Small Town Jesus: Taking the gospel mission seriously in seemingly unimportant places

by Donnie Griggs

Small towns are big mission fields that are almost totally neglected by modern church planters. City ministry has become, for many, the definition of godly ministry. But what about the millions of people around the world who live in small towns? This is not just a book, it is a call to take the gospel everywhere, big or small, because that’s what Jesus told us to do.

Genres: Christianity, Christian

172 pages, Paperback

Published June 2, 2016

Reviews

[Sam McKeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing and Practical

As someone who has spent my whole life in a rural setting, it was refreshing to read a book that focused on the importance of small-town ministry. In the first half of the book, Griggs lays out theological, sociological and philosophical arguments for taking the Gospel to small towns. His arguments did nothing to sway me as I am already convinced that small towns are just as important to God’s mission as the big cities. However, I did appreciate Griggs’ arguments as it was good to be reminded and affirmed in my personal call, to reach the people in my rural context.

In the second half of the book, Griggs offers practical ways to effectively minister to those in small towns. I really enjoyed the second half of the book, specifically the questions that Griggs’ includes to help the reader think about how to better reach those in their community. Even though I live in a different geographic area than the author, most of what he communicates applies to my context. For reference, I am a Pastor of a church in a small town.

The book was a relatively short and easy read. Griggs’ style is very straight forward. I do think that more time could have been spent on the practical aspects of ministry in a small town. I would love to see a follow-up book that would address in greater depth the challenges of ministry in a small church and how to practically be effective in reaching those that live in rural areas.

I highly recommend this book to Pastors or church leaders in small towns. For the church planter or revitalizer that is in a small town or rural community, this is a must-read.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really refreshing read amid the well-intentioned but sometimes guilt-inducing push toward overseas missions. The book doesn't diminish the importance of sending missionaries overseas or to urban cities, but rather offers pushback to the perpetuated notion that ministry in urban cities is inherently more "spiritual" than ministry in small towns; both are strategic, and both require putting in the effort to learn the local culture (especially with small towns, by talking to locals instead of web searches). The author emphasizes that Jesus himself was born in the small town of Nazareth, and was intentional about reaching other small towns with the gospel as well.

I particularly enjoyed Griggs' parody of Jordan Grooms' quote ("If God’s called you to be a king, don’t stoop to be a missionary; but if God’s called you to be a missionary, don’t stoop to be a king."): "If God calls you to plant in the city, don’t stoop for the small town; but if God calls you to the small town, don’t stoop for the city."

[Will Dole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful, quick read

This is a helpful little book on a topic near and dear to my heart: small town ministry and church planting. While not always cohesive (it feels a little rambling and pasted together in places...like it could have used a good developmental edit), the heart is spot on and many of the insights (particularly on being a good local) will be helpful to the person considering sma!l town or rural ministry. I would also encourage leaders in larger churches to consider the final chapter, in which Griggs discusses collaboration. Our church is the result of such gospel-driven teamwork, and I am deeply grateful for those who see beyond their own church walls in the service of the Good News.

It's also a very quick read, so pick it up and catch a vision for small places.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful call to consider small towns for church planting and gospel ministry. Wherever you are Griggs gives great suggestions for being part of the community,
Loving where you live and the this near you.

[Knowlton Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the first half, Griggs argues for the importance of both urban and rural ministry, with an emphasis on the importance of rural ministry. In the second half, Griggs offers practical tips for ministry in small towns. This was an extremely accessible book. Shortness and clarity make it a good read, besides what appears to largely be orthodox evangelistic zeal for reaching the lost. There are a few things that I would not lean towards myself, such as a multi-site church structure.
Griggs is a bit redundant, especially in the first half. He repeats for emphasis, but sometimes it just felt like I accidentally backtracked. Unfortunately, while his tips were really quite good and helpful, he did not make any comments on what I think are essential questions, such as leading small groups or developing discipleship or outreach in small towns. So, while he does give great advice on being a good local and not being a jerk, there are just practical aspects of ministry, such as discipleship and evangelism, and missions involvement, that I wish he had addressed. Also, the book is more addressed to church planters than people already in small towns. It offers less in the way of practical help to ministers already in small towns than I would have liked.
Altogether, though, a good, enlightening, and helpful read.

[Dave Pettengill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a good beginner book for someone who might have no idea some of the challenges small church leaders and parishioners face, or if someone wanted to plant a church in a small town, but that is about it. However I only read about 70% and stopped. I honestly grew weary of the continual "This is why everyone looks down on the small church and praises the large churches" talk... especially when he shares that his church has 1,000 in attendance each week, where they have 3 sites and are already working on a fourth in a neighboring town. Ummm... 1,000 in attendance that is the population of most small towns 😳
3 sites, with a possible 4th? Many small churches are struggling to have 1 service.

Because I didn't know much about the author before purchasing the book, but this was also a church plant in his hometown. I am not saying there are not huge challenges for church planters, but I share this because planting a church in a small town would be a significantly different experience than coming in from the outside to pastor a small town church that was 130 years old. Also, going to pastor in a town completely unfamiliar to you would also be a much different experience too. Once again I am not disparaging the author or anyone else from planting a church in a small town but it would be a much different experience than a lot of small town churches.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start out by offering the disclaimer that I'm not a church planter and that I have no plans to plant any churches. That said, the Lord does work in mysterious ways, so I'll never say never... :o) Anyway, I happen to attend One Harbor in small town Morehead City, NC and Donnie just happened to mention that he'd written a book during a sermon on 1 Corinthians last month. Of course me being the reader that I am, I had to check it out immediately and I'm really glad I did. While this is definitely a book aimed at those called to plant churches, I found that its message is also crazy relevant to ANY Christian who feels compelled to go beyond the basics and share the Lord with people in their communities. It's written in a very readable & relatable style with great biblical references applied to modern life and of course anyone from our area will love the local references. I think anyone looking to do in their everyday lives what the mission statement of our church mandates us to do as Christians (to make disciples & push back darkness, all for the sake of the gospel) could benefit from reading this book as a guide toward being more effective in spreading the word however we can to whomever we can.

[Ben Flaming · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the heart behind this short read, as Griggs definitely makes the case that small towns are absolutely included in Jesus' command to Christ followers to "go into ALL the world and preach the gospel."

While he comes at it with the perspective of a pastor or someone who has a desire to plant a church or become a pastor, understandably so, I do wish there was just as much as emphasis placed on the layperson who's not necessarily called to FT ministry but has a heart to get involved and see people in both big cities and small towns affected by the gospel.

I really appreciate the way he breaks down all of the nuances of a small town and how that can present a certain set of challenges, no more difficult than anywhere else, but for sure requiring some forethought and a specific strategy for ministry.

All in all, a well-written charge to the Church, regardless of vocation or call. Like Griggs says halfway through...
"We're good at coming up with stalling techniques. We are not so good at hearing and obeying. Let's do what Jesus said. Let's go anywhere everywhere and let's work together to see him glorified."

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was refreshing to finally read a good book on the importance of small towns. Small towns and small churches are often ignored if not maligned by the general pastoral culture. Small towns are treated as stepping stones or a place to practice for real ministry. I am grateful that this book argues for a high view of the calling to a small town. It is straightforward, simple, and practical. Half of the book argues a biblical case for caring about small towns. The second half is practical wisdom on how to do ministry well in small towns.

This book was personal for me as someone who has long felt called to serve small churches. I hope this book inspires more pastors to take small ministry seriously. My only issue with the book is that I normally do not like these kinds of church planter/church growth books. This one is much better than most, but I just can't get all the way over my dislike for the genre.

[Rachel McGaughey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming from a small town, I was interested in reading this book. Overall, it was a decent read. The author is trying to make a point about the importance of church planting in rural communities. I think his passion could be perceived as pushy at certain points in the book, and I struggled with that. Granted, I haven’t been in the church planting culture and many wide-eyed and determined young men want to see themselves with a huge following in an urban center. I think Don is trying to serve as a reality check to those ambitious young pastors. The second part of the book was application. There were some solid points throughout the second part, and they were laced with gospel truth.

[Justin Offutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's incredible to me how am with can take a subject and spell out an amazingly simple idea and make me realize that these are the things I could have been and should have been doing all along. Somewhat like the book of Proverbs. The wisdom of Proverbs are ideas that should be easily lived out yet often when we read them we realize that we have not been doing so.
Donnie takes what often should be obvious to those of us who come from small towns but make me realize that I haven't been the neighbor i should have been,and would provide easy means be build relationships in the community.
Thank you Donnie for bringing this out.

[Andy Huette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good points are made about the biblical mandate to not overlook small towns in church planting efforts as well as some how-to advice about planting in small towns. The book, however, read a bit too much like a polemic against the "plant in the city" camp, which I suppose is a point worth making, but it's just not a point I'm interested in reading about. The how-to advice was true, but the brevity of it made it seem a bit shallow (i.e. "be a good local, tip your waiter generously, eat local food, etc.). It's worth a skim for small town pastors and planters.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's important to take this book for what it is, a short, quick overview of some issues facing small-town ministry and small-town planting in particular, particularly in an era obsessed with urban planting (much of which probably comes in the wake of Tim Keller's work). It could use some cleaning up and some editing (there are a few repetitive sections), but the book puts forward some important ideas. It won't replace longer, detailed studies (I imagine they're out there? or coming?), but it's a good start.

[Robert Wegner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a short and simple argument for the importance of ministering to small-town churches that also includes practical advice concerning pastoring these areas.
I found it very helpful in valuing ministry in a small town, as well as asking questions to evaluate how well I know my community and thus how well I am serving it.

[Daniel Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and Encouraging!

I’ve done a lot of urban ministry and have read books on it extensively. This was great perspective and much needed for the universal Church. I wish he would have discussed Paul’s strategy to reach major cities first. Balance is needed as he said.

[Dónal Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book and easy read. In terms of highlighting a desperate need in small towns in the States and outside, this was great. Would have actually liked the book to be longer and tease out more application but overall good read

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very basic. Perhaps a nice reminder, but this easily could have been a short magazine article. Tips on small town ministry from a non-denominational pastor in a county with 68,000. Small town! Not so much in Kansas! There are good books on small town ministry but this isn't one of them.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and easy to understand. The author speaks from both a wealth of experience and a depth of love. I certainly learned a great deal about small towns and churching them, but there are much broader implications to this book as well.

[Sean McGaughran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource for anyone working in a small town ministry context.

[Bill Kenoyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are planting in oakdale,ca

Finally, a book I can use in my small church planting context. Thanks Donnie! The gospel centrality of your approach is refreshing.

[Anthony Ingram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a small town girl, I appreciated Griggs's passion for ministry in forgotten places like the one I call home. He is from a small town, so I feel like he "gets" what life is like in rural America.
He makes the argument that when many well-meaning Christians only focus their ministry on urban areas, they may subconsciously be operating out of the belief that small towns are not important, "strategic," or worthy of their attention. I love that one of the very first ways he addresses this is by pointing out that Jesus was from a small, forgotten town called Nazareth and it wasn't seen as a good thing by a lot of people in the days he lived on earth (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” John 1:46).
What this book is NOT saying is that you shouldn't do ministry in the city. That's crazy. What he IS saying is that we should be doing ministry in both. One is not better than the other. Small towns and small churches shouldn't be seen as a place to "get your foot in the door" so eventually you can move on to bigger and better things. Small town ministry should be treated with dignity and respect because (to throw out a church-planting buzzword) small towns are "strategic."

[Mark Drinnenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was at seminary, a leading missiologist came to campus as the keynote speaker for our missions emphasis week. He spent the week trying to convince us students of the need to focus our missiological and evangelistic efforts on what he termed "world class cities." These were cities with populations of at least one million. With so many people concentrated in a limited number of places on the planet, he thought our energies should be directed toward reaching those places.

I remember sitting in chapel and thinking to myself, "So what about the small towns? Is God not concerned with them, too?" About thirty years later, I came across this book, and it essentially echoes that question I had all those years ago. This book is an easy read with a vital message.

Donnie Griggs is a pastor in a small town, and he is seeing God do big things there. It is his contention that, rather than focusing only on planting churches in big cities and expecting (as some do) the gospel to "trickle down" from those influential centers to the small towns around them, we should go to wherever God calls us to go. And since God cares for the people of big cities AND of small towns, if we go where He calls us to go, we will find some people going to big cities and other people going to small towns.

Griggs spends four chapters arguing well for the necessity not to overlook places of small population, and then he gets practical. He deals with various mindsets that city people have about small town people and how these can be detrimental to ministering in a small town context and must be overcome. He stresses the need to take the time to do the hard work to learn what makes the people of any town click, and then to contextualize the gospel and church methodology to reach the town. He calls for a great church to be raised up in every small town and ponders the impact that could ultimately have upon our nation. He speaks from his own experience, and he does not mince words.

The only reason I did not give the book five stars is because it has the feel of a self-published book. In other words, Donnie Griggs is no Max Lucado. But that does not mean the writing is bad. It is, in fact, fine. It is clear and concise. This is an inexpensive book that is easy to read and addresses a crucial topic for the Church. I would recommend that anyone who endeavors to enter into small town ministry give it a read. And I would also recommend it to those who minister in the big city so that they might understand what their small town teammates in this Kingdom endeavor must endure to engage in this harvest field that is, as Griggs stresses, not just big cities, but the entire world.

[Hopson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In God's providence I'm serving in a place I never expected or planned. I'm pastoring in a small town. Donnie Griggs' book is a valuable source of encouragement for pastors who are often overlooked because they're not shepherding in major urban centers. Griggs shows us why small town ministry matters, what's unique about small town ministry, and how to do small town ministry for God's glory and others' good. I highly recommend this little book for anyone blessed enough to pastor in a small town.

[Jacob Atchley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought Provoking and Challenging

This text was recommended by a friend. I was challenged and troubled. Not troubled because of what was written, rather was troubled by my struggle with the material. It was refreshing and hope giving. Looking forward to working through this again with others.

[Lane Corley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good primer on ministry in Small Towns. Makes a great case for the importance of church planting in small towns. Also, great tips on small town ministry and contextualization.

[Josh Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed it. Short read, but loved the questions Griggs asks. Challenging stuff.