Over the last few years, I've perused and consumed numerous blog posts, podcasts and video interviews of a small church pastor named Karl Vaters. I'm grateful for the Holy Spirit leading to read his work as I have gained so much appreciation for the blessings of being a small church through the years. I've always loved United Baptist because of our size--there is something very personal, very vulnerable and very authentic about being in a church where members' names are known and members' voices matter. There is something very comforting about watching both the deacon and the lay person share pastoral care opportunities with me and listen to the personal update from our Clothes Closet Team about how God continues to bless its mission in the community. For years now, UBC has been what Vaters defines as a small church (200 members or less) and he's more recently defined small churches as those of 50 (give or take 50) and 150 (give or take 50). In other words, our church of 100 fits right in the middle of Vater's definition and affords us the space to talk about why small church is important, why it's often overlooked and why it offers a unique expression of Jesus in ways that midsize and larger churches cannot (though midsize, large and mega churches are all important and valuable to God's Kingdom work on earth).
Here are some of the reasons why being God's small church matters to me, and why I believe it matters to you, too.
1. First of all, being a small churchis something to celebrate, cherish and value, not a problem to be solved (Vaters). On his "AboutPivot" page from his blog, "Pivot: Innovative Leadership from a Small Church Perspective'' (https://christianitytoday.com/karl-vaters/about/about.html) Vaters says that 90% of churches in the world haveless than 200 in them. Moreover, 80% of them have fewer than 100. Whathe's surmised, and I wholeheartedly believe, is that God loves churches of all sizes but absolutely affirms and celebrates the small church. Vaters offers this wonderful question: "What if smallness is an advantage God wants to use, not a problem we need to fix?" He goes on to say: "It's not about wanting churches to be small, it's about wanting small churches to be great!" Big doesn't always mean better, and small doesn't mean something's broken. As Karl spent decades serving small churches, he realized that all the church conferences telling him that church growth was about bigger numbers wasn't true for him and his church. Instead, Karl realized that since there's no "one size-fits-all '' church that God must want small, midsize and large churches to be healthy over promoting numbers (and believing that more people means more of God's blessing, but that's not the case). When Karl embraced the reality that God loves small churches (remember, 90% of the world's churches are 200 and under) he and his church began to rejoice in the effective worship, fellowship, ministry, discipleship and evangelism that his church was enjoying. Their church was growing and their community was benefiting. That's nothing to apologize for!
2. Secondly, small churches are notproblems to be fixed (https://karlvaters.com/the-essential-first-step-to-having-a-healthy-small-church/). Vaters mentions this truth in his article, "TheEssential First Step To Having A Healthy Small Church":
As I outlined in The Grasshopper Myth,the toxic “small is bad” thought process took root in me as a result of 30 years of being told we needed to “fix” Small Churches by getting them to grow. Since you don’t fix something that isn’t broken, the unintended consequence of such teaching is that it leaves people, especially Small Church pastors, believing that small equals broken. The biggest problem with Small Churchesis not that they’re small. The biggest problem with Small Churches is that we think Small Churches are a problem. But small is not the same as brokenbecause small is not a problem. The idea that smallness is a problem – is a big problem! When we start with the assumption that smallness is a problem, it causes resources to be mis-assigned, stifles creativity, undermines leaders who function best in smaller settings, overvalues management gifts, while undervaluing shepherding gifts, under-utilizes the resources of 80-90% of the churches on earth, causes us to seek false success, blinds us to real success and more. On the other hand, what would happen if we all took this firststep together and stopped thinking of smallness as a problem?
3. Thirdly, small churches functionmuch like the theme song from the "Cheers" sitcom from the '80s. Remember that song? "Sometimes you wanna go whereeverybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna go where people know our troubles are all the same. You wanna go where everybody knows your name." This third reason stems from the depths of my own heart as your pastor. Sometime over the years I remember hearing that the church must function compassionately by operating like the theme song from Cheers. When I think about UBC, and our people, I smile from ear to ear thinking about how we embody this '80s theme song. Think about it--it is impossible to beanonymous in the small church. Many people love going to larger churchesbecause they can walk in, worship, pray and give as they feel led and leave without ever having a conversation with anyone. But in smaller churches, guests don't have that same "luxury". We tell our in-person and online attendees most Sundays that "Here at United Baptist we don't have any visitors; instead, we have newcomers to the family." And, guess what? Every member of our church believes this motto and lives it out to the best of his/her ability. Are we perfect? No. Are we where God wants us to be? Not yet. But when people know that they are cared for and known by their first name and have a place to immediately serve in our church ministries, they feel valuable and engaged in a family that, while imperfect, happily loves God and neighbor, covenanting to walk with Christ- together. Does this mean that midsize and large churches are places where people can't be known, worship well or serve effectively? Of course not! But it is nearly impossible for the pastor to know every church member's name as the numbers get higher than 200. And, for me, knowing all of you by name and sharing in our sufferings together means so very much to me--and I wouldn't have it any other way. Small churches know their pastors, and their pastors know their congregations.
In Karl Vater's blog post, "DoesJesus Want Every Church To Be A Big Church?", he emphasizes that Jesus specifically tells his disciples in Matt. 16 that Jesus will build his church on the confession that he is Messiah and Lord. Our role is not to grow the church; instead, our role is to make disciples who disciple others. Vaters shares the following:
Maybe getting small churches to becomebig churches isn’t the answer to the problems that are stifling the growth of the western church in recent decades. After all, in the places where the church is growing the fastest, like in Latin America and Africa, new churches are popping up all over the place. Sure, they have megachurches too, but megachurches aren’t what’s fueling some of the greatest revivals the world has ever seen. It’s mostly happening in new small churches. Maybe what Jesus had in mind was a world littered with churches of all sizes, shapes and styles to meet needs of all sizes, shapes and styles. When my vision is limited togrowing my church, instead of participating in what Jesus is doing to build his church, there’s a tendency to invest our precious resources, both human and material, in the wrong places. If my church is supposed to be one of the small, wiry, guerrilla-style outposts, I’m not being a good steward of its resources when I pump my time, energy and money into trying to be a megachurch. Sothat begs the question – if small churches can be so great, why does it seem like there are so many small churches, but so few great small churches?
Karl finishes his article by saying,"Let's stop arguing about which size (of church) is best, and start seeing what's best about each size." And I agree--churches of all sizes matter. But since UBC is part of the 90% of churches around the world that are small, let's continue to celebrate the reasons why we can be who God has specifically called us be:
- We know one another personally and we know one another'snames, too. You aren't just anumber at UBC. As Vaters alludes to, people matter, not numbers. Jesus came to know the people he came to save. He spent time with people individually and collectively. Today, people still want to know God and be fully known. Our church provides both blessings. Amen!
- I love that I know all of you by name and can shepherd youpersonally alongside our deacons and other compassionate laypeople. I like being the pastor of a small church where we trulyexperience God's gift of spiritual family together! We're serious about worshiping Jesus, growing in our understanding of him, and making him known among members of our community.
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Our mission and ministry calling is to be United BaptistChurch, not a carbon copy of any other local church. After all, God has a unique call on our fellowship andministry, and we are doing our part on the corner of 65 and Murray Rd. to make a difference in our community, in our state, in our country and around the world (worship and discipleship ministries, Clothes Closet, Blessing Box Food Ministry, Domestic and International Missions efforts, Local city/state missions, etc.).
There are so many morereasons why I love our small church. But, the aforementioned ones are just some of the ways God's shaped our church to be who we are and who we are becoming in Christ. Friend, you'll never have to apologize for worshiping and serving in a small church like United Baptist. After all, being at UBC means your spiritual gifts are contributing to the local churches around us, not only as the 90% of churches who are 200 and under, but also to the entire Church community...both small and large! Remember, God loves churches of all sizes, but he certainly doesn't snub his nose at the small ones for the reasons described. It's a blessing to be a small church, and I'm extremely proud to be a small church pastor at United Baptist with all of you.
Finally, allow me to end this articleby sharing a truth from another of Karl Vater's blog posts: "What if bigger isn't always better? What if there's such a thing as 'too big' for the congregation you serve?...we need to be content with the size that best fits the mission the Lord is giving us. When we do that, we'll discover that great ministry is being done in a whole lot of faithful churches not despite their size but because of it. It starts by being open to the possibility that yourchurch's current size is an asset to work with, not a problem to overcome."
And to that end, dear church family, I wholeheartedly shout, "Amen!"
So, let's keep loving, learning,growing in Christ as we worship and serve at a place where "...everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came." We want people to join our church family who are looking for the same kind of congregation as we celebrate every week. We are, indeed, a small church with a BIG heart.
Praise God.
><> Pastor Will<><
John 3:30
