Shepherding the Small Church

Shepherding the Small Church: A Leadership Guide for the Majority of Today's Churches

Book in Brief
Shepherding the Small Church: A Leadership Guide for the Majority of Today's Churches by Glenn Daman (Kregel Publications, 2002, 285 pages, $14.99 (pb)). Issue #35 September 2002

The below summary of this book is not mine. I am posting it to see if any of you agree with the author or disagree with him and why.

Seventy-five percent of all U.S. churches have a weekly attendance of 150 or fewer people. These churches can effectively work in God's field to bring in the harvest because spiritual growth does not depend on a church's size, subculture, budget, or programs. Its effectiveness is defined by transformation in people's lives, theological integrity, and the faith of its members. It also is evidenced through the service of ministry undertaken by the church and the relevance of the service to those served.


Shepherding the Small Church gives five steps to effective ministry in a small church:

•Understand: Know the culture
•Know: Develop the foundational theology
•Be: Develop the foundational character
•Do: Develop the mission
•Envision: Develop the vision.

To understand the culture, the church leadership must get to know both the community and the church. Then, as the leaders plan the purpose of the church's mission within the culture, they develop the doctrinal umbrella under which ministries, agenda, and programs work. Developing a church's character, which comes from its theological base, means obeying God's two commands: loving Him first and loving others. Loving God involves a life of worship, prayer, study of God's Word, and a life of faith. Loving others includes mutual support and accountability for fellow members and loving those outside the church. Developing the mission of the church involves three areas: reaching out to those outside the church (evangelism), teaching programs (discipleship), and recruiting people in the service of the King. In turn, developing the church's vision is "the process of identifying the focus of the church and developing the strategy for accomplishing its biblical mission and purpose."
Once the vision is set, the leaders can formulate strategies to accomplish their mission. Each of these five steps is distinctive to the purpose and mission of the small church. If the leadership tries to employ successful programs or visions that have worked well for larger churches, the small church's ministry will be much less effective, so small-church leaders must develop their goals and strategies by understanding how their churches fit into God's plan for ministry.

Step 1: Know the cultureEffective church ministry begins with assessing the community and its needs. Larger churches more often have access to government agencies or demographic research organizations. Smaller churches can assess the community by asking people to describe their neighborhoods and then compile the information.
This assessment can be used to formulate goals and ministry strategies. Because of the limited number of volunteers in the small church, the leaders need to identify the target group they want to reach. For example, in many rural areas, the church was once the social center of the community. Now, however, social centers are more likely to be clubs and service organizations. The church may effectively reach people by becoming active in these areas.
In assessing the ministry, leaders will find that the small church differs greatly from the large church. For example, the small church is relationally driven. Often, the pastor is not the primary leader of the congregation. "That role is given to an individual or individuals who, by their personal interaction with others, influence the rest of the church." Therefore, the small church works more like a family, using informal channels of communication and ministry strategies. Understanding these distinctives will help the leaders in small congregations effectively implement ministry.

Step 2: Develop the foundational theologyDeveloping a foundation of theology is a must for any effective church. What a church teaches in theology will impact its future, programs, and strategies. "Building a healthy ministry is much like building a house. The most crucial step is not knowing how to finish; it is knowing where to begin." Understanding the theology of a church begins by examining the values the congregation holds. This helps in leadership training. Once leaders are trained, they provide strategies of teaching the congregation and opportunities for people to express their theology through prayer, worship, and service.

Step 3: Develop the foundational character"A church without godly character is an empty shell of the gospel, void of the true meaning of the biblical message of Christ's redemptive work in the lives of people. . . A church without character becomes a social institution--not the living organism that God intends."
The essence of godly character is loving God and others. We express our love for God through worship, but the small church may not be able to have a worship team, a choir, or equipment such as overhead projectors. All God expects is a church's heart in worship--not a professional performance. Therefore, the responsibility of the small church is to offer its best in worship to God.
Character is also demonstrated through loving others, but the small church faces particular problems in reaching out to others. In many rural areas, the poverty level is equal to that of the inner city, yet people may be fiercely independent and unwilling to ask for help. Simple respect for another person's privacy can hinder members from loving others in the church and reaching out to people in the community. Therefore, the leadership must develop strategies for how the church can uncover people's needs and respond to them.

Step 4: Develop the mission The mission of the church has three parts: to witness, to teach, to minister. Because the small church has limited resources, often the best strategy for developing evangelism is integrating it into existing programs and community activities. Witnessing opportunities that focus on social interaction rather than preaching are more effective. "Holding, for instance, a bake sale for a family going through a medical crisis not only reveals Christ to the family, but to the whole community as well."
When discipling believers within the small church, several problems can arise. Although the percentage of people involved in ministry in the small church is higher than that of a large church, many times new members are not encouraged to participate. Older members often retire from ministry just when they can be of greatest value to the church, and the loss of one leader can be devastating. "Because the small church has a limited pool to recruit from to fill opportunities, how the church recruits and utilizes its people becomes all the more critical."
When goals are set for church ministry, they should reflect the distinctives of the church. The small pool of volunteers requires that leaders plan fewer programs. When implementing these programs, leaders may opt to verbally communicate strategy tools such as job descriptions to preserve members' preference for informal organization. Finding a source of funding for each program is also a critical step. Many times, people will give generously to specific projects such as a mission trip; therefore, publicizing special needs can be effective. To prepare more people for each place of service, leaders can crosstrain. Creative planning can overcome hurdles to training. For example, one person can travel to attend a training seminar and then return to teach others within the church. The small church can also institute apprenticeship programs, and leaders can arrange for in-house training.

Step 5: Develop the vision "Vision is the marriage between the biblical purpose and mission of the church and its contextual setting." In other words, strategies will change but the mission remains the same. This is where the congregational assessment returns great value. When developing a vision, the assessment helps determine the church's health, strengths, weaknesses, problems, needs, and desires. Another way of finding the values of the church is to "listen to the stories that tell the church's history." These highlight what is meaningful and important to the congregation.
Because the pastor is not the spiritual leader of the church, he cannot set the vision. Instead, the pastor's role is to facilitate the vision. Once the leaders determine the vision, they communicate it to the congregation. In large churches, many people are only concerned with what is happening in their particular area of service. In small churches, however, people want to know what is happening in the church as a whole. Since the small church usually does not have the finances to afford mechanical means of communication such as videos, newsletters, or brochures, leaders can use networks within the church to relay the vision.
The church's vision can often be fulfilled by adjusting existing programs rather than by beginning many new ones. Only when new leaders are available should a new program be attempted. Programs that are no longer useful should be dropped. To help leaders execute the ideas in Shepherding the Small Church, each chapter concludes with an evaluation and implementation plan, resources for further reading, and several appendices for church leaders to use. Each evaluation and implementation section suggests the worksheets and other material that can be used at that point.

About the author

Glenn Daman received his Doctorate in Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a Master of Arts in New Testament Studies and Old Testament Studies from Western Seminary. He serves as Director for Small-Church Health at Western Seminary. He also serves as senior pastor of Cascade Locks Community Church in Cascade Locks, Oregon, and at First Baptist Church in Stevenson, Washington. He and his wife Becky have two sons.