Joe McKeever: 10 Reasons Why Small Churches Stay Small
First, an explanation or two, then a definition.
I know more about getting smaller churches to grow than larger ones. I pastored three of them, and only the first of the three did not grow. I was fresh out of college, untrained, inexperienced, and clueless about what I was doing. The next two grew well, and even though I remained at each only some three years, one almost doubled, and the other nearly tripled in attendance and ministries.
By using the word "grow," I do not mean numbers for numbers' sake. I do not subscribe to the fallacy that bigness is good, and small churches are failures. What I mean by "grow" is reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you reach them and start new churches, your local church may not expand numerically, but it is most definitely "growing." If you are located in a town that is losing population and your church manages to stay the same size, you're probably "growing" (i.e., reaching new people for the Lord).
These are simply my observations as to why stagnant, ungrowing churches tend to stay that way. I send it forth hoping to plant some seed in the imagination of a pastor or other leader who will be used of the Lord to do great things in a small church.
I have frequently quoted Francis Schaeffer who said, "There are no small churches and no big preachers." I like that. But it's not entirely true. We've seen churches made up of just a few people and stymied by lack of vision and a devotion to the status quo. And here and there, we may encounter a preacher with the world on his heart and the wisdom of the ages on his lips; that, for my money, is a "big preacher."
But this is not about being such a preacher. We're concerned with not being one of those churches.
The "ten reasons" that follow are not necessarily in the order of importance or prevalence. This is the way they occurred to me, and the order seems right. Keep reading
Joe McKeever: 10 Reasons Why Small Churches Stay Small: Part 2
6. No plan.
The typical, stagnant small church is small in ways other than numbers. They tend to be small in vision, in programs, in outreach, and in just about everything else.
Perhaps worst of all, they have small plans. Or no plans at all.
The church with no plan--that is, no specific direction for what they are trying to do and become--will content itself with plodding along, going through the motions of "all churches everywhere." They have Sunday School and worship services and a few committees. Once in a while, they will schedule a fellowship dinner or a revival. But ask the leadership, "What is your vision for this church?" and you will receive blank stares for an answer. Keep reading
William H. Willimon: The Tough Truth about Our Small Churches
In Jason Byassee’s beautifully written book, The Gifts of the Small Church, he states that “the small church is God’s primary way of saving people.” Jason’s encomium to the small congregation reminds us of the peculiar joys of ministry where few are gathered.
Frankly, my experience of ministry in the small church is more that of George Herbert than that of my friend Jason. In The Country Parson, Herbert says that the most important qualities for the small church pastor are “patience” with pettiness and an ability to endure daily “mortification” at the hands of demanding parishioners. Herbert and I served the same difficult small church, he in seventeenth century England, I in twentieth century Georgia.
What Jason experienced as love, community, and charming, homespun fidelity in his small church I have more often found to be deadly, club-like interiority, insufferable triviality, and hostility toward newcomers. The small congregation can be a marvelous work of God, a people who stick to the basic tasks of Christ’s mission and keep the main thing the main thing. However, in the United Methodist Church, the small church can also exercise a stranglehold upon the denomination. Keep reading
Karl Vaters: Why Small Churches Are the Next Big Thing
There’s no shortage of studies bemoaning the next generation’s exodus from the Church. Yet while some have written off Millennials' spiritually, this is a mistake—for the Church and for the Millennials.
In the face of this reality, a new opportunity is emerging. In fact, there’s growing evidence this new generation will bring the greatest opportunity for small church ministry in 2,000 years.
Why? Because, as the first generation with a majority born and raised outside traditional marriage, genuine relationships and intimate worship—what small churches do best—will matter more to them than it did to their parents.
But this opportunity comes with one, big condition: Millennials won’t give up quality to gain intimacy. And they shouldn’t have to.
Of course, Millennials have the same spiritual needs people have always had, including the desire to worship something or someone bigger than themselves, and to do so with others who have similar inclinations. In other words, Millennials need church. Keep reading
Alan Rudnick: Megachurch Trends We Small Churches Must Face
The appeal of the megachurch is undeniable: big building, large worship setting, youth and children’s programs, and a semi-celebrity pastor. Yet many smaller churches have not learned from their large counter parts. There are some things megachurches are doing well and us smaller churches must take note.
A study from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford Seminary and Leadership Network found some surprising trends in megachurches.... Keep reading
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