Unlocking Potential: Practical Steps for Revitalizing and Growing a Small Church

Whether your church has 20 members or 80–by definition a “small church”–there is no reason it can’t have a great impact for the kingdom. And depending on a number of factors, growing that small church and unlocking its potential may be one of the more do-able things pastors can achieve.

The Variables of Growth

Variable factors can impact church growth, including:

• The health of the church. You don’t want a sick church to grow; you want it to get well first! I once told my congregation, “There’s a good reason no one is joining this church. I wouldn’t join it either!” Believe it or not, those words were inspired and they received them well, and repented. Soon, the church began to grow.
• The attitude of the congregation. If people are satisfied with the status quo, they would not welcome newcomers.  I’ve known Sunday School classes composed of a small cluster of best friends who felt imposed on by visitors and new members.  No one wants to go where they’re not wanted.
• The location of the facility. A church situated five miles down an isolated road, at the end of the dead end trail, can almost certainly forget about growing.

The great thing about pastoring a healthy, small church is you can make a big difference in a hurry.

The Power of Momentum: A Personal Example

My seminary pastorate had run 40 in attendance for many years. The day the little congregation voted to call me as pastor, I overheard a man saying to another, “This little church is doing all it’s ever going to do.”  I was determined to prove him wrong.

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Within one month, we hit 65 in attendance.

What had happened is this…

A few days after being called as pastor, while reading the old minutes of the church’s business meetings, I discovered we were within five weeks of our 20th anniversary. So, being green and untrained, I simply announced to the church the following Sunday that “May 20 is our 20th anniversary, and we’re going to have a Homecoming.” (I was hardly aware what a homecoming was, other than a high attendance.) I announced our attendance goal as 65, and said, “If we hit this goal, I’ll sing you a solo.”

I had never sung a solo in my life, but they didn’t know that. (Neither did they care, but I didn’t know that.)