Big Little Church 2018

Monday Night: 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

 

Bigger fixes nothing

 

Don’t fall for IKEA Envy

 

People will come to small churches, but they won’t give up quality to do so

 

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

 

Ask for help

 

 


Tuesday Morning: How to Discover And Use What Your Church Does Well

with Karl Vaters

 

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?

 

The smaller the crowd, the more impact each person has – for good and bad

 

Big church principles center on process, systems & curriculum

(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

 

Hearing God’s Heart Together

  1. The Sweet Spot: God, the church and the pastor’s hearts meet
  2. The Default: God and the pastor, but not the church
  3. The Listening Place: God and the church, but not the pastor
  4. The Danger Zone: The Church and the pastor, but not God

 

Over 1 billion people choose to worship God in small churches

 

 


Wednesday Morning:

Preparing For Tomorrow By Equipping The Church Today

with Karl Vaters

 

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

 

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

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