Small and effective? Is it possible? According to the Bible, church history, and the latest research, the answer is a resounding yes!

Small churches not only can be effective, but when they see their size, not as a problem to fix, but as part of a strategy Jesus is using to build his church, they become some of the most effective congregations in the world.

In this session, Karl Vaters will walk through the three essential shifts pastors need to make to help the congregation you lead become heathier and more effective at the size it is right now.

(This session is best used as a one-session substitute that can be used instead of the longer two-session set of Redefining Success In Ministry and Big Churches, Small Churches – What’s the Difference?)

Small churches don’t cast vision from the top down. In this session, we’ll talk about how to cast vision differently in a smaller congregation, while still honoring the current leadership and utilizing your pastoral gifts.

There’s a lot of trauma in ministry. Now, with pastors burning out and churches closing, it’s hard to see our way forward.  Thankfully, God gave us a way to recover and heal from it.

The book of Acts tells us that David served “God’s purpose in his own generation.” We want to do the same in ours.

We’re used to thinking of generations as age groups, but today’s fast-moving changes apply to all ages, from grandmothers to their grandchildren, and everyone in between.

In this talk, Karl outlines strategies for building a healthy church by ministering to the age group you’re best-suited to reach.

(35-45 minutes)

This session outlines several principles that are based on hundreds of conversations with church leaders and small-church pastors that have been through sesons of difficuly, but have come out stronger.

In this session, we’ll see:

• Two keys to recovery
• Three ways small churches can respond to current situations
• Four differences between churches that survived and thrived through difficult seasons, and those that have struggled or collapsed

(30-45 minutes)

Making predictions is always dangerous. But there are trends that can help us anticipate and prepare for the coming years of challenge for the church.

This session outlines these challenges through four different lenses, as taken from conversations with over 100 small-church pastors:

• What is coming
• What’s probably coming
• What probably isn’t coming
• What we can do about it

(45-60 minutes)

Most of our churches and denominations were designed with the expectation of a full-time pastor as the norm. For many generations it was possible for a church with just a few dozen people to fully support a minister and their family.

Not anymore.

In this talk, Karl shares nine adjustments that congregations, pastors and other church leaders must seriously consider in the new reality of a side-hustle world.

(30-45 minutes)

In a big church, only the friendliest people are on the First Impressions team. But in a small church, anyone can make that first impression.

Would  you like to help your church be friendlier to newcomers? With this simple plan, which has been utilized by hundreds of small churches, Karl teaches how to increase the friendliness quotient of your church immediately, painlessly, and permanently.

(20-35 minutes)