What are two or three defining characteristics of the healthy small church in the 21st century?
One mark of a healthy church is a biblical sense of mission. It's particularly important for the small church to get its marching orders from Scripture, and not from the culture, particularly since the culture seems to focus on the large church. The Bible describes the church as a community of the Word, a community that worships, a community that demonstrates mutual concern and ministry, and a community that bears witness to the surrounding world.
A second mark of health would be a biblically informed sense of realism, because I think there are too many small churches laboring under the burden of false expectations. We approach ministry under the assumption that the small church is really just an underdeveloped large church, instead of seeing it as a distinct expression of the body of Christ. We really can't do all the things that the large church is doing, so we create a climate for failure and that failure creates a culture of defeatism. The mantra you often hear in a small church is, "We're just a small church."
A third mark of health is a more holistic sense of what constitutes church growth. Numerical growth is one dimension, but it's only one, although it's an important one. But there are other important measures. For example, I think the small church needs to ask questions about whether a congregation is growing in its understanding of God's Word. Do you see a growth in character among God's people? Are they developing their capacity for ministry?
How do you encourage the pastor or leader who feels his or her life calling is in the small church, meaning they may never lead a church with high attendance or a large budget?
It's vital to remember that your value or your effectiveness as a pastor is not determined by the size of your church. We have come to believe that the bigger the church, the better the pastor, and I just don't see that as being true. Someone's capacity to be a good shepherd or a skilled communicator of God's Word is really not a function of church size. There are a lot of pastors who are effective shepherds, they're good preachers, and they're in small churches.
What is one common misstep that small-church pastors or leaders could avoid?
It would be the temptation to wish for something "better." There's this sense of discontent, this sense of disappointment. I'll never forget the time I met one of the members of the church I pastored at the post office. After the prerequisite comments about the weather, she said, "I can tell God has been working in your life." Of course I wanted her affirmation, so I asked her to tell me what she had seen. "Oh, I don't know," she said. "Somehow before, it seemed as if we just weren't good enough for you." And I was really devastated by the truth of her comment. For a number of years, I had felt I had gifts that could be used in a larger context. I think the hidden agenda of my ministry was to try and transform the church into something that made me feel good about myself, and not necessarily something that was pleasing to God. I was grateful that God helped me to see that before I finished my time there and I was able to moderate that.
What is one powerful role a small church can play, despite its limited resources, in a heavily populated area?
Small churches really are like a family. In a heavily populated area, the small congregation has the potential to provide a face-to-face community in a context where the dominant social experience is one of being nameless and faceless. What you find in the metropolitan setting is that the small church has the potential to provide what I'd call a relational oasis in a desert of anonymity. That isn't without its challenges, however. It's very rare in the average small church for newcomers to walk in off the street, and because many small churches are hidden away in their neighborhoods, it's hard for them to impact the community.
This is also where the family dynamic can work against the church. If the congregation is comfortable, if they enjoy their relational network, they don't feel heavily motivated to move out into the community. This is where the pastor comes in, this is where the pastor can help remind the church of its responsibility to look outside of itself.
Tags used in this post:
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2333
Comments
The responses by John Koessler are very true.
I spent over 40 years associated with rural ministry with Village Missions. As field missionary, District Representative and later as Finance Officer. I was made very aware of the tension in the flesh to desire something bigger.It is a shame that our schools seem to promote the ladder of success over the discipline of faithfulness.
Praise God for those who are willing to serve in the 'small' places, meet individual needs in a personal way, rub shoulders with the hurting, while modeling the faithfulness of God by sticking with those folks for the long haul.
Thousands of pastors out there are doing what those large churches and their pastors can/would never do!
Posted by: Charles Seamans | March 18, 2009 5:14 PM
I think that Dr. Koessler made a very good point with his last comment: If the small church becomes too comfortable with itself, it will become stagnant. Not just numerically, but spiritually and relationally, as well.
This can be found just as easily in the small group at a larger church. When the members begin to develop close relationships with the others it can be a stumbling block for outsiders who might show interest in joining. It can also hinder the desire of the members to actively reach out and find new people with whom to connect.
I know that I definitely struggle with the temptation to desire something "better" and I attend a very large church! I always struggle with measuring the success of my teaching/Sunday School class by the number of attendees. I believe God is teaching me that my calling is to make disciples, not focus on whether I set record attendance. Thank you for the encouraging words.
Posted by: Eric Sherwood | March 18, 2009 9:51 PM
Having pastored small churches in decline I have found that when you get the Church Spiritually right it will automatically get numerically right as people start doing what they are suspose to do....share Jesus with others and invite them to come to Church with them..
Posted by: John D. Arnett | March 19, 2009 8:49 AM
Thanks to John Koessler for some timely encouragement! My wife, Carla, and I have been serving in my present pastorate for about 16 years. Our average size over the years has been about 40-50. We are now at about 35. Difficult liberal metro area. But the article reminded me in a special way of things we are doing well, plus a challenge to reach out more, which we are implementing in creative ways now. So, thank you John. God bless you for being available this way during a perplexing time in my ministry, but things are looking up. Thanks!
Posted by: Steve Sorensen | March 19, 2009 11:27 AM
I will build my church ...
I will build my church ...
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
(Matthew 16:18)
How often do we overlook this? Jesus will build his church. Do we allow Him to do it ... or do we know better? Let us always ask ourselves, "Where is God in what I am doing?" Only God can do what God can do and He does not need us. If we are aligned with what He is doing, His power can flow through us and great things will be accomplished for His Kingdom. This should not only be the modus operandi for the small church but for every church.
We individuals are God's temples as well. How often do we allow Him to do His work in our lives?
Posted by: Mart Griesel | March 19, 2009 12:54 PM
Koessler's words are an encouragement to the many of us who serve in the "smaller places." Our church of about 100-125 offers much to those who attend and, I believe, to our community, as well. Koessler's caution about becoming too comfortable as a family is well-founded, as I've even heard some here say they want our church to "stay just the same" because it is so "comfortable." Whenever I've heard such things, however, I'm quick to remind them our calling is the great commission, not the "great comfort."
Posted by: Anonymous | March 19, 2009 1:08 PM
Being a brand new Pastor, I really enjoyed this excerpt. Having had my first official service on this past Sunday, I can relate to much that is witten here and it helped to confirm that I am on the right track in encouraging our small congregation to know that family is important to God and important to us the members of Family of Love Divine Church (The FOLD). And that is the assignment God has given me: to shepherd wounded and lost sheep.
Posted by: Rosemary Jackson | March 19, 2009 9:00 PM
I enjoyed seeing an article that deals with the small church setting.
I have been pastoring a small church for 45 years and have always felt it is where God wants me to be. He has provided workers and even allowed us to get 8 plost of land on which to minister. Our church runs from 40 to 80 in Sunday School and Morning Worship. Our church is all volunteer. We have no paid staff. We minister in a downtown setting in Canton, OH. Our church is located in a high crime area which is a great place minister. The workers God has given us are very dedicated and talented. Large churches want some of them but they feel they are laboring where God wants.
Posted by: Rev. Troy L. Bannister | March 21, 2009 3:49 PM