Large church observation:

I'm a member of Briarwood Presbyterian Church (PCA, not the liberal USA) here in Birmingham. Briarwood is the founding church of the PCA. When the Presbyterian church over 50 years ago started watering down its theology and not teaching the full Gospel message, Pastor Frank Barker stated a new church that grew and started meeting in a rented storefront in a strip mall.The church grew and grew because of the commitment to preach the Gospel, address sin and social ills, and to be committed to being Christ centered, Gospel driven and Spirit filled.....huge emphasis on local missions and global missions. Today Briarwood (aka Briarworld) 50+ plus years later is a very large church with a large campus and multiple buildings. But the tenets of teaching have not changed. The Truth is attractive and a church will grow if it speaks the truth in love. The budget is huge and the pastor and staff are paid well and that $ is all out in the open for every member to see and review.

Part of me really thinks the large building and staff is a bad use of money at times. Too much spent on building, maintenance and looks...too many staff members, too much salary. But then I see the work of the church 7 days a week...all year long. There are countless ministries that are outreach and mission oriented working hard to promote Christ every single day. Bible Studies in addition to standard church services and youth groups, Homeless programs, Veterans support, Foster/adoption teams, community educational and literacy programs, tutoring, financial planning ministry, church plants local and abroad., addiction and crisis counseling, single mothers and children programs, mens and womens ministries, job and career training, partnering with shelters and halfway houses, international outreach to foreign nationals, local missions, US missions, Global missions.....huge list that I've barely touched. When I see all the work for the Kingdom going on, it takes space and staff to make it work. So while it sometimes bothers me the $ spent, I also can clearly see the results and what the $ is for. Many other large churches do the same thing. But many small churches do the same thing just on a smaller scale to fit their size.

Now the rub with Presbyterians by many is the who election/predestination thing....the frozen chosen as some call it...I've been here for 8 years now and the only teaching on this subject that I've witnessed is when it is read in the verses that actually talk about it....never some deep theological training on the topic to the membership...mentioned in passing. I was raised Baptist, go to a PCA church now, but I'm a Bible believing Christian first and foremost. All Christians will agree on the core basics of Christianity, but like many things we will have different ideas on other secondary topics.

For me, I feel comfortable in any church that is preaching and teaching the straight Biblical Truth and the one Gospel of Christ. I've got worship style preferences and speaking in tongues ain't my thing, but if th emessage is True then I can deal with it. Large churches do have moments of drama and politics. I grew up in a very small rural Baptist church in MS. There was drama and politics there too. People are people, saved or not....sometimes they act like they shouldn't. It is the human sin nature. Routine and lifestyle of creating strife, well that is a different story and speaks to the heart of the individual not being right with God rather than an error or mistake.