To add another question to the mix: "Can we intentionally stay small?" That is, instead of creating larger and structures and organizations as God adds people to the church, can we just start new smaller communities and thus spreading our spheres of influence around rather than being in a centralized location?

As an Associational Missionary for an Association of mostly smaller churches and a bi-vocational Pastor, I believe that many small churches stay small because their members simply will not do the biblically-mandated things required to grow a church spiritually, numerically, and financially:

1) Pray
2) Live a Christ-like life
3) Build meaningful relationships with unsaved people
4) Share the gospel with them
5) Strive for excellence in every area of church life

These simple things are a constant struggle in my life and in the life of most Christians I know. I believe that if we are to see real and lasting growth in our churches, we must begin by asking the Holy Spirit to enable and empower us to begin to see these things manifested in our lives and our churches!

Thanks Ed.

For years the underline thought was that if your church is small then you have a problem.

The church I minister at is small, but we are strong. Our fellowship and unity is second to none. We our constantly out in the community, prayerfully trying to reach our neighbors. We support several missionaries throughout the world and we have a great time serving the Lord.

I stopped trying to be big a long time ago. I'll just be faithful to my calling and let God make me big.

Kurt

Ed,

IMHO this is critical to reinvigorating thousands of landlocked, deadlocked congregations. Successful big churches know how to also think small. It is time for small churches to think "big," not in increase (size, attendance) but in impact and influence through prayer and niched practical service.

Write on!

Yea Ed,

I too am a small church leader and lover.

Too me its simple, I'm not A-Rod or Rick Warren. These guys are 'five tool' superstars, worth their weight in gold, great to emulate and I'd pay a ticket any day to see them play.

But I ain't them and no matter how many conferences I go to or books, blogs, and tips I read or how times I beat myself up for not being them, I'm not.

I'm Bobby Capps who came from a simple, poor background, went to the military cause I couldn't afford school, met Jesus at 27, married, have five kids, went to a seminary at 31, gave up a career in nuclear power to love people into a relationship with Jesus.

I managed to get one church plant up to 450 or so and it almost killed me. I work with a group of believers, happy to be together, happy to serve the poor, and see unstable lives become stabilized through the gospel in all her glorious forms.

And I could no more do mega than I could hit 50 homers a year.

But I love being me... and I didn't learn that overnight.

Thanks Ed.

BC

We are in the middle of starting a neighborhood church in central Austin, TX. Our hope is that we would be able to get to a point of being somewhat financially stable and then send out families to start another neighborhood church.

In our context the neighborhood church was thriving in the 50's and (although being revitalized) they have little interest in large / mega churches. Well, they have little interest in any church, but our prayer is that the neighborhood church would re-birth and instead of getting content at a certain number we would still feel the urgency by starting another church as soon as we can.

Just starting though...so they are just ideas now :)

Grateful. We're moving forward in our church plant and appreciated the insight at Multiplication Conference in Florida last year...understand one thing for sure, 'keep it simple and see the womb full, not the room full'.
We are plugging into our community and taking advantage of volunteer opportunities with hospice organizations, homeless feeds, etc. God has shown us to look out to the fields for they are white.
In being small, I've found other pastors from other denominations are willing to hear you out and don't feel threatened...thus community is born with other leaders in our area.

Was there any commonality on the churches outreach methodology?

Thanks Ed! I love this issue of the magazine featuring this column/blog. If anyone wants a free copy, please e-mail me: llowry@outreach.com.

Thanks!

In my limited experience in small churches, I have found that there is a "self-centeredness" that hinders them. They have a verbal statement of, "We want to grow!" But when it really comes to doing what is necessary to grow, the montra changes to, "Well, we don't want to grow TOO fast." It comes down to control. They (generally speaking, of course) want people to come to THEIR church so long as THEIR church doesn't have to changes for it to happen.
I had a deacon recently make a statement (in a deacons meeting)concerning relatively new Christians and prospective new church members. He said that, basically, if they don't what to do things OUR way, "We don't want them." Now, he wasn't talking about vital doctrinal differences, it was preferences. This was not only a deacon but he was also an "elder" so to speak. He has been a member/leader for 50+ years.
Forgive me for my negativity and, if I am wrong in my feelings, feel free to rebuke me with scripture. But my experience is that small churches exist primarily to cater to the needs and desires of the people IN those small churches FIRST with little active concern for the lost.

Liked the article. I read something the other day that I feels is appropriate for this topic.

Love measures our stature: the more we love, the bigger we are. There is no smaller package in all the world than that of a man all wrapped up in himself. - William Sloane Coffin, Jr.

This applies to churches as well. Tony's experience/view is evidence of that. But it must be said that love is best grown through prayer and reaching out.

Size doesn't equal healthy nor does it equal successful. Size is the easiest to quantify, and it should be quantified, but it shouldn't be the only measure. That is where the challenge is experienced - how to quantify or gauge healthiness when dealing with matters of the heart.

I certainly don't know the answer yet. But, for me personally (and that is how it has to be with the individual members), it is much like a performance review for the past year - what were my goals? Did I meet them? If not, why not? What were the unexpected challenges? How did I handle the situation? What could I do better? Where can I improve? These questions can be asked individually, especially the leaders, but also collectively.

Thanks for the post.

"If smaller churches are going to thrive, they must focus their attention on reaching the lost in their communities. "

This is absolutely the key. I do not intend to cast too wide a net here, but it seems that this is missing in many small churches today (as well as in many large churches). Small churches often make for wonderful "havens" for Believers, but reaching the lost must always remain a priority.

I'm a recovering attractional mega-church worship leader who left it all behind to start a new church. I left the good--great tools, plenty of resources, etc.--and the bad--lots of pressure, feeling like I was entertaining Christians on the weekend but having little if any Kingdom impact. I'm not anti-attractional, but I personally haven't found one yet that has successfully dealt with its dark shadow--consumerism.

I've read the posts with great interest. I've seen the small "us four and no more" churches that revolve around the purpose of fellowship so strongly that they never reach anyone. I agree--they are selfish. But I also like the post that proposes that we intentionally stay small birthing new congregations as often as we have a leader prepared to lead. That is the desire of our church--browns mill church in Newnan, GA. We think the Church should always be growing, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we should be striving to be the next mega-church. Obviously, God uses all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. Mega-churches reach people that would never come to a small church and vice versa. The most important thing is what we are doing with the Great Commandment and the Great Commission no matter the size!

It's not so much envy of the mega-church, but usually the larger (250+) church up the road that has more resources. Mega churches are usually joked about as having barber shops, ATM's and a McDonald's kiosk... signifying them as a totally unrealistic goal.

But the bigger church up the road that has more than 2 qualified sunday school teachers and third pastoral position is where the envy lies. Sometimes they even have more than one drummer!

Seriously, the biggest struggle in smaller churches (my experience at least):
- is trying to keep your head above water financially

- not burning out the "faithful 20%" who do everything

- Deal with the fruit of past dysfunction (splits, conflicts)

- Ministering to the "Extra-grace required" crowd.

Then when there is some breathing room, let's move on to trying to think about "growing".

I think the answer to some of these challenges is competent, Godly leadership that is centered on the gospel. We try out best to fulfill that but it seems to remain a struggle...

Okay, how's this. How does a small church pastor know whether he is Isaiah preaching to Isarel (faithful preacher to unfaithful people) Or Jonah preaching to Ninivah? (unfaithful/begrudging preacher to what later became a faithful people)?

If "the conferences, led by rock star celebrity pastors, are like 'ministry pornography,'" (and I agree they are) then lets stop baiting everyone to lust. Here's a crazy way to see if we really believe this: let's have the big conferences headlined by small church pastors who have shown the metal it takes to pastor in the trenches for a significant amount of time. My fear is the conference leaders won't buy in because it won't bring in the attendees (and thier money). Could it be we have settled for the Pastor's version of celebrity idolatry?

Find me a "seasoned, wise, gritty, non-bitter, praying, humble, small church, warrior pastor"-led conference and I'm there!

Great article. As a long-time pastor of small churches I confess I was guilty at one time of attending conferences and buying books looking for THE secret to making our church grow. But somewhere along the line I learned to accept that the size of the congregation is not the issue. It is the size of the vision and the size of our God that make the difference. While our church is small- and likely wil remain so, we are working on a world-vision, we are persuaded that God is more than able to provide for our needs, and that with the aid of the Holy Spirit we are watching people's lives being transformed into fully formed followers of Jesus Christ!
Ed, thanks for your encouragement and your support for all us pastors on the front lines...if you are ever out in the Northwest again (that is, if your boss allows you to travel again...) I'd love to have you come and share with some of our pastors and church leaders.
Steve

Ed,

Excellent article. A healthy church, whether big or small, is not rocket science. Love God and love the people. Preach the Word and share the Word. These principles haven't changed in 2000 years.

I am so glad that a denominational executive like you is "pro-small church." As you know, so many of our denominational leaders seem to love all of the big church guys and forget about the rest of us. You are a great encouragement to small church pastors like me.

Les

Hey Ed,
Excited to see you tomorrow at the Baptist21 panel at Sojourn. The last 15 minutes of your Advance09 message are what most of us need to hear.

See you tomorrow,
Stephen Farrior

Very gracious, Lindy. That will be a blessing.

Ed

I think small churches have at least one advantage over mega-churches. Small churches are easier to reproduce. The time and resources it takes to reproduce a mega-church is prohibitive. The same time and resources could produce a multitude of smaller, rapidly multiplying churches. Even mega-churches reach a 'terminal velocity' and plateau in their growth. I think a movement of smaller, rapidly multiplying churches has a greater potential to impact whole cities and regions. I think small churches should quit trying to be big through addition and start focusing on becoming a movement through multiplication.

If, as a former LifeWay employee pointed out years ago that the Bible says, biblical church growth is four-fold (growth in spirit, in number, in ministries, and in mission points), then certainly every single small church anywhere on the planet absolutely can thrive--and definitely should be led by their pastors to believe that it's so!

As a matter of fact, the research of Natural Church Development indicates that it appears the optimum size congregation overall is a smallish-one: about 300 in attendance. I don't disagree; congregations larger are difficult for ministry staffs and/or lay-leaders to manage day-to-day so that a growth trend upward is sustained over successive years--while the integration, motivation, adaptation, and goal-achievement which all purposeful people-groups everywhere must be led to focus on today in order to see a brighter tomorrow can easily take place in a small church, helping to perpetuate a great future. LifeWay's research seems to indicate the obvious: that few senior pastors can be termed "management experts" in that regard--but maybe it's also because even they don't really believe that the smallish congregations most of them serve have much of a chance for experiencing biblical growth. However, all of those churches do according to the Bible, even in locations of dwindling populations.

Les is right: In church life, if a guy isn't a senior pastor OR serving on a mega-church ministry staff OR a church consultant of some sort, then he isn't a success.

When was the last time you heard a Minister of Education serving a congregation with weekly attendance of 300 or less who was invited to preach the main sermon to the messengers of an annual SBC/state-level meeting? NEVER. Why?--Because he is nothing, knows nothing, and serves essentially nothing in the eyes of program organizers (though he probably saves his own senior pastor's rear-end almost all the time, and really is the one holding the congregation together and on-track day-to-day).

There is a huge trend among twenty-somethings to stay away from mega churches... stay away from church at all... but especially large ones. People don't want to disappear in a crowd anymore, they want to be heard and be a part of Christ's body.

Thanks Ed. In the Free Methodist Church there seems to always be this ongoing friction between our small churches and our mega churches. The pastors of the large churches believe all pastors want to be like them. Some actually do. I call it "pulpit envy", but most are happy just to serve. The best thing we can do as pastors is to have a Christ-centered focus, instead of a church-centered focus and let cards fall where they may.

Ed,

would you be willing to come speak at my small church in Delaware?

Ed. What of a small church that gets smaller? What if the pastor says that it is a "test of faith" and "we need to be faithful?" To point out otherwise seems to doubt God's providence. But, have there not been numerous small churches which "die" who had leaders that said the same thing? How does one discern?

I'm curious as to what numerical size Ed. and others here, consider "small." i'm also curious whether people here think of rural,urban, or suburban churches when they think of small. also, there seems to be an implicit assumption that all small churches are also old churches. I pastor a 4 1/2 year old small (65-85 attendance) in a community of about 1100. I've found that most of the things I read about "church" have little or no applicability to our situation. Ed's original commenst were very encouraging to me because it puts the whole discussion of church life into a healthy context. I think we're healthier today than we were about 1 1/2 years ago when average attendance went over 100 for several weeks.

The truth is that a small church can not function as a consumer driven church, but that's what I found myself trying to do. I'm now trying to lead our congregation towards growth that focuses on spiritual birth rather than numeric success. I figure if we birth new believers, we will experience numeric growth but it will be healthy growth.

As a pastor of a "small" church I am not sure it is correct or fair to say that we strive to minister to the needs of the people IN the church and that is our only concern. From my persepctive most "small" churches are trying to grow first to see souls saved and second to survive. Most of the "small" churches have seminary educated bi-vocational pastors who serve because they are called by God to do so not necessarily because they are content on being small. In fact I just preached to my folks from Amos, " woe to those who are at ease in Zion."

Just to clarify, Chris. I didn't say that the pastors of these small churches strive to minister to the needs of the people in the church. I truly believe many small church pastors want to reach out, but they are all too frequently faced with a church that is unwilling to change so that it can be positioned to reach the lost.
Another point to clarify, I didn't say these churches don't want to reach to the lost. Many are more than desirous to reach the lost, they just aren't willing to make major changes in the way they do church in order to accomplish it.
Again, I speak in general terms. I am certain there are many "small" churches (relative term, in and of itself, by the way) that do what is necessary to "become all things to all people . . ." But in my 8 years of being a small church pastor, my biggest struggle to trying yo convince my church to change on behalf of and for the sake of the lost.
And, just to continue on a previous point, among SBC churches in Ohio, if we can average 100-150 in attendance each week, we would be consider mid-sized to large, depending on what part of the state you lived in. Just sayin'

Great article. I began pasotring a small church in Ohio 6 1/2 years ago which averaged 17 in morning worship attendance. In just over 6 years, We have grown to about 85 in average attendance and a a little over a year ago, we planted a new church in a nearby community which is averaging about 50. Our goal is to limit our own growth to between 150 and 200 attendees by sending out groups to plant churches in other areas from time to time. God is blessing us with people who are called to ministry and we are seeing our people grow by being involved in what we are called to do. I said all that to say this; we have done it through faithful and consistant prayer and outreach. It really isn't all that difficult and there is no "magic bullet". I do believe that we need to mantain a resonable attendance in order to keep the church functioning properly, but once that is happening then send people out to start a new work. I certainly don't want to say anything against the mega church because God can use them to do things the small church cannot do. I just don't know how 2000 or 5000 or more can all use the gifts that God has given them in one local body.