Redefining Success In Ministry
with Karl Vaters
What is The Grasshopper Myth?
The false impression that our small church ministry is less than what God says it is because we compare ourselves with others.
All the people we saw there are of great size. …We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them. – Numbers 13:32-33
Small is not a problem, a virtue or an excuse
Don’t fall for IKEA Envy
People will come to small churches, but they won’t give up quality to do so
How to Discover And Use What Your Church Does Well
Over 90% of our churches are under 200, over 80% are under 100
- First Reaction: Oh no!
- Second Reaction: So what?
- Final Reaction: Now what?
Many big church principles don’t translate well to a small church context
The law of large numbers: the bigger the crowd, the more predictably they behave
The smaller the crowd, the more impact each person has – for good and bad
Big church principles center on process, systems & curriculum
- Small church principles center on relationships, culture & history
(Need help changing your church culture? I recommend Dirt Matters, by Jim Powell.)
Don’t do what your founders did, think like your founders thought
Discover what your church does well, then do it on purpose
Over 1 billion people choose to worship God in small churches
Preparing For Tomorrow By Equipping The Church Today
The pastoral prime mandate: Equip the saints to do ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12)
The three essential elements of a healthy, effective church:
- Great Commandment
- Great Commission
- Equipping the Saints
It’s OK for a pastor’s vision to be helping people fulfill their vision
Use the “closet rule” for ministries: Don’t add a new one until you’ve dropped an old one
- What does your church do well, that you would like to do more of?
- What does your church do poorly, that you would like to do less of?
Move out of a destination mindset and into a process orientation
- Churches can handle change, but they don’t like to be surprised
- Give the leaders time to ponder big decisions
New generations will not build the kind of churches their parents built
- Previous generations had relationships and built structures
- This generation has structures and needs to build relationships
When thinking small saved the world
NewSmallChurch.com • ChristianityToday.com/Karl-Vaters
Facebook.com/NewSmallChurch • @KarlVaters • CornerstoneFV.com