The Small Church

“What Can We Do?”

By David McKnight

1) Unwilling to give up the “family feel”

2) Not enough staff.

3) Lack of physical facilities to start new

ministries.

Common small church growth obstacles . . .

Common small church growth obstacles . . .

1) Closed paradigms about how the church

“should be”.

2) Feel they have to please everyone

because they want no one to leave the

church.

3) Feel trapped and helpless to improve the

situation.

Common small church growth obstacles . . .

Being a small church with a vision to grow can

be frustrating. There are a lot of ideas but

no easy answers. So how can you achieve

your vision for your church?

Begin With the End in Mind

1) Start with a Vision for your ministry. You

must be able to clearly communicate your

vision to people within thirty seconds.

Why?

a) Put your vision into words.

i. Focus on your vision.

ii. Communicate your vision to your church and others.

Begin With the End in Mind

“It’s too late to prepare when opportunity

comes” John Wooden

2) Show people the need for change.

Begin With the End in Mind

3) How do you get people to move?

“Creative Tension occurs when a compelling

vision of the future and a clear picture of

current reality is held in continuous

juxtaposition.” Jim Herrington

Begin With the End in Mind

4) Show them the gap between vision and

reality.

5) Have you shown your people the steps it

will take to achieve the vision?

6) Is your vision large enough?

Review Your Current Situation

1) Are there things in your church that have

kept your church artificially small?

a) Government

b) Time - can you have more / better classes

on a different day or time ?

Review Your Current Situation

c) Seats – Are your people worried about the

type of seat they sit in or do they have

“their” seat?

d) Parts of the building

e) Programs

Review Your Current Situation

f) People

“Every growing church will always face the

need for more leadership.” Ken Hemphill

g) Finances – Are you strapped with debt or

strapped with no debt?

Review Your Current Situation

h) Leadership – Do you need more or

different leaders?

Review Your Current Situation

2) Maybe it is time for leadership to make

people uncomfortable. How are the people

in your church willing to inconvenience

themselves to reach people for Christ?

Where Do I Start?

1) Start with yourself. The average church in

America is 80 – 120 people. A lot of this is

because 80 - 120 people is al one person

can manage.

Where Do I Start?

“Long term transformation cannot be

accomplished unless the tension is

sustained. If the tension is too little, there is

no motivation to change.” Jim Herrington

Where Do I Start?

2) Start by meeting needs.

The best way for a small church to grow is

through relationships. How do you grow

relationships?

Find Out . . .

1) What is the population of your community?

2) What are the age breakdowns within that

population?

Find Out . . .

3) How many students attend the local

elementary and high schools?

4) Where is the need in your community?

When Do I Start?

1) Things you need to begin…

a) Vision - Clear vision of the ministry you

want to perform.

b) Unity - Key leaders that believe in the

vision.

When Do I Start?

c) Money - There will be an initial investment

to get professional help.

d) Time - Prepare to make adjustments as

facts are discovered.

e) Time - Give opportunity to consider options.

When Do I Start?

2) When is the right time to begin?

a) Find a balance between passion and

planning.

b) People with passion - go, go, go, and need

it now.

i. Limits options because you need it quickly.

ii. You miss things because you are going to quickly.

When Do I Start?

c) People with planning - never make a move

because things are not at all in place.

i. You never do anything because you are always

waiting for the “perfect time.”

ii. You attract people with vision but lose them because

of lack of progress.

When Do I Start?

“It’s the job that never started that takes

longest to finish.” Anonymous

“Daydreaming about something in order to do it

properly is right, but daydreaming about it

when we should be doing it is wrong.”

Oswald Chambers

Ready To Move On

1) When you think you are ready to build

a) Land size – Rule of thumb is one acre per

one hundred people. Five acres is

minimum, ten acres is preferable.

b) Want a sports facility? A Jr. High size

basketball court will seat 450 people.

Ready To Move On

c) What about the cost? A five hundred seat

multi-ministry building with narthex,

platform, and restrooms is roughly ten

thousand square feet. If you include site

costs, equipment costs and fees, your cost

per square foot is approximately $125. to

$150.

d) Is your next step too big?

Start With Small Wins

“You have to create a climate that suggests

success is imminent.” Charlene Mae Knight

1) Small wins build confidence and deters

opposition.

Start With Small Wins

2) Small wins produce visible signs that

create momentum.

3) Look for small wins you can achieve in your

situation.

a) Fix deteriorating building issues.

Start With Small Wins

b. Paint and landscaping have minimal cost

but big impacts.

c. Varied services before building a new

sanctuary.

d. Use the worship area for other ministry

functions.

Start With Small Wins

e. Take out pew and put in chairs. People take

up more room on a pew. If you have chairs

every seat is defined and people will sit

next to each other.

Start With Small Wins

f. Remodel / enlarge the platform.

g. Maybe it would be best to sell your existing

building and rent or buy another facility that

is more flexible.

Further Reading

1) James Kouzes / Barry Posner, “The

Leadership Challenge,” Chapter 10,

“Achieve Small Wins.”

2) Ken Hemphill, “The Bonsai Theory of

Church Growth.”

Further Reading

3) Jim Herrington, Mike Bonem, James H.

Furr, “Leading Congregational Change.”

4) Gary McIntosh, “One Size Doesn’t Fit All.”