WHAT WE BELIEVE

Jesus Christ is the only hope of the world. Being crazy in love with him is what brings joy and peace to individuals, relationships, families and churches.

Jesus told us how to be recipients and distributors of that hope when he taught us that the whole of the Bible (“the law and the prophets” is how he phrased it at the time) is summed up in one simple command…

Love God, love others, that’s all.

The local church is the main way Jesus chose to bring that hope and love to the world. By “church” we don’t mean denominations, buildings, organizations, sacraments or creeds. We believe the church is at its most profound and basic when it acts as an extension of Jesus’ command to love God and love others.

People getting together to love Jesus, each other and the world is what the church looks like when it is stripped back to its essential core. Or, as Jesus put it, “when two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”

Megachurches are great! Not only do we have nothing against them, we believe the world needs more of them.

House Churches are great too! No one knows how many of them exist all over the world but, especially where the church is illegal, they are a vital spiritual lifeline for untold millions of believers. They deserve and need our prayer and support.

So, if megachurches and house churches are so wonderful, why is New Small Church all about the churches in between?

WHY WE EXIST

Small Churches don’t appeal to everyone. But, as it turns out, they do appeal to most people. More followers of Jesus have attended Small Churches in the last 2,000 years than any other type of church. That doesn’t mean they’re the best way to do church (we believe the “best” way is whatever works for the people who need it), but as the most popular type of church in existence, they need to receive more attention, support and encouragement than they typically have.

Small Churches make up 80% – 90% of the known churches in the world, but are the subject of probably less than 1% of the books and blogs about how to do church ministry. Small Churches are no better and no worse than churches of any other size. But they have been the most neglected, especially when it comes to pastoral training.

New Small Church wants to help fill that gap. We exist to encourage, connect and equip innovative Small church leaders. That’s not just a slogan – it’s what we actually plan to do. We want to see better, stronger, healthier Small Churches, led by passionate, prayerful, capable, innovative and loving pastors.

We believe being small is not a problem to fix, but a strategy God wants to use.

Most Small Church leaders have not been told that – or at least they haven’t been told it enough. If we can help turn up the volume on that message, we will have done what we set out to do.