The Program sized church is the third in our series examining the transitions that churches need to make in order to continue to grow. The Program sized church is making the transition from one that sees the pastor as the center of the church and all relationships, to a more supportive role.

Weighing in at 150 to 350 active members, the Program sized church starts to replace direct pastoral contact with, you guessed it, programs. Now this isn't as bad as it sounds, it's all about empowering the congregation to take up active ministry roles within the church.

New leaders are raised up from within the church and the pastor must provide guidance, structure and development to this new layer of management. The pastors primary task in my view is to minister to this group as Jesus did the disciples and through them impart the direction and values of the church.

More energy is required of the pastor to identify leaders and partnering with them, ensure that the church programs are kept on track. This does not mean that the pastor withdraws from the congregation, they should still be making time to visit a church member in hospital or counsel a couple through personal tragedy but I wouldn't expect much time for the pastor to make a great deal of follow up visit's at the persons home.

The key skills for an effective Program sized pastor is the ability to pull the church along a common vision. If the congregation becomes too fragmented it may pull itself apart with competing demands of different ministries. This is not to say that you should drop the mens ministry in favor of the womans ministry, rather you could not commit to two projects requiring more than 50% of the congregation, (although I would probably put that figure at 25-30%).

If the pastor is driven by direct pastoral care work, ministering to the Program sized church may leave them feeling unfulfilled, unless they are gifting in administration they should consider deeply before committing to this church. This is not any indictment on the pastor, rather recognizing where God has make them most effective.