I believe in small churches! Small churches will play a major part in what God is doing in the world in the 21 st century. In fact, these churches have a place in God’s plan that can be filled by no other group. If the Church of God is going to accomplish the task that God has set before us, we must find a way to include small churches in the process, because we are a denomination of small churches. According to our 2018 statistics, we have 6,575 churches in the USA/Canada and 5,260 average less than 100 attendees in Sunday Morning Worship. That means 80% of Church of God congregations are small churches and 8 out of every 10 Church of God pastors serve a small church. The development and cultivation of a robust small church ministry effort is vitally important for our movement.

However, in today’s church culture small churches are struggling as never before. Many of the guaranteed church growth tools that have been prominently touted have not worked in the unique contexts of the small church and this has led to a misunderstanding and misrepresentation of small churches and pastors of small churches. Due to the lack of success in this arena, many pastors battle feelings of inadequacy and deal with esteem issues. Dr. Glenn Daman of Western Seminary explains it this way,

“The American culture measures everything by size; the bigger the better. This is true from houses to muscles, from candy bars to
corporations. This is even true of perception of churches. The larger the church the more recognition it receives and the more it is upheld
as the model of a successful church. Smaller churches can develop a sense of inferiority that results in low morale, especially if the church has had little or no growth.”

These churches are life-giving outposts of the Kingdom of God and provide a tangible place for people to meet Jesus. Whether it is a group of 30, 300, or 3,000 Jesus is there and the power of the Holy Spirit does not fluctuate according to the number of people in the room.

My friend Karl Vaters says, “Small is not a problem, an excuse, or a virtue!” and “Bigger fixes nothing!” Small is descriptive not prohibitive, however the small church does present unique challenges that must be overcome.

Small churches are not failed large churches! Small churches are VITAL! Do not allow the size of the congregation to determine the worth and value of the ministry that occurs there. God knows where you are. Let’s close with two insightful quotes,

“The long-term future of the church in America is not with the churches that average in the thousands. Small clusters of people
bound together by a common commitment to Jesus Christ have been and shall be the lifeblood through the centuries of the Christian
movement.” (James W. Moss, Church Consultant)

“Small is strong. The 21st century is the century of small, strong congregations. More people will be drawn to small, strong congregations than any other kind of congregation. Small, strong congregations are where we are headed in the 21st century.” (Kennon
L. Callahan, Author and Church Consultant)