Taught by Karl Vaters
SESSION 1: Three Ways a Small Church Can Be an Effective Church
1. Realize your small church can be an effective church
“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?
People will come to small churches, but they won’t give up quality to do so
2. Discover how small churches function differently from big churches
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
3. Understand and use the unique DNA of your small church for God’s glory
The smaller the crowd, the more impact each person has – for good and bad
Big churches prioritize process, systems & programs
- Small churches prioritize relationships, culture & history
(Need help changing your church culture? I recommend Dirt Matters, by Jim Powell.)
Don’t do what our founders did, think like our founders thought
SESSION 2: How to Discover and Use What Your Church Does Well
The pastoral Prime Mandate: to equip God’s people for works of service (Eph 4:11-12)
The three essential elements of a healthy, effective church: The Great Commandment, Great Commission and Equipping God’s people
- Unhealthy churches aren’t doing the Great Commandment, the Great Commission or equipping God’s people
- Loving, but ineffective churches are doing the Great Commandment, but not the Great Commission or equipping God’s people
- Overworked pastor and passive members when we’re doing the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, but are not equipping God’s people
- Healthy, effective churches and pastors are doing all three
Do what you know to do, pay attention to what works, and why
After you discover what your church does well, do it on purpose
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
SESSION 3: COVID-19 – What’s Working In Churches That Are Thriving
Smaller churches need to:
- Respond Contextually
- Minister Personally
- Prepare Continually
Churches that are responding and thriving during the pandemic have:
- Resources in reserve
- Team-based leadership
- Adaptability
- Unity
We’re all experiencing multiple levels of severe trauma
Denial >> Anger >> Bargaining >> Depression >> Acceptance
- Everyone has a default reaction to trauma
Recognize your own trauma first
- Don’t let your trigger become your truth
When people are in trauma they can’t hear explanations
- They need familiarity and stability
Post-COVID: use changes as springboard to simplification
- Don’t restart ministries you wouldn’t start
When times are normal, leaders inspire change
When times are disruptive, leaders provide stability
SESSION 4: Finding & Mentoring Volunteers In Today’s (And Tomorrow’s) Small Church
For too many years, we’ve measured ministry “success” by church attendance
- We have to shift our focus from attendance to influence
Equip the people you have to reach the people you don’t have
Find leaders by looking for servants
- It’s easier to teach a servant to lead than to teach a leader to serve
Use the Jethro system to raise up leaders
- 10, 50, 100, 1,000
- Look for Level 10 leaders, first
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
