I recently got a note from a pastor who thought that we at The Effective Church Group are down on small churches … that the only faithful churches are large churches. “The larger the better, it seems.”
Let me crystal clear: There’s nothing wrong with small churches. In the words of some smartie, “God must love small churches … he made so many of them!”
Let me say it again … There’s not a thing wrong with a small church.
That said, however, a church that isn’t growing is almost always a sinful, self-absorbed church … in fact, a non-growing church isn’t a church. It’s a club for the members.
But a growing church doesn’t mean that it has to grow and become a large church. There are a number of advantages of a small church, including being able to build very close relationships with some and still know pretty much everyone’s name. BUT … grow you must, if you’re going to be faithful to the commission and the commands of the founder.
So, what do you do if you want to maintain a small church mindset and remain faithful?
You grow … then you start new churches by sending the extra people “out” to get the new churches started. You don’t have to be mega church … or even a large church … to start a new church. You just have to be intentional about it. Of course, that also means you have to be willing to let go of some of those new people, but if you don’t you’ll end up with a large church.
Grow. Send. Repeat. It’s the faithful way to be and remain a small church.
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