Some BIG Advantages Of SMALL Churches

I have the privilege today of writing about a very good movement within the American Evangelical world.  With all our issues, there are also some healthy trends in Christianity in the US today, and here’s one of them: A whole new (and old) attitude toward small churches.

By “small” I also mean “average,” as the typical American protestant church is now about 60 persons in attendance on a typical Sunday morning – not including Easter or Christmas.

It wasn’t long ago that most of us considered small churches as a problem to be solved.  To “help” a small church pastor meant helping him transition his church into a larger congregation. Small churches weren’t considered acceptable unless they were brand new and growing fast. For decades, small church pastors and lay leaders attended conferences that glorified large churches and ignored (or tried to fix) small churches.  These dear folks often returned home more discouraged than ever, and many developed a strong aversion to their denomination’s gatherings.

I confess that I’ve had my own “journey of discovery” which has opened my eyes to the advantages of the small church. Not many years ago I thought that many municipalities would be blessed if several of their small churches could/would merge into one larger congregation. Worse yet, back in the 1990’s I was a fan of a church growth guru who said that if I wanted my inferior little church to grow into a superior big church, I should structure it and operate it as if it was already a large church and…voila!  It would transition almost magically into a large church.

Let’s just say that it didn’t work. In contrast, pastors I knew who focused on making their small churches into GREAT small churches actually did see them grow into larger congregations.

None of this is to suggest that large churches are bad and don’t have their own advantages. Most notably, many lost people who wouldn’t darken the door of a small church are drawn to at least check out what’s happening at the large church.  Having come to faith in Christ, they then find a plethora of ministries to help them along the Christian path.

Also: None of this is to suggest that we should be inward focused; content with “us four and no more.”  A passion for making disciples out of the “raw material” of lost people should characterize every church of every size, along with a passion to bring our converts to maturity in Christ.

With that said, I want to endorse in the strongest possible terms two books which have helped me greatly. They are both short, readable, encouraging and practical.

• The Grasshopper Myth by Karl Vaters. The subtitle is “Big Churches, Small Churches and the Small Thinking that Divides us.”  This book and its author have become celebrated in recent days, and justly so.  Vater’s honesty about his own inner struggles as a small church pastor is refreshing and liberating!
• Maximize! (Leveraging the Strengths of Your Small Church) by Ron Klassen. This little book made my heart sing.  The author begins by insisting that (1) Small church doesn’t mean having less of God (2) The small church is the total package, and (3) The small church is unique.  The rest of the book is an exposition of the advantages of the small church, which I’ll paraphrase below.

Please consider my list as an advertisement for both books and a great place to begin some very encouraging discussions in small church boardrooms and classrooms.

(1) The small church finds it much easier to be personal and relational than the larger church. The larger church must work long and hard to try to emulate the warmth that comes naturally for the small congregation.

Klassen’s counsel throughout his book is: Maximize this strength!  And he does have suggestions for how to do it.

(2) In the small church there is a great awareness of and concern for individuals. People know your name and they may know the names of your kids, dogs and cats as well.  This communicates the love of God for individuals in a way that tear-off cards and welcome centers cannot replicate.

(3) In the small church we make relationships a higher priority than programs and planning. The good news here, for pastors who are highly relational, is that we can do life-transforming ministry without being adept at creating and operating programs.

In truth, relationships are probably more effective at changing hearts than programs anyway.

(4) The small church is good at doing life-changing, intergenerational relationships. Again, this is something which the larger church struggles with and the small church does with relative ease. Do kids need flashy youth groups or some great relationships with godly adults?

(5) The small church integrates people from all walks of life into one family. Small churches can’t target one demographic group; they must take the McDonald’s approach. The result is that the diversity which the large church has to work hard to achieve is the norm in the small congregation.

(6) This one is my point: The small church has a huge advantage over larger churches in the vital task of assimilating new attendees. Large churches struggle to create assimilation ministries which seek to emulate the warm, natural welcome given by healthy small churches.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. How do we feel about the size of our church? Do we have an ecclesiastical (church) inferiority complex because we are a small church?
2. Are we trying to be a big church or are we trying to be a great small church?
3. Do we maximize our strengths in the areas of (a) relationships (b) welcoming new people (c) care for individuals (d) welcoming diversity (e) intergenerational relationships?
4. How can we do evangelism, the discipling of new believers and the training of growing believers for ministry, in the context of our small, family style environment?