N R. (Moonpie) reviewed Strategically Small Church, The: Intimate, Nimble, Authentic, and Effective on + 1170 more book reviews
My husband pastors a small church and has for 17 years. Throughout the years I have fallen into some of the traps Mr. OBrien discusses. Even though I saw our church doing a wonderful ministry in our community, lives changing, people maturing spiritually, sweet fellowship and a close church family, at times I found myself being embarrassed our church was small when someone asked how many attended, or wondering what we were doing wrong.
What a relief I felt when he pointed out that being small is okay, in fact it is the norm. Only 6% of the churches today are large churches, and we have allowed them to set the standard for success the other 94% of us with congregations under 500. (The author was not by any means saying large churches were a bad thing; he acknowledges they have their purpose and place too. )
Larger churches spend their time trying to be like smaller churches and smaller churches spend their time trying to be like larger churches! As he points out, what a waste of ministry, time and resources, be who you are!
Churches each have a unique personality that God uses to reach certain groups of people that only they can. They can also meet needs that larger churches are unable to.
He encourages the small church to be authentic, be who they are and not be ashamed and dont try to imitate other churches or ministries. Intimate relationships are easily formed and they can respond to needs more quickly which shows genuine concern.
The focus of outreach ministries should be for the purpose of serving not growing. Also a smaller church can by far use the gift and passions of their members. God put them there for a purpose and they often overlook these gifts by thinking they should smarter, better teachers, more charismatic etc.
He compares all the small church has to the mustard seed. God can do great things no matter how little.
Something else I had not thought of specifically was that many of todays children are under parented or unparented. They dont need a lot of age specific programs to entertain them. They are searching for a church family to be the family they dont or havent ever had; someone to care, talk, listen, guide and share their years of wisdom with.
He discusses in detail how these churches can be authentic, nimble, equipping, intergenerational, and training. I got a lot out of this book and was very encouraged. It helped me realize that my focus should not be on growth and size that is Gods concern, but the work He has for us to do.
I have received this from book Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.
What a relief I felt when he pointed out that being small is okay, in fact it is the norm. Only 6% of the churches today are large churches, and we have allowed them to set the standard for success the other 94% of us with congregations under 500. (The author was not by any means saying large churches were a bad thing; he acknowledges they have their purpose and place too. )
Larger churches spend their time trying to be like smaller churches and smaller churches spend their time trying to be like larger churches! As he points out, what a waste of ministry, time and resources, be who you are!
Churches each have a unique personality that God uses to reach certain groups of people that only they can. They can also meet needs that larger churches are unable to.
He encourages the small church to be authentic, be who they are and not be ashamed and dont try to imitate other churches or ministries. Intimate relationships are easily formed and they can respond to needs more quickly which shows genuine concern.
The focus of outreach ministries should be for the purpose of serving not growing. Also a smaller church can by far use the gift and passions of their members. God put them there for a purpose and they often overlook these gifts by thinking they should smarter, better teachers, more charismatic etc.
He compares all the small church has to the mustard seed. God can do great things no matter how little.
Something else I had not thought of specifically was that many of todays children are under parented or unparented. They dont need a lot of age specific programs to entertain them. They are searching for a church family to be the family they dont or havent ever had; someone to care, talk, listen, guide and share their years of wisdom with.
He discusses in detail how these churches can be authentic, nimble, equipping, intergenerational, and training. I got a lot out of this book and was very encouraged. It helped me realize that my focus should not be on growth and size that is Gods concern, but the work He has for us to do.
I have received this from book Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.
