Thursday, April 17, Breakout Sessions
Preparing For Tomorrow By Equipping The Church Today
with Karl Vaters
Challenges for the current and future church
- The way people give is changing
- The way people commit is changing
- The way people attend is changing
- The way people trust is changing
- Brand loyalty is dead
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
The pastoral prime mandate: Equip the saints to do ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12)
- Be the congregation’s pastor, not their chaplain
Use the Jethro system to raise up leaders
- 10, 50, 100, 1,000
- Look for Level 10 leaders, first
Find leaders by looking for servants
- Value passion and willingness over experience and status
Start with one
When thinking small changed the world
Wednesday, April 17, Session 1
Big or Small: Embracing The Difference For More Innovative 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
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
The smaller the crowd, the more impact each person has – for good and bad
Big church principles center on process, systems & curriculum
- Small church principles center on relationships, culture & history
(Need help changing your church culture? I recommend Dirt Matters, by Jim Powell.)
Big changes come from small places
Wednesday, April 17, Session 2
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?
Discover what your church does well, then do it on purpose
- The Sweet Spot: God, the church and the pastor’s hearts meet
- The Default: God and the pastor, but not the church
- The Listening Place: God and the church, but not the pastor
- The Danger Zone: The Church and the pastor, but not God
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
- Churches can handle change, but they don’t like to be surprised
- Give the leaders time to ponder big decisions
Over 1 billion people choose to worship God in small churches
NewSmallChurch.com • ChristianityToday.com/Karl-Vaters
Facebook.com/NewSmallChurch • @KarlVaters • CornerstoneFV.com