(Second of two parts; click here to read Part 1)

Kent, when you served the small church in California, did you feel successful?

Hughes: I wrestled with a deep depression: I was giving everything I possibly had and yet was having great difficulties. When I came to College Church, I didn't do anything differently,but the church took off. The only thing that had changed was the setting. Schaller: Today, what's the condition of the church you served in California? Hughes: When I left, it was a church of about 150. Then the church went through a succession of pastors and shrank to less than 100. Today it's a preschool with a congregation that worships there on Sunday morning. It's a beautiful, Spanish-tiled building sitting on several acres in a beautiful suburban area right off the 57 Freeway. Schaller: That illustrates what we're talking about. The number-one victim of competition is the church that runs around 150 at worship. It is too big to have the advantages of a small church ...