In the Book of Deuteronomy Moses says to the Israelites, “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.” He holds up the entire life of faith and offers his people a choice – to love and serve the Lord their God or to revolt and ignore the commandments of God. Reflecting upon small church ministry it seems that here, too, there is such a dichotomy. Though I would term it differently: there are blessings and challenges that are unique to the small church experience.
Would it be more beneficial if the rector of a small church was a certified electrician or had a PhD in church history? I’m not sure. But having served parishes both large and small I offer the following observations.
I’m sure you could add your own blessings and challenges to the list and I encourage your to do so.
Blessings of small church ministry
- The personality of the rector can be larger than life.
- Like Cheers, it’s a place where everybody knows your name.
- There’s a wonderful sense of intimacy; you can know people in ways that transcend the superficial coffee hour chatter.
- No one is more loyal to their church than parishioners at small churches.
- Near instant access to the priest during a pastoral crisis.
- No long waits at the communion rail.
- Many opportunities for children to participate in the liturgy.
- Ability to have a focused sense of mission.
- Coffee hour is one big party.
- Intergenerational relationships are life-giving.
- Healthy sense that the people, rather than the priest, are the most permanent element of the congregation.
- Newcomers are easy to identify, welcome, and stalk.
- It’s like a family in all its familiarity.
- The personality of the rector can be larger than life.
- The 80/20 rule (where 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work) still applies. In a small church that 20 percent is quite a small group which can lead to ministry burnout.
- Make it to church during a snow storm and you may be out shoveling the walk.
- Newcomers may find themselves on the fast tract to the vestry, altar guild, etc.
- There’s never enough money.
- It’s harder to sneak in unnoticed when you’re running late on Sunday morning.
- Constantly fighting against the “bigger is better” mentality can lead to a parish-wide inferiority complex.
- Susceptible to the “Father Knows Best” mentality which subverts collaborative approaches to ministry.
- There tend to be gaps in the ages of Sunday School kids (i.e. lots of middle schoolers but not 4th and 5th graders).
- You may have to resort to trickery to get enough people to serve on the vestry.
- If you like traditional Anglican chant, forget it.
- Danger of focusing exclusively on maintenance (of building, programs, liturgy) rather than mission.
- It’s like a family in all its dysfunction.
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