We may be missing the point of these changes if we focus on growth/money. Whether the Dark Tower was growing or shrinking in numbers and $, this is a more efficient business design, especially for churches. Data obtained through an empirical method and referenced on the world wide web:
1. Rodney Stark of Baylor University compared churches with attendances under 100 against those over 1,000, reporting it in What Americans Really Believe. He sought to determine whether large or small congregations provide a better religious experience. He concludes that the “mile wide and inch deep” accusations of megachurches, taken as a whole, lack a research base. Stark includes a graphic in his study that shows larger churches fare better in most categories.
2. Barna Research wrote “How Faith Varies by Church Size.” Its study found attenders of large churches were more likely than those engaged in a small or mid-sized congregation to give an orthodox biblical response – such as that Jesus led a sinless life, the Bible is totally accurate in all the principles it teaches, Satan is not merely symbolic but exists, God is the all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe, etc. Further, on seven of the eight behavioral measures, attenders of large churches scored substantially better than those of small churches. Activities included attending church in the past week, reading the Bible in the past week, and volunteering at their church in the past week. The average difference related to the seven behaviors was 17 percentage points.
And larger churches were more likely to tithe.
If I'm a consultant, and I am, this is the type of data/research I'm presenting to my client.