You give away a lot more than you realize when you’re on the internet.
Now that I operate a website, I get to see some of those secrets because I can read the search terms that have led people there.
I’ve always known that Mondays are hard for pastors. I now have direct evidence that they can be especially hard for small church pastors.
“Small Church Pastors Should Quit” (and More Monday Google Searches) Read More »
I read another one of those church growth blog posts recently. You know the ones. A list of steps your church can take to break through whatever growth barrier you’re facing.
It was a very good list. Every one of the principles was about church health. In fact, as I read it, something started feeling very familiar. As I finished reading, I realized where the feeling of familiarity was coming from.
“Hey, that’s our church!” I said with a smile – to an empty room. “We do all those! We’ve been doing them for years. Cool!”
Yes, the picture the author drew of a healthy, growing church was an accurate description of the church I pastor. In all but one way.
Despite years of following every healthy step on the church growth list, our church hasn’t broken the numerical growth barriers.
We Followed the Steps – Where’s the Church Growth? Read More »
Many pastors feel pushed towards church growth, but they don’t feel like they get the help they need from church leaders when that growth fails to materialize. Which it doesn’t for over 90 percent of pastors and churches, no matter how much they want it, or how hard they work, pray, and follow all the church growth advice they can find.
So I’ve written a starter list for church growth proponents and denominational officials. When it comes to helping small church pastors, please consider these six principles:
1. Stop equating size with health
Big churches are great. But size is not the only (or even the best) indicator of health.
2. Stop pushing hurting churches to get bigger
Are You Pushing Pastors to Build Bigger Churches? Please Catch Us When We Fall Read More »
There are two ways for churches to gather the information we need. Conversations or surveys. When we take surveys we get statistics. When we have conversations we hear stories.
Statistics and stories. They each give us very different kinds of information.
In recent years, it’s been typical to elevate the value of stats, while devaluing the role of stories. Stats are more accurate, we’re told. And that’s true – in certain circumstances.
Talk to any statistical analyst (you know, the one who lives down the block from you) and ask them how the value of statistics changes depending on the number of people surveyed (the sample size), and here’s what you’ll find.
When the sample size is large, statistics are accurate and valuable. When the sample size is small, statistics can be very inaccurate and misleading.
As a church grows larger, statistics matter more and stories can be misleading. When a church is smaller, stories matter more and statistics can be misleading.
Why Stories Matter More than Stats In a Small Church Read More »
Small churches receive a lot from our megachurch friends. We read their books, sing their songs, use their curriculum and attend their seminars. And we’re grateful.
But the benefits don’t have to flow only one way. There are important, though less obvious principles that megachurches can learn from small churches.
Healthy small churches have characteristics that make them work. It’s not a mistake that over half the believers in the world choose to attend a small church. These principles can be a blessing to big churches too. It’s not that they aren’t being done by bigger churches, but they’re be more obvious in smaller ones.
As you read them, you’ll notice they tend to have one theme in common. Relationships.
5 Principles Megachurches Can Learn From Small Churches Read More »
It’s in the nature of smaller groups to find it harder to incorporate new people. Unfortunately, some churches make it harder than it needs to be by resisting even the smallest changes that naturally arise from welcoming new people.
No, we should never change on foundational theology. But we need to realize that everyone who comes into our church will change it a little.
Every mature believer.
Every nonbeliever.
Every long-time church-goer.
Every wide-eyed seeker.
Mature believers will change us in some ways – maybe with greater wisdom. Seekers will change us in other ways – perhaps to be more patient and loving.
But everyone will change us.
Why Growth is Harder In a Small Church – And Change Is Essential Read More »
Every once-in-a-while, as I’m talking with a pastor who’s excited about what God is doing in their church, there’s an awkward pause when it comes to the numbers part.
They might be telling me about how their church is getting healthy, prayerful, missional, etc. Then, just as they’re about to tell me about their numerical growth, things get weird.
Sometimes they’ll change course awkwardly in mid-sentence. Or they’ll tell me about their numerical growth, then apologize for their enthusiasm, with something like “I know numbers aren’t supposed to matter, but sometimes I can’t help it.”
My response to them is always the same.
Never apologize for church growth. Ever.
Never Apologize for Church Growth Read More »
If you were trying to help someone, would you want to know if you were unintentionally hurting them?
Of course.
Sometimes that’s what happens when big churches try to help small churches.
Not every time. Not even most of the time. But often enough that many small church pastors have stopped looking for help from their big church counterparts. Not because they don’t want help. Not because they’ve given up.
Because they’re tired of being hurt.
And I don’t mean hurt feelings. I mean actual damage caused to churches, pastors and their ministries. Because that’s what happens when we make, and act on assumptions.
Here are 7 assumptions I’ve seen well-meaning big churches and their pastors make that cause unintentional harm to small churches and their pastors.
7 Big Church Assumptions that Unintentionally Hurt Small Churches Read More »
Adapting to new methods to tell the old, old story may be our greatest defense against unbiblical compromise. Why? Because the greatest danger of compromise comes, not from choosing to move forward, but from the almost invisible magnetic appeal of coasting along with today’s methods and yesterday’s comfort.
When we choose to move forward, we’re more conscious of the change and its inherent threats. When we stand still, we’re less aware of the dangers.
We need to recognize that the world is changing. Instead of clinging to the past, coasting in the present, or chasing the future, we need to do what the Apostle Paul did – use the best methods available to communicate the gospel’s eternal truths. (1 Cor 9:20-23)
Coasting is Compromise: The Importance of Being a Proactive Church Read More »
We live in an increasingly post-denominational world. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, it’s just the way things are now.
Years ago, virtually every friend I had in ministry was within my denomination. Every program we used came from our denominational headquarters. The idea of ministering in any significant way outside our ranks wasn’t forbidden or scary – it just didn’t occur to me.
Not any more. Now my denominational connections are just one factor among many that determine my pastoral friendships, my church’s programs and my ministry opportunities.
I haven’t rejected my denomination. They haven’t rejected me. It just doesn’t factor into our decision-making in the way it used to.
Something else has taken over as a stronger factor in how my church makes its decisions.
The size of my church.
And I’m not alone in this.
How Church Size Culture Is Affecting the Decline of Denominations Read More »
