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9 Essential Elements of a Healthy Small Church Experience
When someone goes to a healthy Small Church for the first time, what should they expect?
That’s an easier question to answer for big churches, because they have a lot more in common with each other. Once any group – church or not – is serving 1,000 or more people at a time, certain systems have to be in place. So, while big churches each have their own personality, there is a level of quality control that we all expect to see. Age-appropriate Kid Ministries, high-end musicianship, professional-quality graphics and printed materials, etc. It’s like going to a brand-name restaurant when you’re travelling. There’s a comfort level in knowing what you’re going to get.
But the kinds of experience you’ll have in Small Churches vary widely. It’s more like visiting a new town and deciding to check out the local diner. You don’t know what you’re going to get, but you take the risk because you want local cuisine. And you’re hoping for an experience you can’t get anywhere else.
But, even in a Small Church, as varied as they are, first-time guests have the right to expect certain things that tell them the church is healthy. Like a local restaurant should observe standard requirements for cleanliness, service and food quality, Small Churches should have a baseline of quality that people can rely on.
In one of my most-read posts, 23 Non-Numerical Signs of a Healthy Church, I wrote about some of the ways we can tell if a church is healthy, even if we don’t have the numerical growth that many seem to believe is a requirement.
Here are a few things that I think are a baseline that every guest has a right to expect in any healthy Small Church. These are universal. The standards every church needs to observe if they want to create a great worship experience that people will want to come back for.
A Healthy Church Should Always Look Something Like This
Last Sunday, Skylar and Gene chatted in the hallway between services at our church. I took this picture of them without them knowing it. It was Gene’s 90th birthday. Skylar is in her early teens.
Three-quarters of a century separates their ages. Gene has great-grandchildren older than Skylar.
On Monday through Saturday their lives could not look more different. But on Sunday mornings, that distance gets reduced to no wider than the space between their chairs.
Gene can’t always make it to church any more. And when he does, he can’t sit in in the folding chairs we set up in the main room. So, while Skylar and the rest of us sit, stand, clap and raise our hands in worship in the sanctuary, Gene sits quietly in an armchair in the lobby and listens.
When the service is over, the second part of church begins for Gene. He can’t get up and walk around as people chat, laugh and hang out in the lobby, so he sits quietly in his chair. But he’s seldom sitting alone. People like Skylar stop and chat with Gene, soaking in his quiet friendliness and wisdom.
Why “Preach Like the Room Is Full!” Is Terrible Advice
“Even if only three people show up to church, preach like the room is full!”
That’s some of the worst advice I’ve ever received in ministry. And I’m not the only one who’s received it. Many of you have heard it to. Some of you may have repeated it.
If so, stop.
It’s not a good idea. In fact, it’s a very bad idea.
Let me explain.
If what people mean by “preach like the room is full” is that a smaller crowd should get the same quality of ministry that you’d give to a larger crowd, then I am in full agreement. Everyone should always get our best.
But if that’s what we mean, that’s what we need to say. “Give a small crowd the same quality experience as you would give a large crowd.”
The problem with saying “preach like the room is full” is that there are too many pastors taking that saying literally – and it’s hurting their church, not helping it.
Preaching to 10 people as if there are 300 in the room is not the best way to give those 10 people a quality church experience. It’s just awkward.
Here’s an example.
Overcoming the Danger of Ministry Silos in the Small Church
If you’ve never heard of the term “ministry silo” before now, don’t worry. I first heard it a couple months ago, when some bloggers started using it. It’s one of those terms that’s really new, but people use it like everyone is supposed to automatically know what it means. I had to Google it.
Tim Stevens, in his very helpful new book, Fairness Is Overrated writes that “Silos are the walls that are between departments in an organization.”
Imagine a silo on a farm. It’s that very tall building filled with valuable crops. But it’s separated from the rest of the buildings by very high walls.
On a farm, silos protect the crops from cross-contamination. In a church, says Stevens, “Silos turn colleagues into competitors. …Silos will tear apart a church faster than just about anything. From a silo-built church come jealousy, slander, gossip, bitterness, conflict, and competition.”
In my experience, silos happen in two way in Small Churches – both of which need to be identified and overcome.
10 Principles to Get the Best From Volunteer Church Leaders
Volunteer leaders are the backbone of the Small Church.
In bigger churches, most or all of the first- and second-tier leaders are hired (Namely, the pastoral staff and department heads). That’s a great thing. When you hire someone, it’s much easier to require certain tasks and enforce your expectations. After all, they have a financial stake in how well they perform as a church leader.
But Small Churches are led by volunteers. Volunteers who can quit at any time. And when they do quit, it doesn’t hurt them financially, it actually frees up more of their spare time. So we need to give them good reasons to stick around.
It’s one of many aspects that make pastoring the Small Church a unique challenge.
I’ve been in Small Church ministry for almost three decades – over 22 at my current church. In that time, I’ve learned a handful of great principles that help our church attract and keep the best group of volunteer leaders I’ve ever worked with.
Here are 10 of them:
Morality Has No Expiration Date
I have a confession to make.
I watch Downton Abbey.
And not in a “my wife makes me watch it” way, but in an “I can’t believe how good this is!” way.
Yes, I actually like it.
For those unfamiliar with the show, Downton Abbey (Not Downtown Abbey. Pronouncing it that way makes fans cringe) is a British drama that was set in the 1910s when it started several seasons ago, but has since moved into the Roaring 20s.
I seldom talk about my TV viewing habits in this forum. But I’m bringing it up today because in last night’s episode there was a fleeting moment where an argument was made which always sets my teeth on edge.
Innovative Churches Have Pastors with a Healthy Curiosity
There are some really boring pastors out there. Boring pastors of bored churches.
At least I assume so, because I’ve heard the tales from their church members – usually former church members.
But, despite all the stories, I haven’t actually met many boring pastors.
Because boring pastors tend not to hang out with other pastors. They don’t come to conferences. They don’t read books or blogs. They don’t do much of anything, because they lack one vital ingredient that’s found in pastors who are always open to new ideas and vibrant relationships. A healthy curiosity.
(To be fair, that’s not the only reason many pastors don’t read the latest books or go to conferences. Many Small Church pastors would read the latest books if they could afford them, and most bivocational pastors would go to conferences if they could get the time off. They’re not the boring ones. They’re the unsung heroes.)
Church Methods Don’t Matter – Until We Do Them Wrong
We won’t change the world by adopting new methods in the church. We won’t even save the church that way.
What will change the world is a praying church. A loving church. A worshiping church. An outwardly-focused church. A Jesus-centric church.
The Great Commandment and the Great Commission are all that matter. They haven’t changed in 2,000 years because they don’t need to.
But.
I’m going to use new methods anyway.
I’ll tell you why in a moment. But first, a lesson in typesetting. (No, I’m not crazy. My mother had me tested).
Yes, the Church Can Still Reach “Kids These Days”
Disrespectful, thoughtless, destructive and selfish!
That’s what kids these days are! Including the youth in our neighborhood.
My church had a new sign installed just before Christmas. It took three years to design, raise funds and build it. It looks great. But the day it was installed, teenagers from the neighborhood were flipping their skateboards along the base of the sign, threatening to gouge holes in it.
My youth pastor caught them red-handed, and do you know what he did? He told them we love having them here, he asked them not to skateboard on the sign, then he invited them in for the church – and they came in.
What he didn’t do was get mad at them. Or call them any of the names in my first sentence.
