Small Churches Are Not a Problem, a Virtue or an Excuse

I love small churches. But I refuse to idealize them. There’s not an ounce of nostalgia in me for some long-lost, non-existent, good-old-days when everyone attended a little white chapel and all was right with the world. I also refuse to blame small churches for what’s wrong with the state of Christianity today. I will no longer sit idly by while church leaders cite statistics about how many small churches there are, as though it’s all the proof we need that Christianity is in trouble. But I won’t let small churches off the hook, either. Just because we’re small doesn’t give us an excuse to do ministry with anything less than Christ-honoring, people-serving, world-transforming passion. In short, small churches are not a problem to be fixed, a virtue to be praised or an excuse to do shoddy work. But we are normal.

April 27, 2016

by Karl Vaters

I love small churches. But I refuse to idealize them.

I also refuse to blame small churches for what’s wrong with the state of Christianity today.

But I won’t let small churches off the hook, either.

In short, small churches are not a problem to be fixed, a virtue to be praised or an excuse to do shoddy work.

But we are normal.

Author

Karl Vaters

Karl 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.
Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience. He and his wife, Shelley have three children and two grandkids.

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