Small Church Ministry
Small group ministry is a must for a healthy church. We need the fellowship, the accountability and so much more.
But what if you can't get small groups going strong in your small church, no matter how hard you try? Maybe you should stop trying. For a while, anyway.
So many small churches exist in survival mode.
They struggle to meet the rent or mortgage. They struggle to pay the pastor. They struggle to stay alive.
Sometimes the battle for basic survival is so severe that very little ministry gets done, especially ministry outside the church ...
It’s January.
In the big church down the street, this year’s plans were drawn up many months ago. The January sermon series has been running promos for weeks so they can take advantage of the huge Christmas attendance bubble. The annual budget was approved months ...
A lot of people don't like the term 'small church'. Including many small church pastors.
Before I wrote The Grasshopper Myth and started working with other small church pastors, I debated using a different term for churches like ours. After all, I wanted to help small ...
Small churches don't need to make big church choices in order to become great churches.
We need to make better small church choices.
After my last post, Want Your Small Church to Be Great? Make Good Small Church Choices, many readers wanted to know what good small ...
For years, we've been told that the reason so many churches stay small is because they’re making small church choices.
I understand why people say that. Many decisions made in small churches have inhibited their health and growth.
But it’s not entirely ...
Big churches tend to attract passive, anonymous audience members.
Small churches tend to attract control freaks.
Big church pastors are aware of the problem of anonymity, so healthy big churches work very hard at small groups.
It’s hard to be an anonymous audience ...
“There are no small churches.”
I've heard that all my life.
But it's not true.
Of course there are small churches. Lots of them. And it's okay, not just to acknowledge that reality, but to celebrate it.
Here’s why.
Why are you doing this alone?
That question is printed on a card that sits on my desk every day. It reminds me not to fall into the trap that too many small church pastors get caught in. That I tend to get trapped in.
Being a small church pastor is one of the loneliest, ...
I’ve pastored three small churches in 30 years of pastoral ministry.
Five years at a tiny chapel in the redwoods that grew from a dozen to 50.
Less than two years at a church of around 120.
Twenty-three years and counting at a church that grew from less than 35 ...