In small churches, members' necessarily high investments of time and money give them a strong sense of ownership and control. Small churches tend to be lay-run organizations. This is reinforced by the fact that many cannot afford a full-time minister. Those that can frequently experience high ministerial turnover due to the low prestige of small churches and the generally lower salaries. Members' heavy investments in their church make them reluctant to hand over too much authority to the minister, who they suspect is probably just passing through on the way to a bigger church.
Small churches come closest to being a ministry of the laity.
In contrast, large churches have difficulty finding volunteers. Prospective volunteers know that there are probably many other members who are better qualified for a particular task. They also know that if they accept a job, they will be expected to do it very well. The incentive structure of the large church discourages lay involvement. Third, Schaller says that the above-mentioned two factors call forth different role expectations for ministers as well.