Taken From Chapter 1: “Why write about ministry in the small church?”

Admittedly, it bothered me how small the church my family attended growing up was, even though now I would consider this church to be fairly large sized in the realm of small churches. Seeing the production of “larger” ministries was frustrating. I wanted to do the “cool” things I saw elsewhere at my church. At the time my logic assumed that the church must not be doing something right or we would be larger.

As I grew, the charm and beauty that comes from small churches became evident. Time has shown me many mighty works of God coming from the smallest congregations. The beauty of small churches comes from the unmistakable, and at times miraculous, work of God that is evidenced time and again though the ministries of small churches.

Large churches have their place in the work of God just as small churches do. The venue and the strategy of communicating the Gospel are all that is different. At this time, in this culture, and in the pluralistic first world that we all live in, be assured that God will still use you, dear reader, and His Church to reach the people He has given you to reach. 

From Chapter 3: “Ping Pong And A Smile.”

Upon arriving to the church, I walked in, and immediately saw that there were only strangers there. I waited for a few minutes, standing by myself at the door, waiting to duck out quietly if no one familiar showed up soon. The pastor of the church, who at this time also led youth group, introduced himself to me but then quickly continued to get things in order for the night. Moments before I could make my escape, a guy about my age approached me. Brian introduced himself and asked me to play ping pong with him. Admittedly, I was fairly terrified of this fellow student named Brian, but politely accepted the opportunity to play ping pong with him.

It was obvious that Brian was well-liked and popular despite knowing nothing about him other than he was way better than me at ping pong. My experience with people with qualities like Brian up to this point was that they would not acknowledge my existence other than to belittle me, immediately ignore me, or to express that they had no interest in socializing with me.

But Brian asked me to play ping pong with him. This was my first experience of someone reaching out to me other than the adult youth leader in middle school that would talk to me from time to time. This was one of the first times that someone my age initiated friendship with me that wasn’t a product of forced co-existence in school or from a childhood friend. It came in stark contrast to what I knew.

Ministers of Christ don’t always realize the opportunities presented by simply showing real kindness and genuine care for those we come in contact with. The impacts of kindness and care are particularly potent when the person doesn’t expect it. If it were not for the small conversation and a smile from the leader at my childhood youth group I may not have learned much of what I know about the Bible and ministry. If a stranger had not cared enough to ask me to play ping pong, I may never have learned to get out of my comfort zone and would have missed the blessing of a good friendship. Most of all, fellow believers sharpen each other and spur each other to greater knowledge of scripture and ministry. This may never have happened for me had two individuals not shown kindness and care to me when I needed it most.

From Chapter 10: Working With A Pastor of A Small Church.

Few people can really relate to what it takes to be a pastor. Most have not experienced what it feels like to have the responsibility of ministering to an entire congregation on their shoulders. Who else has been called in the dead of the night by a parishioner who is losing a loved one and is asking that the pastor come to the hospital immediately to comfort the family? Who has felt the betrayal of someone that the pastor once thought of as friends turning and spreading sedition in the congregation because they do not agree with a decision the church has made or how the pastor does things? The average person does not know what it is for the pastor to counsel and teach the people just to have them ignore and rebut what was taught.

However, there are some common grounds that pastors and other focus ministers share. Other ministers know what it is like to speak the Words of Truth to people, only to have them ignore it, or ignorantly dispute it. Focus ministers know what it is like for people in their ministry programs choose to live like the world. They know what it is like to have the people of the church constantly critique and offer advice from their seats in the pews and never actively work to improve the issues they see. Ministry heads all know what it feels like to be surrounded by people but feel all alone in ministry.

Despite these issues, the ministry is not all gloom and hardship. We have a great God who has entrusted us with the people He loves. Christ knows our struggles. He knows how knuckle-headed His people can be. The Apostle Peter, even after he saw Jesus calm the waves, walk on the waves, give Peter the ability to walk on the waves, heal infirmaries, and raise the dead, still abandoned Jesus when the going got tough. Likewise, people will disappoint.

However, Peter, despite his flaws, showed great moments of faith and was a pillar upon which the church was built. Peter, through the Holy Spirit, spoke, and people understood in their own language, and three thousand people came to faith in Jesus Christ in one day. Peter’s faith led him to the truth of Jesus’s divinity when others still only knew him as a teacher or a prophet.

From Chapter 11: Candid Expressions of A Part Time Youth Minister

Lastly, it would be refreshing to see church leadership teams think outside of the box when it comes to “staffing” ministries. A staffed youth minister may not be what a church needs. In small churches, it is all too often that certain focus ministers, such as youth ministers, are staffed in churches without a real focus or goal for the ministry. Tragically, many churches don’t take the time to assess what the most fruitful use of the finances that would go to the youth minister’s salary may be. Instead they commit to the burden of extra staff that does not fit the need of the church as well as different ministry type might. In essence, the church tries to force a square block through a round hole.

For example, if the entirety of a congregation is over seventy years old, hiring a ten-hour-per-week, part-time youth worker to try to build a youth ministry that will inject young people into that congregation may not be a realistic choice. In fact, if the general consensus of the congregation is not a burning desire to see the youth of their community come to faith in Christ and be part of their fellowship, then hiring this part time youth minister is likely pointless and a waste of ministry funds.

Churches are different from one another, and that is ok. These differences in congregational dynamics give different churches the opportunity to minister in different ways.

Chapter 15: A Reformation Of The Heart Of The Church

A minister that fears the consequences of standing up to corruption in the church not only lacks courage, but actually lacks faith. When a minister doesn’t respond to financial corruption for fear of a big giver leaving the church, it is a lack of faith that Christ will provide. This lack of faith is devastating the churches in America.

By contrast, having the reckless faith to follow Christ even at the expense of our favorite programs and church organizations is the key to the church having a reformation of the heart. Christ will work in His Church. We need to get out of the way and let Him work. This may mean that the capacity, style, or method of the ministry in question may need to change to better fit within His will.

There is a general lack of courage in the Church today. As ministers, we are so afraid of offending people that we water down, or only focus on the nice portions of, scripture and compromise in order to keep the peace. By contrast, our audience is becoming ever more critical of our message.

The courageous and contagious faith infecting the hearts of ministers through the Holy Spirit is what it is going to bring God’s people back to Him. It is going to take the Holy Spirit filling the hearts of God’s people to burn away everything that is not of God in our hearts. We need the Holy Spirit to burn away our lusts, our idols, our ambitions and our selfishness until all that is left is a love for God and a love for people. Out of this love, people will be attracted to Jesus simply based on how they see God working in our hearts and lives.

This is the kind of evangelism that honors God. God is honored by the sold out-love of Jesus being shown to those who do not yet know Him.