Chico Alliance Church
Pastor David Welch
“The Advantages of the Small Church”
Introduction
I have wrestled most of my ministry career with the subject of church growth and health; what constitutes success.
Numerous movements and strategies have come and gone.
Nearly all the conferences for pastors featured pastors and leaders from large churches across the country causing guilt or shame for not grwoing.
The one exception was a conference held at Cannon Beach Conference center call the “Rural Pastors Congress” limited to pastors serving congregations of less than 100.
The impression one gets from all the other conferences has been that the number one goal is to grow as big as you can.
Your worth links to the number of people in the flock.
Other pastors ask, “How big is your church?”
I have felt tempted to answer by giving the number of square feet in the church building.
Many of the strategies did not come from the bible but how some pastor grew his congregation.
Many of the strategies came from the latest marketing insights.
Pastors laid aside their Bible and theology courses and took up business and growth strategies.
The assumption is that if you are not growing numerically, you are dying.
If your church isn’t a certain size it has plateaued or is dying.
The criteria for a pastor’s success is people in the pews and bucks in the bank.
Disclaimer: In dealing with this subject my intent is not to bash big churches or say a big church is wrong.
Issues of health or Right or wrong in a church have more to do with other things than size.
There is wrong perceptions on both sides.
The small churches envy and bash the big churches some time out of jealousy.
The big churches look down and minimalize the small churches out of superiority.
Chico has experienced a varied numerical history from minimal early days to glory days to growth days to what some have considered dying days.
I am not here to argue that small is bad or big is bad or small or large is healthy.
You can have an unhealthy big church as well as an unhealthy small church.
I also believe you can have a healthy big church as well as a healthy small church.
I have been taking a new look at God’s design and what the focus of a local congregation should be.
Today’s message comes from some of the thoughts gathered from my study and reading and conversations with God over the past several months.
I am sure that I am not done, but I have come away recognizing what one author called the “grasshopper myth.”
That comes from the passage describing the feeling of the Israelites on the brink of entering the promised land.
"There also we saw the giants; and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." Numbers 13:33
We sometime see ourselves as insignificant because we use the wrong criteria.
The key has to do with having God’s perspective.
Let’s consider some national statistics drawn from Karl Vater's book.
93% of American churches (under 350) are small, while 80% (under 200) are very small. If size equals success, then 93% of pastors are unsuccessful, bad at their jobs and inadequate at fulfilling their calling, while 80% are very bad at their jobs – a number I escape being a part of, but barely. So 80% to 93% of pastors are failures? Can that be right? No. Half of all Christians in America, and far more than half of Christians worldwide attend a Small Church, not because they lack options, but – shockingly – they go to a Small Church because they want to! Vaters, Karl.
Try this. There are approximately 4,000 mega churches serving 100 million people worldwide. Small churches around the world serve over 1 billion people.
Consider a comparison of focus between IKEA and STARBUCKS suggested by Karl.
One has a “the bigger the better” model
The other has a “the smaller the better” model.
Consider a Starbucks executive trying to apply an IKEA strategy.
Currently, the average Starbucks store is less than 800 square feet. We have sent out our spies with measuring tapes and they have discovered that the average IKEA store is well over 100,000 square feet. Some are as large as 200,000 square feet! And our current trend of placing Starbucks locations inside other businesses like grocery stores, entertainment venues and banks is lowering the average store size even more. In the opinion of this Task Force, this is simply unacceptable. If we hope to compete with IKEA, we need to increase the size of the average Starbucks location, and we need to get started NOW! In the brochures we’ve handed out, you will find a multi-year strategy that, in the opinion of this Task Force, we must implement immediately:
? Hold grow-your-store seminars, starting immediately. Shamefully, most of our franchisees know little or nothing about how to build a bigger store, and most of them are content to just keep serving coffee in the same small store location
? Launch a Bigger Stores Make Better Coffee campaign to motivate store growth and encourage the acquisition and launching of new Large Store properties
? Require all Starbucks stores that currently rent space inside another retail outlet to purchase their own property for a larger stand-alone Starbucks, following our five-year timeline
? Drop franchisees whose stores don’t meet a minimum limit of square footage and combine their assets with nearby stores to buy land and build larger stores
? Change the name Starbucks to STARBUCKS
Vaters, Karl.
When Jesus said he would build His church did he mean that every church needs to continue to increase in size or that there should be a multiplication of small congregations throughout the world?
So many places in the world have large impact through small congregations.
Christianity in China grew exponentially after the communists took over and true believers went underground.
It is estimated that there are 67 to 163 million believers in China on a path to become 250 million by 2030.
Due to the CM&A there are 1.2 million members gathering in mostly small congregations throughout Vietnam despite communist rule and persecution.
Jesus expended much more time and attention of his three short years of ministry to the small group than the crowds. The crowds were not due to advertising or promotion. Generally, the crowds gathered spontaneously to hear Jesus’ teaching. Many time He even discouraged crowds. He sometimes purposely preached to reduce the crowds. He chided them for coming only because of the miracles rather than the word.
Even though Peter’s preaching initially saw 3,000 converts, they had come to Jerusalem for a festival from a large geographical distance and went back home to small gatherings. God added to their number. There were no mega-churches. There were no buildings to meet in. Jesus taught outdoors to the crowds.
The early church grew but through small gatherings throughout the cities. The growth of the church from the first century of around 25,000 became as many as 20 million by the fourth century.
All through small congregations scattered throughout the known world. The early church tried to stay localized, but Jesus commanded them to spread out.
From a Biblical standpoint is seems that the norm was small local congregations. They functioned as a family. The leaders were invested in the family.
Later in church history, the focus changed to larger congregations and big buildings and cathedrals with less and less access to pastors and leaders.
Some Reasons why I think smaller churches have an advantage.
I could probably make a case for other advantages of a large church.
Greater potential for intimacy
I am not saying all small churches do this or even we do this but the potential is there.
You can get to know people.
You can serve each other on a more intimate or specific level.
You can more easily develop an intergenerational family atmosphere.
In a large church you generally separate families in the parking lot.
Separate by ages or interests.
We wonder shy kids generally don’t continue church attendance when they get college level.
You can accommodate more spontaneous activity.
Family sharing, group encouragement, affirming baptisms, dedications
You can provide more opportunities to learn leadership (less formal).
You could feasibly pray for everyone in the family by name.
You can specialize (Like Starbucks).
You can encourage each other on a more personal level.
You can better leverage resources.
You can better model real life.
All churches struggle, because all people struggle.
Struggle and “issues” are more visible in the small church.
In some ways a big church presents a false view of the Christian walk.
Everything is exciting.
We all get along.
Lots of activity.
Get a break from the kids.
I don’t have to work at this.
I am not responsible for what goes on.
I don’t have to prepare my own food or feed myself.
There is a greater possibility for authenticity. We can be ourselves – unashamedly, unapologetically ourselves.
We can find value in our size with its possibilities.
You can focus on ministry rather than Marketing.
That forces you to be more dependent on the direction and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
You can better do what you do out of genuine love for people rather than design programs to get more bodies in the seats.
The pastor can focus more on becoming a better shepherd helping people grow rather than a CEO helping the organization grow.
Pastors begin to view people as consumers and focus on meeting desires than shepherds meeting needs.
Jesus called Peter to demonstrate his love tending and feeding the sheep.
Sometime the focus on increasing attendance causes compromise and attempts to make people happy and content rather than grow in their walk with God.
Greater potential for Participation and personal investment
According to a recent study, “Those who attend megachurches are likelier to volunteer less, contribute less financially…” than their Small Church counterparts. The study cites evidence that 45% of megachurch attendees never volunteer their time at the church, 32% give nothing or very little in the offering, 40% don’t belong to a small group, and 42% admitted they have very few close friends at the church. Vaters, Karl.
Since we are not focusing on performance, smaller churches can encourage on the job training.
You can more easily begin and end specific ministry opportunities.
One congregation started out reach in their community no one else was doing.
When other church picked up on it they pulled out and looked for other opportunities.
You can personally know and interact with the leaders.
The pastor is “one of you”.
Even the large churches recognize the need for the smaller group connection.
God’s design is meaningful connection and encouragement as the lifeblood for the health of the body.
The small church can better facilitate those connections.
The larger church emphasizes inspiration and enthusiasm and tries to figure out how to get people to also participate in small groups.
Sometimes the percentage of people engaged in small groups is no better than smaller churches. 100 people out of 1,000 is only 10% deeper involvement.
We ARE a small group.
Small-scale churches can facilitate large-scale impact through participation.
Problems of the Growth Movement
They become growth oriented not health oriented. Size = health.
They may concentrate on health, but numerical growth is really the end game.
Does the fact that I have not grown any taller than 5-4 in the last fifty years mean I am unhealthy? I have probably actually declined.
I plateaued at about 25 and in the later years even declined.
Does my vertical growth factor into my health or death?
No other factors determine my health.
Does size have anything to do with ability to effectively function.
Do the specific body members of a two-year-old function less effectively than that of a 20 year old or fifty year old.
Both have all the necessary elements for life.
Each may have specific issues or malfunctioning parts, but all the elements are there despite their size.
God places the necessary members in a local congregation no matter how big or small.
Is a rose unhealthy or less valuable because it is not as tall as a Redwood?
The task becomes equipping the parts to do their God-assigned parts rather than expecting a professional to facilitate the growth.
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. Ephesians 4:11-16
A family is not less satisfying because it is small.
The size does not determine the health - the relationships determine the health.
Our immediate family has grown to a considerable size with 12-13 adults and 10 plus children.
It has become harder to interact on an intimate level when we get together than before.
The same is true with a congregation family.
It is true the large church can provide well-funded, professionally led activities and programs but do those programs really encourage true spiritual growth or health?
Willow Creek released an extensive study in 2007 that proved otherwise. They determined that the true source of spiritual growth comes by equipping people to take responsibility for their own growth not the number of activities they engaged in. Some of these programs can make people feel good, excited, entertained, maybe even inspired but the excitement fades like the excitement of a great movie or concert.
Did any life changes take place? Perhaps it contributed.
The focus needs to shift from entertainment to equipping.
The writer of one book had this to say about his ministry.
“My church struggled for years trying to grow. I went to conferences and read books, but my church didn’t grow no matter how hard I worked and prayed. Out of sheer frustration I decided I wasn’t going to worry about growth any more. I was just going to preach the word, feed the flock, minister to the community and let God take care of the rest. As soon as I stopped worrying about growing, my church and I started getting healthy again. It’s been almost five years now, and we still haven’t had any dramatic numerical growth, and I don’t ever expect to, because a big part of being healthy is that we realized who we are. We’re a Small Church and I am a Small Church pastor. Vaters, Karl. The Grasshopper Myth
What if you minister in a small community of 600 people like my brother Mike? Should he feel insignificant or of less value because his congregation was only 50?
Many large churches grow by drawing members from the smaller ones.
Despite the desire of church growth advocates for their strategies to reach the unchurched, that doesn’t seem to be how it’s played out. Reflecting on some very reliable statistical analysis, McNeal concludes that, “with rare exception the ‘growth’ here was the cannibalization of the smaller membership churches by these emerging superchurches.” Vaters, Karl.
They become problem oriented rather than strengths oriented.
One system focused on health but still assumed that small was unhealthy.
What if small IS healthy and not a problem to be solved?
Rather we need to discover and focus on our strengths.
All around the world in other countries small congregations popping up all over have become the fuel to the spread of the gospel and stir revival.
What about the Chico Family?
We should not try to be a miniature big church that tries to do everything the way they do it.
We can’t become all things to all people.
We should have a welcoming front door yet an open back door.
We should stop fretting about attendance and focus on what we do with those who choose to gather as a family each Sunday.
I am proud of you. Prayer, perseverance, love, heart for God, commitment to the word…
I consider it a privilege and a fulfilling opportunity to pastor a small congregation.
That doesn’t mean we don’t explore issues we could change that cause people to leave.
We can certainly do better on intimate connection and deeper relationships.
I look forward to this being the year of encouragement.
We can do better at becoming a local community or family.
I would love to see more people within walking distance decide to fellowship here.
We are small but have shared our facility with the community.
We take care of the community’s children.
Many children we care for reside in our school district.
We open our doors to Chico Pee Wees.
We open our doors to community groups some large some small.
We need to determine what we do best and what our special niche God calls us to do in this community.
There has been and will be more discussion on this coming up.
