Reflections on Small Church Conference- March 20-21, 2009
Winston, OR
After a VERY busy weekend, I wanted to share just a few observations and random thoughts about the conference we hosted. First, Glen Damon, Les Puryear, and Allen Daws all spoke directly and pointedly to the needs, frustrations, and successes of serving in the small church. All three have significant experience pastoring and serving small churches. All three have a heart to assist their fellow servants in learning to trust in God’s assignment and in God’s provision for small church leaders. These men spoke from experience and from a conviction that small churches do not equal small assignments from God!
It is not a sin for a small church to not become a large church. There are numerous factors that impact whether or not a church will grow in size. First, location. Community Baptist Church, where I have served for over 17 years, is located in a town of around 6,000 persons and serves a ministry area of around 15,000 individuals. Expecting a church our size to grow in average attendance to several thousand is unrealistic. Yes, I realize God can do anything, that He is unlimited, but the reality is that our community cannot support a mega-church!
Another factor that impacts the size of a church- in small towns and rural locations – is the size of the building. Our current facility could seat about 100 in worship- and that would be crowded. Of course multiple services could be held. When we did that several years ago we found that attendance did not increase significantly particularly when measured by the effort of volunteers required.
One other factor impacts the ability of small church to grow- the size and ability of staff. A single staff church will always be limited in its ability to grow unless the pastor can raise the income necessary to add staff, or find ways to train and employ volunteer staff to assist churches in making strides in numerical attendance.
Perhaps another factor- often overlooked and ignored- is the reality that many small churches are made up of good, godly people who enjoy and thrive in a small church environment. Many small churches are what they are because they have never found a strong enough reason to change their essential character. I believe that a sovereign God brings those whom He chooses together in a local fellowship of believers. He must have a reason and purpose in His actions.

Having said all that, small churches can and should be healthy and their ministry must make an impact for the kingdom of God. In Southern Baptist terms, small churches can and should make disciples, baptizing them, teaching them and sending them into their families, communities and world to share the gospel. In informal data collection over the past 17 years I can attest that rarely has there not been a year where a dozen or so people have come to faith in Christ. Multiple evangelistic efforts have been conducted- VBS, door to door surveys, acts of kindness, AWANA’s, regular Bible Study’s, Youth and Children’s Summer camps and so on. These events enable our church to share the gospel with lost persons, and we do see some response annually from these efforts. There are many reasons why these dozen or so individuals are not baptized. First, some of them are visiting for the summer- perhaps with grandparents, aunts and uncle’s or other family members. After the summer – or sometimes after the event- those who have come to faith return home! Secondly, some of those who accept Christ may be more comfortable in another faith tradition- Evangelical Free, Methodist, FourSquare, Nazarene, and even Church of God churches are well represented in our community. Thirdly, there is a resistance to ‘church’ that takes time to overcome. Modern media has been very successful in stereotyping churches and some people- even though they claim a commitment to Christ as Savior and Lord just never grow enough to get past those stereotypes. Thirdly, small churches struggle- just as do our larger churches- with an effective discipleship ministry. That is not an excuse, but it is a reality.

Another insight from the conference has to do with the character of small church leaders. There is an unspoken tendency to assume that better preaching skills, more disciplined devotional life, or an aggressive soul-winning practice will always result in a larger church. The underlying assumption is that some pastor’s are just better than others! Nothing could be farther from the truth. The simple truth is that those whom God calls He equips for the assignment He has given. The problem is not with God nor with the church. Rather the problem is rooted in the sinfulness of the human heart. We all know that envy creates strife, but what we often forget is that envy generally leaves behind the sour aftertaste of bitterness.

Finally- though the conference attendance was not what we had hoped, those who attended were encouraged and strengthened to stay the course, minister in the settings to which we have been called, and enabled to be more effective as God continues that which He has begun in each of our lives.