The strategically small church

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Selfcare”

Our Bible verse for today: “Greet also the church that meets in their home.” Romans 16:5 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “The strategically small church”

Today is Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday. I hope everyone reading this has plans to attend church tomorrow and that it will be a healthy church in which you are fully involved. In terms of selfcare, being deeply involved in the life of a good church family is one of the most affirming and nurturing things you can do for your spiritual health.

There are approximately thirty-seven million Christian churches worldwide – 332,000 in the USA. 90% of those churches consist of fewer than 150 active members. 80% have fewer than 100. Large churches are the exception rather than the norm. The Holy Spirit intentionally forms small church families because spiritually, small is better than big. Intimate is better than impersonal. Even in the early church in the book of Acts, when hundreds and then thousands were coming to faith in Jesus, they quickly discovered that they had to divide up into smaller groups and meet in homes because the larger group wasn’t effective for deep discipleship.

This is not a criticism of mega-churches as we know them today. Some of the greatest and most spiritually powerful churches in our day are large. But the mega-churches that are most effective are those that focus heavily on small-group discipleship. Within the large church there are multiple small churches that meet in homes because that small-group dynamic is essential to good spiritual growth.

In my own journey in the pursuit of going deep in all areas of life (as discussed in the past two devotionals), as a pastor I had to apply that to church life as well. My desire became to go deep with a small group rather than wide with a large group. I wanted to interact deeply with a smaller group rather than superficially with a larger group.

Therefore, of the three churches I have been the pastor of during the last thirty years of ministry, Oak Hill Baptist is the smallest but it is also the best (the most spiritually healthy). That is true precisely because our focus is on going deep rather than wide (going deep with God and with each other).

Two of the most helpful and insightful pastor/church-leadership books I have ever read and which has helped me to lead our church in being healthy even though we are small are: “The Strategically Small Church” by Brandon J. O’Brian and “Simple Church” by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. Both of those books provide valuable guidance about how a small church can leverage their smallness into being their greatest strength.

In this era of church life that typically emphasizes big numbers and numerous activities (and which is often therefore over-busy and even stressful as members try to keep up with it all), the strategically small church is content to be simple but deep, and focused on the things that truly matter most. This is selfcare for churches.

I encourage you to find a church that is truly healthy and then sink deep and fully into that church life.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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