One of the things I find as the pastor of a small church is that so many of the resources out there are geared toward larger churches. This is rather unfortunate, especially considering the fact that most (two-thirds or more) churches in North America have one pastor and less than 100 people in the pew. I mentioned this in a recent post, the reality is that the small church is the "normal" size church in North America. We are not alone here.
I just finished Lyle Schaller's book called The Small Church is Different. Scaller was one of the first people to take seriously the unique nature and needs of the small church. This key point in this book is that the small church is not a "little big church." It is not a smaller version of the large church. He says: "It would be unwise and counter-productive to attempt to force large-church ideas, rules, programs, procedures and models on smaller churches." He says: "The small church is different! Recognize and affirm those differences."
I resonate with Schaller. Even though his book is 25 years old, its filled with nuggets of common sense wisdom and helpful questions for small churches as they attempt to be an authentic church in their own right (rather than in the shadow of something bigger). I look forward to reading further about this from some other (more recent) authors. I'll keep you posted.
Blessings, David
I was discussing this with a fellow RCA pastor at the Banner of Truth conference. I mentioned that it is ironic that while the vast majority of the congregations in the RCA and small <100 the attitude of the denominational staff is almost universally negative toward small congregations and the few large congregations seem to be the ones calling the shots.
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