Today I was reading about the average size church in America. There are a couple different ways to look at this. One way is to consider the "mean" in which half of the churches are smaller and half of the churches are larger. The median church in the U.S. has 75 regular participants. Half of America's 300,000 churches or so are smaller then 75 people. That's a lot of churches!
As a pastor of a smaller church, most of the resources created for me to read, study, and model my ministry after are created by very large churches. These mega churches have enormous influence even though they make up only 10% of all churches in the country. And even though they are only 10% of the churches, 50% of American churchgoers attend these churches!
But my experience is that many of the ideas from larger churches cannot be implemented without some serious adaptations for smaller churches. I am a big fan of Andy Stanley and Northpoint, but in a town of 2,000 and a county of 10,000, the Northpoint strategy must undergo some changes. My intent is to analyze the strategies of larger churches and seek ways these strategies can be realistically adapted for smaller churches.
One of the interesting things about writing a blog as a small church pastor in a small town is that you are always writing from a community that knows you. I'll never forget when I realized that my blog had been "discovered" by locals. Up until that point, my blog functioned as a place for me to play with ideas and engage with folks outside of my small town. I became quite nervous when folks I knew were reading what I wrote.
Today, I hope folks I know are reading my blog. I desire to use the blog platform to relate more to my congregation and my community. And I hope to connect with other pastors in the unique setting of the small town. I also hope that through this blog, I'll encourage my congregation to continue to grow in their relationship with Christ, invest their lives in others, and invite others to consider the gospel in our church community. I also desire to help other small church pastors analyze large church practices and discover ways that we can effectively advance God's Kingdom wherever he has called us.
Image credit: Mary and her camera
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