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The Small Town Lutheran Church & Pastor: A Concise Pastoral Theology for Pastors & Boards of Elders
82 pages, Paperback
Published December 18, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 31, 2025
I would have every Presbyterian intern at small Raymond read this book. Why? The immense practicality. Heath Curtis is the Lutheran Charlie Wingard. He navigates everything from inactive members to small town culture to community-wide leadership. You can read this in a sitting and apply it over a lifetime.
October 17, 2025
Great little read on some practical and faithful suggestions for rural and small town pastors and congregations.
June 7, 2025
Had this book recommended by a good friend. Really concise and easy read with no fluff and some helpful considerations. I'd personally like to get some other pastoral eyes on this who have been in a small town nearby to get their thoughts on it.
Really would like to use it for a board of elders/circuit study. Mostly for elders, but a circuit study would be nice just because I like to work ideas out verbally.
Really would like to use it for a board of elders/circuit study. Mostly for elders, but a circuit study would be nice just because I like to work ideas out verbally.
June 9, 2025
Great resource not just for the pastor, but for the wife and other members of the small-town Lutheran church. Really hits the nail on the head in many areas of life and ministry in the small-town and offers some interesting ideas and goals.
January 15, 2026
I am doubtful that there is an LCMS pastor who has read more books about rural and small town ministry than I have. I have read, "The Forgotten Church" "Small Town Jesus" "A Big Gospel in Small Places" "God's Country" the popular novel "Diary of a Country Priest", the popular memoir, "Open Secrets," and a sneaky-good little novel by Winn Collier titled, "Love Big, Be Well." On the to-be-read pile are the books "Pastoring Small Churches" and "Flyover Church."
So, this volume is the latest book that I've read. A few quick items.
1.) It is self-published. It looks and feels like it.
2.) It is written without any attempt to explain or unpack LCMS jargon (of which there is a lot).
With that said. This is a good book. It captures many unique features of small-town ministry. It offers wisdom from Curtis's own experience of being a Small-Town pastor, and from his work of traveling around synod to speak about Stewardship and Demographics.
Given Curtis's reputation it might surprise you that there are ALMOST NO citations from Scripture or the Lutheran Confessions. He assumes his reader is familiar and faithful to both. This book falls more along the "practical wisdom" side of things.
If you're a pastor in a small-town, you should read this book. You should ESPECIALLY read and take to heart his portion under the heading "competence" (p. 14–17) in chapter 2. He even does the reader the favor of using BOLD and ITALIC typeface for this key points. "To be a pastor, your people need to respect you. In a small town, no respect can be earned without some measure of visible competence that goes BEYOND your daily job description. . . . Your parishioners will NOT BE IMPRESSED with your competence as a pastor. Of course you're good at being a pastor: you were trained and educated to do that. What else have you got?"
I love this. I especially love that he didn't demonize small-towns for this attitude. He DID NOT lament their 'lack of respect for the pastoral office' or any other such thing. He is a realist, and would prefer that pastors be realistic, too.
The book was full of practical wisdom. There is much to model and glean from this book. If you're a pastor, check it out—even if you're not a pastor of the LCMS.
So, this volume is the latest book that I've read. A few quick items.
1.) It is self-published. It looks and feels like it.
2.) It is written without any attempt to explain or unpack LCMS jargon (of which there is a lot).
With that said. This is a good book. It captures many unique features of small-town ministry. It offers wisdom from Curtis's own experience of being a Small-Town pastor, and from his work of traveling around synod to speak about Stewardship and Demographics.
Given Curtis's reputation it might surprise you that there are ALMOST NO citations from Scripture or the Lutheran Confessions. He assumes his reader is familiar and faithful to both. This book falls more along the "practical wisdom" side of things.
If you're a pastor in a small-town, you should read this book. You should ESPECIALLY read and take to heart his portion under the heading "competence" (p. 14–17) in chapter 2. He even does the reader the favor of using BOLD and ITALIC typeface for this key points. "To be a pastor, your people need to respect you. In a small town, no respect can be earned without some measure of visible competence that goes BEYOND your daily job description. . . . Your parishioners will NOT BE IMPRESSED with your competence as a pastor. Of course you're good at being a pastor: you were trained and educated to do that. What else have you got?"
I love this. I especially love that he didn't demonize small-towns for this attitude. He DID NOT lament their 'lack of respect for the pastoral office' or any other such thing. He is a realist, and would prefer that pastors be realistic, too.
The book was full of practical wisdom. There is much to model and glean from this book. If you're a pastor, check it out—even if you're not a pastor of the LCMS.
December 20, 2025
A very helpful resource for small town churches and pastors who may be struggling with the challenges of small town life. Details the problems but also offers solutions in areas like evangelism, stewardship and finances, getting the know the community, worship services and youth ministry. Lots of wisdom from years of experience and full of helpful suggestions for success.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews