1,990 have Sunday morning attendance below 100 while 31 have attendance of 1,000 or more, according to Mickey Crawford, statistical consultant with the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM).
Gardendale’s First Baptist Church currently has the most attenders in Alabama with 7,891 total members and 3,500 Sunday morning attenders.
Friendship Baptist Church in the Clarke Baptist Association, which reports four members and attenders has the fewest members and attenders, yet 100 percent of its members usually attend.
Cleveland Brown, director of missions for Conecuh Baptist Association, said all but two of their approximately 25 churches have fewer than 100 members. The exceptions are Evergreen Baptist Church and Bower Memorial Baptist Church, Evergreen. Brown said most churches fare well in Conecuh Association, which lies in the south Alabama County of the same name.
“As far as the normal (operating budget) expenses and things we don’t have to help them — they do OK. The way we have helped them at times is that we have money from The Baptist Foundation of Alabama, and we take the interest off that to help our churches when they have construction they don’t have the money to complete, or would have to go deeply in debt to finish, for instance. We could give up to $5,000 during a four-year period,” he said.
But the size of a church does not measure its financial stability, said Edwin Jenkins, director of the office of leadership/church growth of the SBOM.
Financial health
“In some cases giving is a challenge in smaller churches, but in some cases smaller churches have a better financial statement than larger ones. Biblical stewardship needs to be taught in church, regardless of its size,” Jenkins said.
What keep small churches small can vary widely, Jenkins said, noting population and economic conditions of their communities, or lack of vision by church leaders. Another possibility is that the small church is a new church start or a mission church.
“There’s not a one size fits all approach to church,” Jenkins said. “Every church must be regarded as a living organism — the body of Christ in a given locality. The key to effectiveness is finding out what God’s desire, design and direction is for a particular local church, whether large or small.
“A very dynamic and visionary leader can come in and lead a church to larger numbers, whereas someone of lesser vision can come in and not,” he said. “Some churches remain small and have excellent leadership. A larger church is not necessarily a healthier church. There’s lots of ways to regard churches other than numbers.”
Barna’s national research shows that 25 percent of Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964) attend churches with 500 or more people, while 17 percent of the younger Baby Busters (born 1965–1976) do.
He says the study shows Boomers tend to equate success with growth and larger-scale operations, while Busters seek smaller churches.
“National surveys often do not include a substantial portion of Alabamians, so it is not accurate for us to do church according to the latest survey,” Jenkins said. Jenkins travels to churches of all sizes in Alabama and sees all ages of people in smaller and larger churches.
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