The Bible contains references to Church decisions being made in a variety of ways: sometimes by an apostle or other single leader, sometimes by a group of leaders, sometimes by everyone. The size of a group does make a major difference when meeting to form a congregation:

1) Groups of 20 and under can almost always meet and discuss issues with everyone present. In any group, there are usually some elderly, young adults, women with children or others who prefer not to take part in such meetings. If they exclude themselves, there will be no complaints. A problem to avoid, for small groups, is selecting a number of people to attend the initial meetings that is almost as big as the entire group. For example, if a new congregation of 16 people somehow selects 12 people to do their initial planning—that effectively means the whole congregation minus four people. Unless those four specifically do not want to be involved in planning, it would be better to include everyone, lest they feel left out. This writer has seen small, like-minded groups accomplish a lot with little formal plans.

2) Groups of 40 and larger will probably want a smaller body to meet for initial planning. The entire congregation can vote on alternatives proposed by the smaller group. Plans for a formal structure must eventually be made.

3) Groups with 200 or more will certainly want a smaller body for initial discussion and decisions. A formal means of structuring the group so everything can be done "decently and in order" (1Cor 14:40) will be needed very soon.

4) Sometimes, there are already natural leaders (an outstanding teacher, or maybe pastors or elders from previous groups) that nearly everyone trusts to start the new group. If they have a real love for God and the congregation, they can frequently do the necessary work very efficiently. This is one effective way to get started. But unless these leaders have a firm commitment to developing a "shared ministry", with all of the brethren developing their spiritual gifts, it is easy to end up with another pastor-centered congregation.

In other instances, brethren attempting to establish a new congregation may find major disagreement with leaders or issues. Adjourning the meeting to pray and consult the Scripture can often produce results. If the items of difficulty appear to be dividing the group in the initial informal setting, then the establishment of a fair formal structure of elders, voting and whatever else is necessary should be the highest priority.

The whole emphasis in leadership is to find people with the gifts of administration and service and to let them serve. The Bible does not support either the idea of elders ruling between Christ and believers (2Cor 1:24) or the modern idea that every little interest group should "have a voice in decision-making". For example, if a congregation has several left-handed people, you do not have to have a left-handed elder. If left-handed brethren have special needs, they should be able to go to the elders and show them what they are. The same would be true for racial and ethnic groups. Elders should be chosen based on their gifts to serve as elders, not for their ethnic representation. Ask God to help choose people who are gifted at administration and who will serve others.