It Took a Small Church

The Place of Approachable Smallness

Outreach magazine is well known for its annual report on America’s Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches, in association with LifeWay Research. That work is going on now (and we welcome your input). But equally significant is this summer’s special issue celebrating the big ideas that are coming out of smaller congregations. The issue highlights the resurgence of church planting, community engagement, global awareness and collaborative effort that is changing the face of the small church in America. (The July/August issue releases June 15.)

Both of these great expressions of church life are celebrated not only in the pages of Outreach magazine, but also through the National Outreach Convention in San Diego this fall. Like most of us, I appreciate the insight I gain from the pastors of some of the country’s leading megachurches, which are well represented in the conference lineup. But NOC has also provided a great opportunity for idea exchange among smaller churches, sessions I particularly look forward to each year.

And small is what’s on my mind as I write this afternoon. In large part because of my own experience …

I did not find Christ in a large church. I’m certainly not saying I couldn’t have. But it would have required something extraordinary: The large church would have had to create a place of approachable smallness.

Each person’s journey is different. But small is what I needed—a place to know and be known. And I would not have gone looking for it at that time. I would not have ventured into a megachurch, then found my way to a kiosk to sign up for a small group. Some things you just about have to be invited into. Or, providentially, you stumble across them, as I did when I found a place of approachable smallness.

Here’s why small was important. I had two very badly mistaken ideas about faith. First, I could not imagine anyone really living it, and second, if they did, I could not fathom how it could improve them. I had seen religious people from a distance and had not been impressed. I figured if you scratched them, there would not be much of anything under the surface. Just a thin glaze of religion.

Such wrong ideas!

But it’s difficult to correct mistaken notions from a distance. Have you noticed? It’s hard work trying to talk people out of wrong ideas. But you can “live them” out of their erroneous impressions, if you can get close enough. That happened to me in a place of approachable smallness.

This is on my mind today not just because of the magazine’s special issue or NOC’s small church workshops, but also because now, years later, I have renewed contact with one of those real Christians who met me in that place of smallness so long ago. Just knowing him, watching how he handled the challenges of real life, showed me how wrong I could be about people. His life changed my mind about the nature of faith. Bill went on to give his entire career to ministry in small places. I know something of the impact that can have because I know how it changed me.

So today I’m cheerleading small. And I’m hoping that your church, regardless of its size, will find the way to tap into the power of approachable smallness. The place where we can know and be known. That intimate place of transformation.

Contributor: James Long
Managing Editor, Outreach Magazine

Outreach Resources of the Year Nominees

OUTREACH magazine announces the nominees for its 6th Annual Outreach Resources of the Year Awards. Publishers and producers of other outreach-related media submitted 140 nominations for the awards, which celebrate and encourage excellence in resources designed specifically to help the Church reach out in areas such as evangelism, compassionate service and cross-cultural ministries locally and worldwide.

The magazine’s editorial staff pared the nominees to 91 resources that independent experts in each category are evaluating. The expert panelists will choose which ones will be recognized as Outreach Resources of the Year.

Apologetics emerged as a strong category of its own this year. And in a presidential election year in which religion played a prominent role in campaigns, the number of books related to the relationship between faith, politics and culture stood out.

The Outreach Resources of the Year winners will be announced in the March/April 2009 issue of OUTREACH.

This year's nominees are ...

Transition: Grief

The death of a loved one can be devastating, leaving survivors to struggle through a grieving process that can go on for years. For many, moving on means coping with loss but never forgetting it.

Central United Church (http://centralchurch.ca/) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is reaching out to people with the hope and love of Christ and helping them through such trying times with a ministry called Good Grief. The group, which meets every two weeks, provides information about the grieving process and offers people an opportunity to share what they are going through and hear from others who are grieving as well.

The Good Grief group also has helped people in a time of great despair turn to the Lord and put their faith in Him.

What is your church doing to reach people in times of grief and despair? What resources have you found helpful?

Post your comments here.

Transition: Divorce

Although God hates divorce, his love certainly extends to those who endure the breakup of their marriages and the grief, anger, loneliness and other feelings that accompany it. Many people who have experienced divorce may fear being judged or looked down upon at a church, but Rancho Community Church (http://RanchoCommunity.org/) in Temecula, Calif., emphasizes letting people know they can come as they are.

The church uses DivorceCare’s 13-week program to reach out and minister to men and women struggling to cope with issues like anger, depression, forgiveness, finances and divorce’s effects on children. Hundreds of people from the surrounding community and within the church have participated, including some who have accepted Christ as Savior as a result of the program.

Is your church reaching out to people struggling with divorce and its effects? How are you ministering to them? What resources have you found helpful?

Post your comments here.

Transition: Parenting

Welcoming children into the world sets new moms and dads on a life course that will be filled with multiple transitions for which they may not be prepared. Providing practical and spiritual guidance to churched and unchurched parents as they experience those transitions is the objective of a ministry to families at 2,500-attendee Wheaton Bible Church (http://WheatonBible.org/) in Illinois.

The ministry is rooted in the concept that the family is the most authentic community that exists. To help parents, the church offers regular workshops on topics such as sex and dating, educational choices, managing busy family schedules and helping kids become missionaries at public schools.

The church also hosts an annual conference that covers the purpose of families, biblical parenting and discipline, and the ministry reaches out to single parents with a special program every Monday night.

What is your church doing to help parents at different stages of their children’s lives get through different transitions? What resources have you found helpful?

Post your comments here.

Transition: Job Loss

With a financial crisis gripping the nation and unemployment on the rise, many people are finding themselves in the unexpected and unwanted transition of looking for work after losing their jobs. Churches may find a receptive audience by offering to help.

West Conroe Baptist Church (http://WCBC.us/), a 1,700-member congregation about 45 miles north of Houston, is reaching out to its community with its Careers in Transition ministry. Every Monday night, volunteers from varied backgrounds help job seekers discern the right jobs for them and hone skills like resume writing, interview preparation, online job searches and networking.

Friendly volunteers who pray with the unemployed before beginning to help them and a spirit of Christ-like service have drawn some who have received assistance to become West Conroe members.

What is your church doing to minister to the unemployed in your community? What resources have you found helpful?

Post your comments here.

Transition: Marriage

Marriage is a hot topic these days as several states consider propositions to maintain its traditional definition, with Christians engaging in the political process as a result. Meanwhile, churches can play a significant role in the strength of marriages now and after the election season by helping couples navigate the transition to marriage.

Residents of the Kenai Peninsula in central Alaska have seen firsthand the effect a premarital preparation ministry can have thanks to the Marriage Savers program an associate pastor at 225-member Peninsula Grace Brethren Church (http://peninsulagrace.org/) in Soldotna, Alaska, began using about seven years ago. The program includes a compatibility test to evaluate each prospective bride’s and groom’s spiritual beliefs, marital expectations, finances, plans for children and other issues. Couples also are paired with skilled mentor couples to help them through the transition.

Although some couples who go through the program decide not to get married, Marriage Savers has helped others get started on the right foot as they begin their life together.

Scott Marshall
Associate Editor

How does your church help engaged couples prepare for and adjust to married life? What resources have you found helpful? Post your comments here.