What pressures or challenges do pastors of smaller churches face today that were not that much of an issue 10 or even 5 years ago?
Because of the way that media of various sorts creates the ability for a church on one side of the country to become the gold standard for a town in a completely different part of the country, I think the pressures on a small church pastor are immense, and the influence of the World Wide Web in that dynamic has increased exponentially even in the past five years.
What happens is that expectations are created by organizations with thousands of attendees, multiple layers of staff, paid worship leaders and sometimes vocalists and instrumentalists as well.
It’s not their fault; they are not trying to make your life more difficult! But there it is; folks watch a website video cast of that service, and then they come to you with that vision in their heads of “church” and feel disappointed when you cannot reproduce it.
It is also true that the American economy in the past five to ten years, though still robust, has taken its hits. What that means is that in a town where 70-100 people could support a pastor very nicely at the median salary level for that area ten years ago, that may no longer be the case.
Some of our church planting coordinators in the Vineyard who pastor and plant in small towns, especially in the northern states, tell me that it takes closer to 150-200 people now to create that solid sense of “We are making it”, both for the church itself and for the pastor.
What would you look for in determining whether or not a church is healthy?
When I look at a church for signs of health, I look for several things, regardless of size.
[bctt tweet=”A small church can withstand the assault if they know who they are. – Cindy Nicholson” quote=”Does the pastor know what his or her vision is, and does he or she articulate it clearly and consistently? A small church can withstand the assault of NOT being whatever the hot church is in that area, if they know who they are and why God called them into existence.”]
First, does the pastor know what his or her vision is, and does he or she articulate it clearly and consistently? A small church can withstand the assault of NOT being Willow Creek or Mosaic or whatever the hot church is in that area, if they know who they are and why God called them into existence.
Second, I look to see if the folks in the church enjoy being together.
Third, I look to see if the church has open front doors or closed front doors. Even a small church can do a lot of things to make guests feel welcome, but it has to start in the hearts of the attendees.
If the folks in the church have gotten it to a nice size where everybody knows everybody else, there is a tendency to circle the wagons, and if that dynamic is not disrupted, the front doors close and you and a church that sends the message, “Maybe you can come in, but you will never be a part of us.”
Finally, I look for a good balance of being “the church for the sake of the world” and being deliberate about doing just a few things and doing them well. On the one hand, I look to see if the church loves their community, wants to serve it, hopes to win a hearing for Christ by their compassion and service.
On the other hand, I sometimes see small churches tackling 14 different projects and burning themselves out. Even big churches do best if they do just a few things and do them excellently and do them for a long time. How much more a small church.
Pastors of small churches typically feel overworked due to the fact that so many of them are bi-vocational. What advice would you give to them for keeping their sanity, their marriages, and their faith intact?
Ah, I remember the bi-vocational days. They have their merits if they don’t go on forever! What they require, however, is an amount of self-control you might not have believed possible of yourself.
You must become very clear about what things are priorities and what are optional items, and then the priorities must get into your calendar as pretty much inviolable.
[bctt tweet=”You must have a regular, weekly day off and you must actually take it! – Cindy Nicholson” quote=”First, you must have a regular, weekly day off and you must actually take it!”]
First, you must have a regular, weekly day off and you must actually take it! If you don’t prioritize that day off and make it a true Sabbath rest with a very different rhythm from the rest of the week, you may have work but you won’t have a marriage, kids who recognize you, or a church in the long run.
Second, take the rest of the time that is not promised to your employer, let’s say 15 hours a week, and be coldly strategic about it.
Hey, that’s my next question, if a bi-vocational pastor has only 15 hours a week to invest in their church, how would you advise them to “divide it up?”
If you are in your first year of planting, most of those hours (all but 2 or 3) need to be given to meeting people and telling your story, with maybe one two-hour meeting a week with your leadership team. If you give them good assignments and strategic training, they won’t need more meetings than that with you during a week.
One other thing I would advise is to take one of your hours a week and invest it in reading or listening to books that help you in what you are doing. You can get a lot of this just by listening to CDs or MP3s when you are traveling (or working, if you are a craftsman who can listen while you work).
You notice I didn’t say much about teaching preparation. At this stage of church life, you cannot afford to have your head in the books for too many hours, or you will have a great, erudite sermon but no one to preach it to.
If you are good at outlines, this is the time to use that skill. Take one day-per quarter, per half-year, or maybe even per whole year-and outline all the sermons you’ll need if you have a regular weekly meeting going (small groups, Sunday nights, whatever).
If you cannot fit the introduction, points and ending onto a post-it, you are over-thinking it. It’s OK to swipe the basic outline of sermons you like from preachers you admire at this stage. The content and examples will be your own. What you are trying to do is to do the absolutely best, most biblical job of preaching that you can in the simplest form possible.
The relief of knowing what you are going to preach for 3 months at a shot, and seeing it all laid out so you can tell whether you have enough variety between topical and through-the-book sermons is huge. Rehearse your sermons for timing. If it’s 40 minutes long, it’s probably too long unless you are an excellent preacher already.
If you are a novice, preach 20 minutes and do it well. Your congregation will thank you, and you’ll have more time for ministry and coffee afterwards. | cutting edge | vusa
