Introducing ‘Pivot’

In 2013, Leadership Journal conducted a “Listening Tour.” We met with groups of pastors in six different cities across the U.S. One message we heard over and over again: we’re tired of resources—books, conferences, websites—that are all designed for doing ministry in a big-church context. These leaders weren’t down on large churches. But, like the majority of pastors, most of them led smaller churches—and they found the resources being offered simply didn’t work in their context.

Hearing the hunger for small-church specific resources made us realize we needed to do more for these leaders. When we reached out to people in our network, the name Karl Vaters kept popping up. Vaters is the pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, California and author of The Grasshopper Myth. Here was a guy who was leading a small church and successfully connecting with other small church pastors. After many conversations with Karl we invited him to be our first Leadership Journal blogger. The new blog, Pivot, is now live. Managing editor Drew Dyck asked Karl about his motivation for writing and what we can expect from him in the days ahead.

Why are you passionate about small church ministry?

First, because there are so many small churches. Ninety percent of churches in the world are under 200. Eighty percent are under 100. Of the two billion Christians in the world, half of them—one billion people—attend small churches.

So what if small churches aren’t a problem to be fixed? What if they’re part of a strategy God wants us to use? After all, it’s hard to imagine that when Jesus said, “I will build my church,” the only thing he had in mind were megachurches, right? Don’t get me wrong. Big churches are great. But there are very, very few of them.

The second reason I’m passionate about small church ministry is simple. I pastor a small church. No matter how hard I work, how much I pray, or how many church growth principles I implement, my church has never been able to break through the 200-barrier in my 23 years here. And I pastor in Orange County, California—a place often referred to as “megachurch central.”

When I started talking about the frustrations that come with that lack of growth, I discovered I’m not alone. There are pastors in small towns and big cities all over the world that have tried all the can’t-miss church growth strategies only to find they didn’t work for them either. It’s not that those strategies are wrong. They work for a lot of churches. But they don’t work for everyone.

That brings me to my third reason. There’s so little help on how to lead small churches well. Despite the fact that ninety percent of the churches in the world are small, almost all the pastoral writing and teaching comes from pastors of big and megachurches. That’s not bad. They have great ideas. But mega isn’t normal. It’s the exception, not the rule.

When almost all the teaching comes from megachurches with mega-success, pastors who don’t experience that kind of exceptional numerical growth can start feeling defeated. So up to ninety percent of us fight massive battles against failure, anger and depression.

The shame can get so deep that many, maybe most, small church pastors won’t even admit to themselves that they are, in fact, small church pastors. I know I didn’t. I’ve been pastoring small churches, trying but failing to get them to grow big, for 30 years. But it’s only been in the last five years or so that I could even admit to myself that my church is small and I am a small church pastor. The day I finally recognized that I was a small church pastor was one of the most liberating moments of my life.

There’s a gap in our pastoral instruction—a canyon, actually. How could there be almost nothing written or taught to help ninety percent of the churches in the world fulfill their calling with excellence? How could we not even know what excellence for a small church looks like? Pivot will be my attempt to help answer those questions.

Can you explain the name of your new blog, “Pivot”?

My answer to your first question went a little long, so I’ll give you the short version.

When you pivot, you keep firmly planted where you are, while turning to see things from a new perspective. Pivot says we’re keeping ourselves firmly planted in the eternal truths of God’s Word, while exploring new methods to present those unchanging truths. Pivot also speaks to a new mindset we need to have about the value of small church ministry. We want to affirm the valuable insights that the church growth movement has given, while pivoting our thinking to include the often-overlooked blessings that small churches bring to the body of Christ.

What are you hoping this blog will accomplish?

I want to bring small churches and their leaders into the overall church leadership discussion. As far as I know, Pivot will be the first time any major Christian publishing ministry has invited a small church voice into the main conversation. Several publications have had small church issues or sections, and they’ve been helpful. I’ve written and done interviews in many of them. But with Pivot, it’s like we’ve been asked to move from the kids’ table to a permanent seat at the grown-up table. And I’m deeply grateful to Leadership Journal for the invitation.

I want people to know that small churches can be great churches. First, by encouraging small church leaders that they have a vital role to play in the body of Christ. Second, by finding and presenting the best ideas and resources I can find. And third, by engaging with church leaders of all kinds, from big churches, to seminaries, to denominational leaders and more, so we can work together better.

What kind of things can readers of Pivot expect in the days ahead?

If you’re ministering in a small church, expect to receive encouragement that affirms the value of your ministry, ideas that apply to a church of your size, and friendly but firm reminders that we should never settle for less just because we’re small.

But this blog is not just for small churches. Leaders of large churches and other ministries can expect to get something valuable, too. Pivot is about “innovative leadership from a small church perspective.” So I’ll be writing about a variety of subjects that matter to all of us. They’ll just look a little different than what you’re used to because they’re filtered through the eyes and life experience of the pastor of a healthy, vibrant, innovative small church.

And no, I won’t be lobbing hand grenades over the wall at my big church counterparts. I want Pivot to serve as a tool to blast through that wall so we can help and bless each other, appreciating the value that churches of all sizes bring to the body of Christ.

I may be a small church pastor, but I’m not interested in a business-as-usual approach to ministry. It’s not that I don’t want my church to grow. I do, and it is. But there’s more to church growth and health than butts in the seats.

Let’s all expect to have our preconceptions about church growth, health and ministry challenged and stretched. Not because I have all the answers. But because I think we need to start asking a new set of questions.

I love the church. In all shapes and sizes. I welcome the amazing variety that exists within the body of Christ. As long as you love Jesus, respect God’s Word and are passionate about the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, we’re in this together.