Small Churches
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Traditionally (and actually!) we are a convention of small churches. A quick look at the numbers makes that clear. |
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It has also been observed that some small churches have a feeling of angst about their size. I recall, as a church planter (and thus a small church pastor), that there were days I felt this as our fledgling work simply could not measure up to the programs of the mega churches that were held up as the ideal. |
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What was ingrained in our heads was that bigger was better. If church were a competitive sport (tragically it can be), those with the most nickels (budget) and noses (attendees) won. It begs thequestion, is bigger better? Christian Schwarz in his research in Natural Church Development found that when you look through the lens of quality that bigger was not better. The graph below gives one example. The bigger a church the less people are involved in using their spiritual gifts to build up the church. |
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So is it safe to assume that smaller is better? Absolutely not! Frankly, many of our small churches are small because they are unhealthy and not growing! On too many occasions I have heard pastors talk about all of the ministry they “did.” We not that in a healthy church the pastoral leadership follow the biblical imperative of having the pastor “equip the saints for the work of the ministry.” Not do most of it themselves. Some churches are small because the people form cliques and don’t let outsiders in. Other churches stay small because their focus is all about themselves rather than focusing on those outside of the church. So if bigger is not necessarily better and small is not necessarily better, then what is? The reality is that better is better! |
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Perspectives…
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