The Stone Soup Recipe for Vital Small Church Worship
Teresa Stewart says that small congregations have a powerful worship planning option that expands participation, emphasizes lay leadership, ends the burnout of meetings, invites local…
Browsing: Small Membership Churches
Articles
The 5 P’s of Sustainability for Small Churches
Rebekah Simon-Peter says small churches cannot succeed by emulating the megachurch model of programming for every stage of life. She believes that five P’s —…
The Hidden Impact of Rural Churches: An In-Depth Interview with Bob Jaeger and Rachel Hildebrand
What is the economic impact of small congregations on their communities? Jessica Anschutz of the Lewis Center staff speaks with Bob Jaeger and Rachel Hildebrandt…
“The Hidden Impact of Rural Churches” featuring Bob Jaeger and Rachel Hildebrandt
Podcast Episode 126 What is the economic impact of small congregations on their communities? We speak with Bob Jaeger and Rachel Hildebrandt of Partners for…
Small Church Big Impact
Blake Bradford shares how smaller congregations can use their unique giftedness to fulfill their mission. He says smaller churches can enhance their vitality by clarifying…
Why Small Congregation Worship Matters
Teresa Stewart has faith in the future of small congregations because she has faith in a God who shows up even in small and forgotten…
When the Pastor Is Your Plumber
Lovett H. Weems Jr. writes about the long and rich history of bivocational ministry in the Bible, throughout the generations of American history and around…
The Rural Church’s Gifts
Michael Adam Beck and Tyler Kleeberger describe how the unique demographics of rural churches bring not only the potential for intimacy and neighborliness but also…
5 Hospitality and Stewardship Lessons from a Homecoming
How are visitors to your congregation greeted and welcomed? Ken Sloane outlines five lessons for extending hospitality and engaging new givers. While traveling earlier this…
The Resilient Small Church
We often think of large churches as strong and small churches as weak. But Lovett H. Weems Jr. shares a powerful example of how size…
4 Key Lessons for Vital Small Church Ministry
David Gilmore says the size of a congregation need not be a determining factor in its ability to connect with its neighbors. Small congregations who…
Change and the Small Church
Roy L. Spore believes that decline and death are not inevitable for smaller rural churches. While smaller churches are often skeptical of change imposed from…
Creating Powerful Worship in Small Congregations
Do you want amazing worship on a small church budget? Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe Jr. interviews Teresa Stewart, a blogger and creator of…
Episode 92: “Creating Powerful Worship in Small Congregations” featuring Teresa Stewart
Do you want amazing worship on a small church budget? Teresa Stewart, a blogger and creator of the website Paper Bag Cathedrals, shares ways small congregations can enliven their worship.
4 Approaches to Keeping Small Church Worship and Education Vibrant During the Pandemic
Rebekah Simon-Peter outlines four models small churches have used to survive the pandemic — the church at home model, the shut-in model, the never shut…
3 Indicators of a Thriving Rural Congregation
Allen Stanton says rural churches need better indicators of what it means to thrive. He outlines three characteristics of vital rural congregations able to lead…
3 Unique Gifts of the Rural Church
Allen Stanton says rural churches are uniquely positioned to be agents of change within their communities. Most are trusted long-term community stakeholders, and on any…
Is Closing a Church Ever a Good Thing?
Tim Snyder of the Lewis Center Staff writes that closing a church often brings conflict, denial, and shame. But death is a natural passage in…
Episode 49: “What is Messy Church?” featuring Johannah Myers
Looking for a creative, new way to bring people of all ages into a space where they can meet Jesus? In this episode we speak with Johannah Myers about Messy Church, a global movement born of the desire to reach individuals and families not attracted to traditional Sunday morning services.
To the Point: Doing Community Ministry in the Small Church
Editor’s note: This information adapted from an article by Joy F. Skjegstad which appeared previously in Leading Ideas. This To the Point version has been edited for…
Should a Church Close?
Sustainability is increasingly difficult for the ever increasing number of churches worshipping small numbers each week. Lovett Weems captures the dilemma for church leaders and…
What Happened in One Small Church Mattered
Roger Lovette shares the touching story of returning to the first church he ever served, thirty years later, to find they had finally acted on…
2 Churches — 1 Pastor
It is increasingly common for a congregation to share a pastor with another congregation and for pastors to be serving more than one church. Lew…
Episode 15: “Leading in Small Church or Multi-Church Settings” featuring Lew Parks
Are you a pastor serving more than one church? Or a leader in a congregation that’s part of a multi-church ministry? Listen as Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe speaks with Dr. Lew Parks, a small church vitality expert. They explore perspectives and practices that can help ministry flourish even in a church that doesn’t have its own pastor — or a pastor who doesn’t serve just one church.
What is Your Signature Ministry?
In their book Small Church Check Up, Kay Kotan and Phil Schroeder say stable, smaller churches can remain vital by focusing on a “signature ministry,”…
Closing a Congregation as an Act of Faithfulness
Minnesota Pastor Lee Ann Pomrenke reflects on the painful reality of having to bring a congregation or a ministry to an end. While there is…
Leadership and the Small Membership Church
Understanding the unique leadership context of smaller congregations is vital to the future of the church, says Lovett H. Weems, Jr. Leaders of small churches…
The Case of a Small Church in an Oversized Building
Lewis A. Parks, author of Small on Purpose, describes how smaller congregations can easily squander their last resources for ministry attempting to keep up with…
Small Church as Surrogate Family
Lewis A. Parks, author of Small on Purpose, says the small church offers a surrogate family for those whose basic family unit is dispersed or…
11 Characteristics of Effective Smaller Churches
Some years ago, I traveled across the United States, west to east and north to south, and back north, visiting twenty-one smaller faith communities that…