Top cities, but what about churches?

Thirteen Texas communities have made CNNMoney.com ’s list of “America’s best small cities.”

They got the “cities” part right, but I’m not sure I’d agree with their definition of “small.” Here’s the Texas portion of the list by rank and population:

• 7 Round Rock 92,300
• 14 McKinney 107,500
• 15 Carrollton 121,600
• 18 Richardson 99,800
• 20 Allen 73,200
• 34 Euless 52,000
• 38 Frisco 80,400
• 56 Missouri City 73,600
• 57 Denton 109,500
• 64 Sugar Land 79,900
• 67 Garland 217,900
• 69 Lewisville 94,500
• 96 Grand Prairie 153,800

If you grew up in a town with about 7,500 people, even Euless—popping in with the smallest population, 52,000—seems pretty big. But if you give credit for being a small “city,” then OK.

Define "small"

But here’s the deal. None of these cities is free-standing. Denton and Round Rock are closest, but these days, only the locals easily recognize the dividing lines between these communities and the mammoth cities that have grown out to meet them.

Of the 13 Texas cities on Money’s list, 10 are part of the Dallas-Fort Worth “Metroplex.” Last I heard, about 5 million of your closest friends and neighbors live there. Two are close to Houston, which is so big it gives me a headache thinking about those numbers. And Texas Top Town, Round Rock isn’t even the outer edge of greater Austin anymore.

Don’t think I’m knocking the list. Joanna and I raised our daughters in Lewisville, and I still call it my hometown. (Hey, Fighting Farmers !) These are great places to live and, particularly, to raise a family.

How to choose?

If you study the Money report, you’ll see the criteria for making the grade—finances, housing, education, “quality of life,” leisure and culture, weather, health, and the kind of people who would be your neighbors.

Nothing surprising there. But all this small-city ranking got me to thinking about (OK, you saw this coming) churches. If you were going to rank the quality of congregations, what criteria would you use?

In The Purpose Driven Church , Rick Warren focuses on fellowship, discipleship, worship, ministry and evangelism. These qualities comprise the template for building and strengthening congregations around the globe.

In my travels, I’ve found myself attracted to churches because of their spirit. Doesn’t matter if they’re large or small, rural or urban, rich or poor. A friend once described Texas churches as filled with folks “who would take on hell with a water pistol.” That’s what I’m talking about—warmth, excitement, anticipation, friendliness and optimism based on their confidence that God wants to do something with and through them. When a church has that spirit, Rick’s five focuses pretty much take care of themselves.