Karl Vaters

Karl Vaters produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.

He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.

Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast, The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context. He has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience.

You can follow Karl on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn, or Contact Karl to inquire about speaking, writing, and consultation.

5 Clues Your Church May Have Reached Its Shoe Size

/ 6 minutes of reading

What happens when a church is healthy, yet the numbers stay in a holding pattern?

There are a lot of books, blog posts and seminars about how to assess and remove obstacles that hinder healthy growth. My church and I have been helped by many of them.

But is it ever possible that a church may have reached its optimal size? Is there a point at which pushing for greater numbers might be counterproductive to the life, health and effectiveness of a church?

And, if there is, how would we know that?

I struggled with that challenge for years. My story is detailed in The Grasshopper Myth, so I won’t go into it again, but one result of that struggle was that we realized our church is better, healthier and more effective at around 200 than we were at around 400.

200 is our optimal size (let’s call it our shoe size). For now anyway.

It’s not that we aimed for this size or plan to stay at this size. It’s just that this is where we seem to do our best work for now. And it may be that way for a long time.

But how does a church know what their shoe size is? And, if we have in fact reached that place, do we just sit and settle? What about growth?

5 Clues Your Church May Have Reached Its Shoe Size Read More »

6 Lessons, Blessings & Cautions from 2 Years of Blogging

/ 6 minutes of reading

Last month, the second anniversary of NewSmallChurch.com passed by without notice. No, I don’t feel sad that none one sent me a card. Hallmark is still working on a set of “Your blog is two years old today!” cards.

I just didn’t remember it myself. I’m not big on anniversaries.

But we have passed that two-year mark, so I decided to take a moment to reflect on what’s happened in the last two years, and what I’ve learned from it.

Truthfully, it’s almost hard to remember what my life and ministry was like before I started this. Writing, blogging, travelling and speaking has taken up such a chunk of my time that it’s completely changed my schedule. I’ve met so many great people that I would no know today without this.

But mostly, the last two years have re-affirmed the premise of this blog and The Grasshopper Myth – that playing the numbers game in ministry is a dangerous thing.

Yes, reaching more people is better than reaching fewer people. This blog and my book have reached ten times more people in these two years than I expected to reach in my lifetime, and I’m profoundly grateful for that. After all, we write, preach, teach and pastor to touch people’s lives. It’s appropriate that we want those efforts to have a positive impact on as many people as possible.

But readership and attendance numbers can only tell us so much. And some of what we think they’re telling us is false.

6 Lessons, Blessings & Cautions from 2 Years of Blogging Read More »

Why Hasn’t Church Growth Elevated Our Communities? (A Sincere Question Seeking Honest Feedback)

/ 5 minutes of reading

Today’s post is filled with questions I don’t have answers for. That’s where you come in. Warm up your typing fingers to add feedback in the comment section. But first, a little background. For the past 20 years I’ve pastored a Small Church in Orange County, California. In the past 50-plus years this county has given birth

Why Hasn’t Church Growth Elevated Our Communities? (A Sincere Question Seeking Honest Feedback) Read More »

The Elements of a Healthy Small Church – And the Hidden Agenda that Can Kill It

/ 4 minutes of reading

What does a healthy Small Church look like? It looks like a healthy big church – in all the ways that matter, anyway. No, a healthy Small Church is not just a miniaturized version of a healthy big church. Pastors who try to do that are usually concentrating on the externals. And it never works

The Elements of a Healthy Small Church – And the Hidden Agenda that Can Kill It Read More »

Grow It or Close It? Is There a Third Option for Struggling Small Churches?

/ 5 minutes of reading

What are we going to do about all those struggling Small Churches? That question has been the subject of endless ministerial (especially denominational) hand-wringing in the last several decades. A lot of time and money has been invested in conversations, books, seminars and classes attempting to fix this problem. Struggling Small churches are usually given

Grow It or Close It? Is There a Third Option for Struggling Small Churches? Read More »

“How Will We Measure Our Success?” – The Question the Disciples Forgot to Ask Jesus

/ 4 minutes of reading

“If it’s OK for a church to be small, how do you suggest we measure a church’s success?” Since starting the ministry of New Small Church, I’ve been asked that question more than any other. Maybe more than all other questions combined. At first I didn’t know how to answer it. Now I answer that

“How Will We Measure Our Success?” – The Question the Disciples Forgot to Ask Jesus Read More »