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SMALL CHURCHES ARE A GIFT

by Jeffrey Hagan
9/19/2014 / Christian Living

by Rev. Jeff Hagan, DCE, DMin, (ThD)

Introduction:
Small churches have been receiving a lot of undue criticism lately. Everything is "Mega, mega, mega." Everything is "big, big,big." Everything is "numbers, numbers, numbers." Well, regardless of whether or not small churches want me to defend them, I am going to do so in this article anyway.

Just for the record, I've been on staff, or on the board, or a volunteer, and/or an attender at small churches, medium churches, large churches, and mega-churches. So the observations made about the positives of small churches are made form both an insiders point of view as well as an outsider looking in.

Let me start by looking at a rather small church of which I served as the Associate Pastor. The church started with about 35 people and grew to about 200, maybe a little less. At first we met in a small hotel conference room, then we moved into a larger conference room at the same hotel, and eventually rented the entire upper floor of a strip mall. Although we could seat 200, on Sundays there were usually only about 140 to 150 people present. Our nursery area was a small section divided off from the rest of the floor and had toys and books which were older than I am now. To put it bluntly, we were not a mega-church in numbers, attitude, resources, or philosophy.

Over the years I have realized how beneficial being part of that small church, and others like it, was. I am so thankful for that church and all of the unexpected opportunities it offered me. There were, and are, great benefits specifically related to small churches. Following is a very short list of some of those opportunities and benefits.

Benefits of a Small Church:

First Being forced into community. I am primarily an introvert. Even having been in ministry for nearly 23 years, the fact remains that I am by nature an introvert. However, when there are fewer people at a location, it makes it harder to sneak away. The first Sunday I attended this church I sat in the backrow with every intention of dipping out early and evaluating the service in my head as I drove home. This had become my standard method of operation as I was looking for a church home. Something happened this time though, it was too compact of an area to get up and leave early without disturbing the entire service. I was "forced" to stay, "forced" to have conversations afterward, "forced" to feel appreciated for coming, and "forced" into being invited back. As much as I wanted to remain anonymous, and as much as I still have the urge to do so, it was good for me to be forced into community and it has served me well as I've moved on to other positions.

Second Being forced into service. Forced is a strong word for me on this one, as I was actually looking for a place to serve, but the general principle behind this is true. When I returned to college, after taking several years off, it was easy to visit one of the larger churches in the area, enjoy the music, absorb the sermon, grab a visitors packet, and disappear afterward with no strings attached. This is much more difficult to do in a smaller environment. Remember Isaiah's vision of the Lord? There were many angels around, but Isaiah was the only human being to see this. When the Lord said, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" there weren't any other real options. I guess Isaiah could have said "no," but if he would have he'd have been underlining his own unwillingness as the excuse he had nobody else to hide behind. In the same way, in a small church atmosphere, when something needs to get done, it's much harder to just let it go and trust that someone else will probably handle it. In a small church, one's attitude needs to be, "Here I am. Send me. I'll do it. I'll help." This isn't always what people prefer, but it's almost always for their own good.

Third Being confronted with diversity. You might think that such a small church in one small town would have little to no diversity, but such was not the case. We had a surprising amount of diversity. We had a variety of different ethnic groups, people with differing financial statuses, and individuals holding a host of different perspectives regarding almost every issue one could think of. In fact, if someone were to look at this group they would probably ask themselves, "What on earth do these people have in common?" And to be honest, I think that is just what the church should be. The church should be made up of diverse people uniting into one Body because we have one very important thing in common, in fact it is THE most important thing: Jesus Christ is our head.

Here's an example, if I want to throw a party or a barbeque I might be tempted to invite only those I have the most in common with, those whose beliefs and interests are similar to mine. Now, a small church doesn't necessarily stop this from happening, but it does make it more difficult to isolate in this way. At this small church, whenever someone new would come for worship, and especially if they spent much time with us, they bring their unique personality and perspective. Their presence adds flavor to the casserole. When working at, or even attending, a large church it's easy to form cliques with people most like us. Small churches are such a gift, in part, because we are forced to mingle with people older than us, younger than us, more liberal than us, more conservative than us, people with less money than us, people with more money than us, people with less education than us, people with more education than us, and all kinds of people who have different struggles than we do.

Fourth Being offered opportunities. Larger churches have more people as resources and you can decide who does what by using knowledge of the skills people already have. And I've got to tell you, that's a big plus in the pursuit of ministry volunteers. However, there's also much to be said about developing and discipling people into leadership roles that are needed. Many years ago I was asked to serve as a deacon at the church I was a member of at the time. I was in my early to mid twenties, I was attending bible college, and I had grown up in church, but I still had absolutely no clue of what would be expected of me, but I also knew that we were no mega-church and we did not have a long list of qualified candidates. I wouldn't say I was ready for any of the responsibilities that came with the position: fund raising for the benevolence ministry, deciding how to distribute those funds, creating budgets, running a big brother program, running a coats for homeless program, planning holiday services and activities, ushering duties, assisting with baptisms, and more. But you know what? Many times readiness isn't important, it's obedience that's key. Most likely I would have never been given this opportunity if our church would have been much larger. I am very grateful I was given the chance when I wasn't prepared for it it forced me to use and develop gifts I had but didn't know I had.

Now, back to the church of my original comments, I was given numerous opportunities to preach and teach. I knew I was called to ministry and prior to this church I served a term on the Board of Deacons (which I just discussed above) at a different church, and I also had served on staff at another church assisting their youth pastor and eventually working in the counseling department. But the pastor of the smaller church really worked with me and helped me to develop sermons and lessons and gave me a platform to grow in those skills. In fact, for some reason God was using me greatly so the church decided to bring me on as Associate Pastor where I served for about six years.

Conclusion:
Admittedly, there were some days when being part of a small church wasn't that great. Like when I've got to deal with conflict between people in the body because they are family, and abandoning family is not an option (regardless of how tempting it may be at times). Like when I felt obligated to take on just one more duty on an already overflowing plate. In circumstances like these I often wished we were larger and had hip and happening programs with scores of volunteers. But then, once I would lead a bible study for the youth, or preach a sermon where a large portion of the congregation responded, or when I was hurting and would be comforted by someone that I knew cared, or when I'd see people stacking chairs with smiles on their faces, or had the privilege of baptizing a brother or sister in Christ, or when we had to stop everything right in the middle of a Sunday service to pray because of a pressing need we were just informed of, I would see a small community deeply committed to each other and all of those extras seemed insignificant. A small, rag tag group of people going about the work of the Kingdom is a powerful thing.

Small churches are a gift. There are many positives to being part of a small church. Don't be so quick to write them off or think there must be something wrong with them. Chances are they're more healthy than that mega-church meeting in the sports arena.

Jeff Hagan is the President of True Grace Ministries and Theological Institute. Interested? www.preacherjeff45.wlxsite.com/truegracetheolgical

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