Why Don’t Small Churches Grow? (Actually, They Do)

The presumption that small churches don’t grow is false. Some grow numerically. Most grow spiritually. Many grow in both ways.

When you run a website, as I do with NewSmallChurch.com, you get to see the search terms people use to find it.

That question is one that pops up all the time. So today I’m going to take a stab at answering it. But before I offer my answer, I’m going to challenge the premise of the question:

The presumption that small churches don’t grow is false.

Small churches do grow. Some grow numerically. Most grow spiritually. Many grow in both ways.

It’s just that when they grow numerically, we don’t call them small churches any more. We call them medium, big or megachurches.

Where do we think all the big churches came from? Those frogs started out as tadpoles. Asking why small churches aren’t growing is kind of like asking “why aren’t there any big small churches?” Read More