Thursday November 13, 2008 ~
5 Comments
We just released some new research on small churches in Facts and Trends. You can read it here.
In the last week, I have visited with hundreds of pastors of small churches-- and I love their passion and appeciate their service. Even though many seem to forget, the vast majority of churches are small. We did this research at the request of a group of SBC small church pastors. We think it will be helpful to small churches of all kinds.
Here are some excerpts:
Most pastors of smaller-membership Southern Baptist churches see what God is calling their congregations to be and do and have laid the groundwork for accomplishing the mission, but their efforts to lead are frustrated by "turf" battles and a failure to clarify and evaluate plans.
According to a new study by LifeWay Research published in the November/December issue of Facts & Trends magazine, those pastors could see their congregations make progress by evaluating church ministries, organizing to reach their goals and planning for the future...
"The effectiveness of local church ministry often is jeopardized by poor organization," said Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research. "Understanding God's calling and the context of the church is important, but leadership requires knowing where you are, knowing where you need to go and knowing how to get there. Most small church pastors actively pursue the first two but many struggle with the third."
The study, which surveyed 350 pastors of congregations that average fewer than 100 in primary worship attendance, was conducted in March 2008. It found, among other things, that 67 percent of small church pastors are frustrated with how slowly progress is made at their church.
The inertia, however, isn't for lack of trying. According to the study:
Most pastors of small churches have assessed their church's cultural context. Three-fourths have studied their communities. Ninety percent have examined trends in their congregation. Seventy-one percent say they try to be actively involved in their community.
Most pastors of small churches see what God is calling their church to be and do. Ninety-four percent say they clearly see the needs, hurts and problems God is calling their church to address. Eight out of 10 have shared with the congregation a clear, compelling picture of what God is calling their church to look like several years from now.
The obstacles to missional progress, however, are familiar to every pastor. While two-thirds of the pastors surveyed indicated their church makes regular changes to improve their effectiveness, 49 percent said lay leaders in the congregation often resist change to protect their area of responsibility. A full one-third of them said their church had experienced disruptive conflict in the past year...
There are many more charts, a PowerPoint, and other information here.
Posted on November 13, 2008 at 6:46 AM ~ 5 Comments
Tagged with: lifeway, research, small churches
I love this topic as so many churches are small and society, both marketplace and church, seem to be saying bigger is better. But we all know that isn' always true. Want proof? Take a look at the world's dependence on AIG and what that is costing us.
Your insight into obstacles rings true also. Interpersonal and power struggles hurt the church and often account for the small size of churches.
You say " pastors of small churches have assessed their church's cultural context. Three-fourths have studied their communities. Ninety percent have examined trends in their congregation. Seventy-one percent say they try to be actively involved in their community". I suppose we assume that good pastors do this with the foundation of Scripture; but what if we're wrong?
What if small churches struggle because we're so concerned, like AL, about the method and the model of someone else' success? When we measure things like trends within our own group, are we trying to make the Gospel fit into our own trends, comforts and world view?
I know I am stating the obvious but the Gospel has to be the centerpiece of our planning and not our planning the center piece to the Gospel.
Actually, the size or location of a church is less important than whether it will continue to exist in the near future. As most everyone in the SBC knows, departing president Frank Page has predicted that in about two decades the number of SBC churches will have dwindled from 44,000 to maybe 20,000. And SEBTS Professor Alvin Reid has stated: "The SBC is on life support and in denial."
The real issue is not effort, size, or attitude - but dealing with the two cancerous conditions that are decimating the American Church across all denominations.
They are:
1. The huge percentage of unsaved church members
and...
2. The fact that 95-98% of Christians exit this life having never once shared the gospel with a single lost person.
Surveying this dark horizon, we might take note that some churches, in some places, are doing some things that are consistenly fruitful. There are three biblical practices that are appropriate for any size or location church, cost viturally nothing, and have been promoted for dessemination to the SBC pastors in 15 states by their respective state convention DOE's.
These practices:
1. Effectively reach, without "rooting out" those abundant "tares".
2. Equip and actually mobilize entire congregations to share the gospel using God's Word.
3. Increase any congregation's Bible literacy significantly.
4. Promote the true unity, around the essentials, that Jesus prayed for in John 17.
These are documented in a "workbook" entitled Reurrecting the Dead Church. I'll be glad to send a free copy to the first 100 people to ask for one at:
frankfears@everestkc.net
In His Name,
Frank Fears
www.thedeadchurch.com
Well, Frank, good luck with the book.
thanks for posting this.
I wonder: are the stats about small church pastors not knowing how to juggle their time and why the things they try don't work... are these natural responses to static church growth, rather than casues? It's hard to tell, I think.
Hey, thanks so much for doing this work. I think this will be helpful.
I have come to believe that a problem most leaders face in small churches is that they are using models developed for (and by) large churches. I believe the small church needs a new model, one that is based more on relationship than on organization.
Small churches are more like families. (In most of the small churches I have attended, three or four extended families make up the bulk of the congregation.) I wonder if pastors in small churches need to be more like Abraham dealing with his wayward nephew Lot than like Moses as he led a nation out of Egypt.