I love small churches!
I grew up in a small Presbyterian church. I was saved and called to preach in a small Baptist church. Even though I have served in larger churches (Fellowship Baptist in Columbus, Ohio had over 1,000 attendance & High Street Baptist was the largest church in Missouri in the 80s), I have mostly ministered in churches with an attendance of less than 250.
I have a dilemma as a pastor. I want my church to grow bigger but feel smaller. I want to reach everyone in my community and see our attendance grow because of effective evangelistic outreach. Yet, I don’t want to lose the ability to know everyone by name. Many Christians have become disenchanted with the big church. How do you keep the ‘small church’ feel of community as a church grows larger?
I’ve done some searching and I have a list of several ideas. Some I’ve tried. Others seem to be great methods to incorporate. So, whether you are a pastor or a church member, I hope you will find these helpful.
1. If there’s a Sunday School class, join it.
One of the problems of bigger churches is you can get lost in the crowd. I think that’s why some people like big churches. They can come and go as they like without anyone noticing. If you want to have a church where ‘everyone knows your name’, you’ll need to be part of a small group within the larger group. If there’s a Sunday School or small group ministry, join it.
2. Get involved with the children’s ministry.
Every children’s ministry needs helpers – nursery, AWANA, Sunday School, children’s church, etc. When you work in a children’s ministry you get to know the whole family. It’s all about connections.
3. Find a church leader (associate pastor, staff member, deacon, etc.) and make him/her yours. 
As a church grows, the senior pastor is unable to minister one-to-one with every member. The pastor becomes more a leader-of-leaders and less a pastor-of-all. But you still need a spiritual mentor. So, find one you can adopt. When my father-in-law passed away a few weeks ago, the senior pastor of his church wasn’t the guy the family decided to speak at the funeral, even though he was a church deacon. The associate pastor who led the senior citizens ministry had more input into Ken’s life – visiting, praying, and teaching. Find a leader you make your personal spiritual leader.
4. Get involved in a niche ministry
for yourself and your family.
In small churches everyone does everything. But in bigger churches there’s no way you can be involved in everything. As a pastor of a church that is fast growing out of ‘small church’ status, this has become part of my ‘guilt trip.’ I live right next to the church and I sometimes feel guilty when a group is meeting to do something at church on my day off. I should be there! But I can’t and neither can you. But we can get highly involved in a small ministry and really get to know the others in the same ministry. Our Bible publishing ministry has developed into a small group of 4-10 people who meet every Thursday at noon. They get lots of Bibles ready for the mission field, while having fun together. Find a small ministry and get involved.
5. Take a missions trip.
One of the advantages of big churches is there are many opportunities to take trips. Many churches offer missions trips several times a year at very reasonable prices, often subsidized by the church or denomination. You can stay in America or even go overseas. There’s nothing that will help you get to know a few people in your church like a mission trip. Doing work for Jesus 24-7 for a week or two will form a bond that will last for eternity.
6. Sit in the same pew/seat every Sunday so you get to know the people around you.
You are probably already doing this to some extent, but I hope you will take it to the next level. Talk with them about their family (not during the sermon!) and invite them over for ice cream or go out for dinner after church. However, it’s also important to talk to people you don’t know. Maybe you can sit in a different place this Sunday. It’s amazing the different perspective you get when you change seats. Whatever you can do to meet as many people as well as you can is a great investment of time.
7. Find a nice older couple who has been at the church for a long time and get to know them.
When I was in Bible College I attended High Street Baptist (the largest church in Missouri). We had a college class of over 400. They divided us into smaller groups of about 20-30 and we had ‘Church Parents’ who would care for us. It was a great idea. Not many churches do this for the average family. It’s good to have long-term families or couples to ‘adopt’ some of the newer families. It helps them get to know others. So, if you’ve been around the church awhile, get to know some of the newer ones.
8. Dinners for 8.
We’ve done this a few times. Get 3 other couples to join you and decide to meet for dinner once a month. The first month meet at one of the couple’s homes (they supply the main dish). The other couples decide who is going to bring the appetizer, salad, or dessert. The continuing months switch it around until everyone has an opportunity to host. We’ve also invited couples over for a game night. Just last Sunday we had a couple tell us they want to teach us to play Chinese marbles. Sounds like fun!
If you have any ideas, let me know. As our church grows, I do not want to lose the ‘small church’ feel.
Here are some other articles I’ve written about small church: The small church is the right size, The elephant in the room – church attendance.
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