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Forget Being Culturally Relevant – Let’s Get Contextually Real
“How do I get my church to grow?” That is the #1 question asked by pastors today. I used to ask that question a lot. I take an entire chapter of The Grasshopper Myth to tell how pursuing the answer to it nearly killed me and my church. I don’t ask that question any more.
What’s Better? 5,000 In a Megachurch? Or 5,000 In 50 Small Churches?
They’re the same. So what do you think? Author Karl Vaters View all posts
How to Delegate When There’s No One Around: Six Lessons I Learned the Hard Way
“Delegate pastor, delegate.” I’ve heard that wise advice hundreds of times – literally. Ron Cook was the chair of the pulpit committee that brought me to the church I’ve pastored for over 20 years now. In the first few years here, whenever he’d catch me doing something myself instead of training someone else to do
Why Hasn’t Church Growth Elevated Our Communities? (A Sincere Question Seeking Honest Feedback)
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
Hanging Out Is Holy – And Healthy Small Churches Take It Seriously
I love hanging out with innovative, passionate Small Church pastors. They have such great stories and they can’t wait to tell them. The more I listen, the more I learn. We all know the value of hanging out with people who share our heart, don’t we? If we’re honest, most of us who attend ministerial
The Elements of a Healthy Small Church – And the Hidden Agenda that Can Kill It
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 Essential First Step to Having a Healthy Small Church
In my last post, Grow It or Close It? Is There a Third Option for Struggling Small Churches?, we established that there are more options for a struggling Small Church than to grow it or close it. We can help it become a healthy Small Church. But there’s an inevitable question that follows, isn’t there? Namely, how?
Grow It or Close It? Is There a Third Option for Struggling Small Churches?
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
“How Will We Measure Our Success?” – The Question the Disciples Forgot to Ask Jesus
“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
