150—That is the number of people with whom we can maintain a relationship with.

This is known as Dunbar’s number. According to Wikipedia, 150 is “a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person.”

150—“One hundred fifty people in the tribe. After that, we just aren’t cognitively organized to handle and track new people easily. That’s why, without external forces, human tribes tend to split in two after they reach this size” writes Seth Godin on his blog.

The church—ever wonder why there are so many churches that are 75-150. LifeWay Research reports that the median primary worship attendance is 75 and the total resident membership is 147.

Hum?

What if churches viewed 150 as the tipping point. The point at which they must plant a new church? This will be a tough sell in a culture that screams “BIGGER IS BETTER.” But is it? It just seems when churches continue to add people to one centralized place the emphasis shifts from mission to buildings, staff, and maintenance.

In this way, the church becomes a decentralized movement, spreading like ripples in a pond, rather than static brick and mortar.

Isn’t this an anti-church growth philosophy? Not necessarily. These smaller missional communities just plant more churches in new locations. I would argue that an optimum number (75-150) is better than a gigantic one (2000+).