The Importance of Small Churches (VIDEO)

Last Wednesday was a frustrating day. There were things I had planned that just didn’t get done. I had scheduled time with a fellow pastor to do an interview for my podcast and had technical issues that forced us to reschedule. I’ve been doing these weekly videos where I chat about faith and the news of the day, but I’ve been debating if it was worth doing them since not many watch the videos and I sometimes feel that I’m not controversial enough to get attention. But I did the video anyway and started taping, only to have someone barge in the room. I restarted and then realized the SD memory card was full.

The video ended up getting done, and I shared those frustrations which were related to a deeper frustration. I noticed two colleagues sharing the fact that they were able to baptize a few people. I felt a sense of shame because that opportunity hasn’t presented itself to me over the years at my church. Am I not faithful enough to God?

At root, this is also a frustration of being a small church pastor. As much as I’ve told myself that God uses the small things in life, there is still a sense of failure of being the pastor of a small congregation, at least there is a sense of failure for me.

But I am reminded again and again that small is just small. It doesn’t signify God’s displeasure or anything.

In this latest video, I share how the Regional Minister once talked about a small (tiny even) church he served that still made an impact in the community where they were located. What I remember from that talk is that what matters is not that they were successful, but that they were faithful to God.

It’s something I have to remember every Sunday when I show up at church and look out at the small gathering of believers. Do I want to see a baptism and more people? Yes! But I also want to be faithful to God and the people I serve. There are horror stories of people who baptize people left and right and have new members every week and the pastors are horrible and ultimately unfaithful people.

Watch the video and please share it with someone you know, especially if they are a small church pastor. Thanks.