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Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250
Do you lead a small church?
Big churches get all the love. Articles, books, conferences—they mostly feature leaders of large congregations. Yet big churches are a small part of the ecclesial landscape. In fact, more than 90 percent of churches have fewer than 200 people. That means small churches play a big part in what God is doing.
Small Church Essentials is for leaders of these smaller congregations. It encourages them to steward their role well, debunking myths about small churches while offering principles for leading a dynamic, healthy small church.
Based on the popular six-hour lecture that Karl Vaters delivers to church leaders across the country, Small Church Essentials will affirm small church leaders and show them how to identify what they do well, and how to do it even better. Readers
Be assured that leading a small congregation does not make them ministry failuresCome away inspired to lead with passion, regardless the size of their churchHave field-tested principles for leading a church in their contextPossess new metrics for biblically measuring vitality in small churchesHave a toolkit of resources to use in their everyday ministryKarl Vaters has been a small church pastor for 30 years, is the author of The Grasshopper Big Churches, Small Churches, and the Small Thinking that Divides Us (2013), and travels extensively to churches and conferences to speak about leading a small church well.
If you are pastoring a small church, this book will be a breath of fresh air. It will affirm your calling while giving you fresh tools to help you lead. It will help
Stop believing lies about small churchesLead your church to fulfill the role only small churches canUnderstand your congregation’s strengths and weaknesses Turn around a dying or unhealthy churchIdentify good trends and bad in church and culture
Big churches get all the love. Articles, books, conferences—they mostly feature leaders of large congregations. Yet big churches are a small part of the ecclesial landscape. In fact, more than 90 percent of churches have fewer than 200 people. That means small churches play a big part in what God is doing.
Small Church Essentials is for leaders of these smaller congregations. It encourages them to steward their role well, debunking myths about small churches while offering principles for leading a dynamic, healthy small church.
Based on the popular six-hour lecture that Karl Vaters delivers to church leaders across the country, Small Church Essentials will affirm small church leaders and show them how to identify what they do well, and how to do it even better. Readers
Be assured that leading a small congregation does not make them ministry failuresCome away inspired to lead with passion, regardless the size of their churchHave field-tested principles for leading a church in their contextPossess new metrics for biblically measuring vitality in small churchesHave a toolkit of resources to use in their everyday ministryKarl Vaters has been a small church pastor for 30 years, is the author of The Grasshopper Big Churches, Small Churches, and the Small Thinking that Divides Us (2013), and travels extensively to churches and conferences to speak about leading a small church well.
If you are pastoring a small church, this book will be a breath of fresh air. It will affirm your calling while giving you fresh tools to help you lead. It will help
Stop believing lies about small churchesLead your church to fulfill the role only small churches canUnderstand your congregation’s strengths and weaknesses Turn around a dying or unhealthy churchIdentify good trends and bad in church and culture
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 6, 2018
169 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
September 29, 2023
5 stars, not because I agree with everything in it, but because it is very thought provoking and encouraging, as well as being helpful in its specificity regarding small church ministry. I highly recommend this book for everyone in ministry at a smaller church.
March 5, 2018
I am a big fan of Karl Vaters’ first book The Grasshopper Myth. So, when Moody publishers offered a free copy for review, I said: “sign me up!” Karl’s ministry of encouragement to small church pastors has saved me from despair more than once. He rightly recognizes that most church leadership resources are written by big church pastors who are not speaking to the realities of the small church. In Small Church Essentials, Karl writes to speak specifically to small churches and he wants them to hear that being small is not a problem. “Being small does not mean that something is broken. If something is broken, you can’t fix it by making it bigger” (p.75). In his speaking at small church events, Karl often asks the question, “What if there are so many small churches because they are God’s idea, not our failure,” (see p. 20). What if God decided to make a few really big churches, more large churches, and many, many, more small churches to accomplish His mission. What if God, designed to use small churches all along? Karl wants to make sure that small churches are becoming healthy not big (because big churches can be unhealthy too). For the record, Karl has nothing against big churches. In fact, he continually refuses to criticize big churches because he sees them as part of God’s plan too.
For me, the most helpful chapters in Small Church Essentials were on the unique nature of small churches (chapter 4) and the importance of a healthy church culture (chapter 5). In chapter 4, “Small Churches Are Different (and That’s Okay),” Vaters highlights the fact that smaller groups behave less predictably than larger groups. This chapter really helped me to see how strong personalities in a church can hijack the culture of the church for years – undermining what the leaders are trying to accomplish. He says, “The smaller the group, the more the idiosyncrasies fo individual people and the relationships between them come into play,” (p. 51) This explains why it is so frustrating to try and scale down the ideas from bigger churches. Small churches are just too unpredictable to use the systems of larger, more stable churches. This is really helping me see the way forward in our church is to focus on relationships and the culture of the church.
Speaking of culture, chapter 5, “Why Is My Church So Weird?” is a complete game changer. Vaters shows how established cultures may be undermining mission. "A wise pastor will do whatever is necessary to turn the soil and expose that culture for what it is, the blessings and the curses, the hurts, and the joys. If not the negatives will stay hidden, only to hinder everything you want to do and, more important, everything God wants to do through that church," (p. 66). The modern leadership thought is - to change the culture, you need new leadership. You need to "get the right people on the bus." Karl says, "'Get the right people on the bus' doesn't work as easily in a small church. Since we don't have the ability to hire in from the outside, we have to figure out how to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission using the parts on the table* and the people already on the bus," (p.70, *Referring to the "square peg/round hole" scenario in the movie Apollo 13). He goes on to say, "In a church, the people are not resources, they're the result. They're not on the bus to help you get you to your destination; they are the destination. People worshiping Jesus and sharing His love with others are what the church exists for. There is no other destination," (p. 70).
While I’m a big fan of Karl’s approach to ministry, there are a couple of areas where I strongly disagree with him. On page 63 he says, “The very systems that bring stability to big churches can make a small church seem cold and corporate, negating the main reason most people attend a small church to begin with – the personal touch.” However, the lack of systems in a small church can make it seem cold and uncaring. For example, a small church without a good system for welcoming and integrating new people will often become internally focused. As the people come to see their close friends they will have the tendency to ignore the newcomers. Small church relational systems are necessary to keep this from happening. It’s not that systems shouldn’t be a priority in the small church, but they should look different from the systems in a big church and they should allow for the unpredictability of small church culture.
I also disagree with Karl’s process for vision-casting in a small church (Chapter 12). I really like the concept of his collaborative model of vision-casting. On paper, it works really well and is a good expression of the priesthood of all believers. However, in practice, this model only works if the leaders of the church are all strong visionary people. So many elected “leaders” in small churches are trying to replicate the past instead of moving into the future. When these people are asked to envision the preferred future, they just describe what they already know – keeping the church stuck in its rut. The collaborative model will only work if the church already has a culture of developing strong, visionary leaders. On page 165, Karl describes his church, “It’s not like I have a church full of heel-draggers and vision-killers; quite the opposite. I don’t know of a church with more caring, passionate, energized, missional people than the church I’ve been blessed to pastor for the last twenty-five years.” Some small churches have unhealthy leaders who act as an anchor dragging against progress. In other small churches, the leaders desire a healthy future but want to skip over the hard work of culture development. This can turn into a leadership killing process. As a new vision takes shape, the culture simply eats it up and the leaders become more and more discouraged. A top-down model of vision casting may be necessary for some small churches because each small church has a unique culture. The key is to understand and reshape the culture of the church before trying to cast a vision for the future – prepare the soil before planting the seed.
Even with these disagreements, Small Church Essentials is the best resource on small church ministry I have ever read. Avid readers of Karl’s blog (newsmallchurch.com also known as CT’s Pivot blog) will recognize a large portion of the material in the book. However, the book goes into more detail and depth than the blog. It also contains some new material (or at least material I’ve never seen).
If you are a pastor or leader in a small church, this book is a very useful resource.
For me, the most helpful chapters in Small Church Essentials were on the unique nature of small churches (chapter 4) and the importance of a healthy church culture (chapter 5). In chapter 4, “Small Churches Are Different (and That’s Okay),” Vaters highlights the fact that smaller groups behave less predictably than larger groups. This chapter really helped me to see how strong personalities in a church can hijack the culture of the church for years – undermining what the leaders are trying to accomplish. He says, “The smaller the group, the more the idiosyncrasies fo individual people and the relationships between them come into play,” (p. 51) This explains why it is so frustrating to try and scale down the ideas from bigger churches. Small churches are just too unpredictable to use the systems of larger, more stable churches. This is really helping me see the way forward in our church is to focus on relationships and the culture of the church.
Speaking of culture, chapter 5, “Why Is My Church So Weird?” is a complete game changer. Vaters shows how established cultures may be undermining mission. "A wise pastor will do whatever is necessary to turn the soil and expose that culture for what it is, the blessings and the curses, the hurts, and the joys. If not the negatives will stay hidden, only to hinder everything you want to do and, more important, everything God wants to do through that church," (p. 66). The modern leadership thought is - to change the culture, you need new leadership. You need to "get the right people on the bus." Karl says, "'Get the right people on the bus' doesn't work as easily in a small church. Since we don't have the ability to hire in from the outside, we have to figure out how to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission using the parts on the table* and the people already on the bus," (p.70, *Referring to the "square peg/round hole" scenario in the movie Apollo 13). He goes on to say, "In a church, the people are not resources, they're the result. They're not on the bus to help you get you to your destination; they are the destination. People worshiping Jesus and sharing His love with others are what the church exists for. There is no other destination," (p. 70).
While I’m a big fan of Karl’s approach to ministry, there are a couple of areas where I strongly disagree with him. On page 63 he says, “The very systems that bring stability to big churches can make a small church seem cold and corporate, negating the main reason most people attend a small church to begin with – the personal touch.” However, the lack of systems in a small church can make it seem cold and uncaring. For example, a small church without a good system for welcoming and integrating new people will often become internally focused. As the people come to see their close friends they will have the tendency to ignore the newcomers. Small church relational systems are necessary to keep this from happening. It’s not that systems shouldn’t be a priority in the small church, but they should look different from the systems in a big church and they should allow for the unpredictability of small church culture.
I also disagree with Karl’s process for vision-casting in a small church (Chapter 12). I really like the concept of his collaborative model of vision-casting. On paper, it works really well and is a good expression of the priesthood of all believers. However, in practice, this model only works if the leaders of the church are all strong visionary people. So many elected “leaders” in small churches are trying to replicate the past instead of moving into the future. When these people are asked to envision the preferred future, they just describe what they already know – keeping the church stuck in its rut. The collaborative model will only work if the church already has a culture of developing strong, visionary leaders. On page 165, Karl describes his church, “It’s not like I have a church full of heel-draggers and vision-killers; quite the opposite. I don’t know of a church with more caring, passionate, energized, missional people than the church I’ve been blessed to pastor for the last twenty-five years.” Some small churches have unhealthy leaders who act as an anchor dragging against progress. In other small churches, the leaders desire a healthy future but want to skip over the hard work of culture development. This can turn into a leadership killing process. As a new vision takes shape, the culture simply eats it up and the leaders become more and more discouraged. A top-down model of vision casting may be necessary for some small churches because each small church has a unique culture. The key is to understand and reshape the culture of the church before trying to cast a vision for the future – prepare the soil before planting the seed.
Even with these disagreements, Small Church Essentials is the best resource on small church ministry I have ever read. Avid readers of Karl’s blog (newsmallchurch.com also known as CT’s Pivot blog) will recognize a large portion of the material in the book. However, the book goes into more detail and depth than the blog. It also contains some new material (or at least material I’ve never seen).
If you are a pastor or leader in a small church, this book is a very useful resource.
February 1, 2023
My dad recommended this book to me. I enjoyed a fair amount of it. It’s central thread was wonderful, a small church does not mean a bad church, and the goal isn’t to become a mega church, but a healthy church. You could tell he truly believed in this vision for cultivating thriving churches rather than growing mega churches. I couldn’t agree more. However there were some other points of disagreement throughout the book (that my dad had as well and warned me ahead of time). Mainly the means of we are to become a healthy church. He often pointed to strategies and systems rather than theology and people. I do believe the intentions were pure, but i often felt wanting more. I definitely will hold onto many words of wisdom found in the pages of this book. He has experience and a thriving small church that speaks to his wisdom. But I do wish more focus was placed on orthodoxy and practice, rather than how to build “good ministries”. But perhaps this is just another difference in theological practice.
August 9, 2018
Someone should have written this book a long time ago! We pastors of small churches often get our ideas from their wrong sources and evaluate ourselves by the wrong guidelines. Enter Karl Vaters, a pastor of a small church himself, to bring us back to a place of biblical and ministry sanity. Many of the conclusions he shares are those that I have come to over the course of my ministry, and he says them in a helpful way here. This book deserves a wide readership.
Part one is three chapters on how small does not equal broken. He reminds us that most pastors will pastor a small church. We are setting ourselves up for some sort of depression if we think a large church is the only possibility for success while it”s clear most of us will not reach that plateau. He works to help us balance embracing the beauty of a small church while giving it our all. There’s no bashing of large churches here, just a reminder that maybe the Lord has always intended there be many small churches to carry out His plan.
Part two is four chapters on thinking like a great small church. Here’s where we see how erroneous thinking has sent us off the rails. He teaches us better ways to measure church growth than the usual numbers-only approach. Part three becomes more practical as five chapters explain how to bring new life to an existing small church. Whatever you do, don’t miss chapter 12 on “a new way to see small church vision-casting”. It’s worth the price of the book. Some pastors will be liberated by it. The final section becomes even more practical in his discussion of embracing and becoming a great small church.
Every pastor of a small church ought to read this book soon. So many of the church help books out there today leave a pastor feeling dejected. Those books claim to light a fire under you when they’re more like water dousing the flame. This book succeeds where the church gurus fail. You will be challenged to embrace your calling and pursue it for the glory of God. Finally, a modern book that can really help pastors of small churches!
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
Part one is three chapters on how small does not equal broken. He reminds us that most pastors will pastor a small church. We are setting ourselves up for some sort of depression if we think a large church is the only possibility for success while it”s clear most of us will not reach that plateau. He works to help us balance embracing the beauty of a small church while giving it our all. There’s no bashing of large churches here, just a reminder that maybe the Lord has always intended there be many small churches to carry out His plan.
Part two is four chapters on thinking like a great small church. Here’s where we see how erroneous thinking has sent us off the rails. He teaches us better ways to measure church growth than the usual numbers-only approach. Part three becomes more practical as five chapters explain how to bring new life to an existing small church. Whatever you do, don’t miss chapter 12 on “a new way to see small church vision-casting”. It’s worth the price of the book. Some pastors will be liberated by it. The final section becomes even more practical in his discussion of embracing and becoming a great small church.
Every pastor of a small church ought to read this book soon. So many of the church help books out there today leave a pastor feeling dejected. Those books claim to light a fire under you when they’re more like water dousing the flame. This book succeeds where the church gurus fail. You will be challenged to embrace your calling and pursue it for the glory of God. Finally, a modern book that can really help pastors of small churches!
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
March 1, 2019
Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250 by Karl Vaters is written in a conversational manner. I found it interesting, intelligent, and engaging.
Our family attended a small church for eleven years, and we are currently attending another small church. Karl Vaters makes some wonderful suggestions -- suggestions that make sense -- that may have helped our previous small church survive (No, it hasn't completely died, but it had seriously shrunk by the time we left several months ago).
Karl Vaters is the pastor of a small church, and has been for 25 years (and counting). He explains why not every church can be a "big" church, but that's not a bad thing. He also explains and offers suggestions for helping a small church to be a healthy church. He does an excellent job of explaining how small churches are different from big churches, which is why it doesn't really work to run a small church the same way big churches are run. He does all of this without saying anything negative about or putting down big churches. His desire, for this book, is to help the pastors of small churches to see how their small church can be a healthy church, and how they don't have to feel incompetent or like a failure because they aren't making their small church into a big church.
Do you know there are more small churches than there are big churches? It's just that the big churches are the hot topics in our current society. However, not everyone wants to be part of a big church either, which is another reason that pastors in small churches should not feel badly about not being big. Pastors need to focus on the health of their church, not the size of their church. A healthy church will naturally grow, but it may never grow to "big church" status, and that's okay.
I am not a pastor, but I am part of a church of under 250 people, and Karl Vaters' suggestions for creating a healthy small church make sense and are biblical. He uses several examples of Jesus ministering. Yes, you may think, "but Jesus ministered to huge crowds", and yes, he did, but his main focus was on small groups like his twelve disciples.
If you're a pastor of a small church who feels frustrated, stressed, and like you're failing, or if you're a pastor of a small church who just wants to get an idea as to how healthy your church is, I encourage you to read this book. I also encourage those of you who are part of a small church body to read this book, because it's not the pastor's job alone to keep the church healthy, and you may find some ways you can serve your church and your pastor by reading this book.
Our family attended a small church for eleven years, and we are currently attending another small church. Karl Vaters makes some wonderful suggestions -- suggestions that make sense -- that may have helped our previous small church survive (No, it hasn't completely died, but it had seriously shrunk by the time we left several months ago).
Karl Vaters is the pastor of a small church, and has been for 25 years (and counting). He explains why not every church can be a "big" church, but that's not a bad thing. He also explains and offers suggestions for helping a small church to be a healthy church. He does an excellent job of explaining how small churches are different from big churches, which is why it doesn't really work to run a small church the same way big churches are run. He does all of this without saying anything negative about or putting down big churches. His desire, for this book, is to help the pastors of small churches to see how their small church can be a healthy church, and how they don't have to feel incompetent or like a failure because they aren't making their small church into a big church.
Do you know there are more small churches than there are big churches? It's just that the big churches are the hot topics in our current society. However, not everyone wants to be part of a big church either, which is another reason that pastors in small churches should not feel badly about not being big. Pastors need to focus on the health of their church, not the size of their church. A healthy church will naturally grow, but it may never grow to "big church" status, and that's okay.
I am not a pastor, but I am part of a church of under 250 people, and Karl Vaters' suggestions for creating a healthy small church make sense and are biblical. He uses several examples of Jesus ministering. Yes, you may think, "but Jesus ministered to huge crowds", and yes, he did, but his main focus was on small groups like his twelve disciples.
If you're a pastor of a small church who feels frustrated, stressed, and like you're failing, or if you're a pastor of a small church who just wants to get an idea as to how healthy your church is, I encourage you to read this book. I also encourage those of you who are part of a small church body to read this book, because it's not the pastor's job alone to keep the church healthy, and you may find some ways you can serve your church and your pastor by reading this book.
September 21, 2025
A fantastic little book on small church life.
It is delicate where it needs to be, challenging where it needs to be and reassuring throughout. Karl Vaters writes with both honesty and sensitivity, never dismissing the struggles of ministry in a smaller setting but also never romanticising them.
This is a great book for pastors and leaders who want to find contentment where they are, without fearing decline, obsessing over growth, or feeling like their church only matters if it gets bigger. It’s both freeing and encouraging, a reminder that faithfulness is not measured by size.
Highly recommended.
It is delicate where it needs to be, challenging where it needs to be and reassuring throughout. Karl Vaters writes with both honesty and sensitivity, never dismissing the struggles of ministry in a smaller setting but also never romanticising them.
This is a great book for pastors and leaders who want to find contentment where they are, without fearing decline, obsessing over growth, or feeling like their church only matters if it gets bigger. It’s both freeing and encouraging, a reminder that faithfulness is not measured by size.
Highly recommended.
May 6, 2025
I cannot recommend this book highly enough to every pastor, deacon, and member of a small church. There is biblical wisdom, practical advice, and refreshing clarity on every page. After years of reading pastors talk about how to grow your church bigger, Vaters' praise of small healthy churches is countercultural in the best way.
January 15, 2021
Good read for all pastors. Small church is the direction culture is taking us. From the tendency of millennial and Gen Z preferring small gatherings over large to COVID forcing us to think smaller just so we can meet. This has some easy principles for any pastor.
October 29, 2025
This books has some practical thought provoking thoughts. I love the encouragement that it offers small church pastors!! Small church pastors need to remember that God created their church for a reason! There are some great strategies in this book as well! Very practical!
Read
August 14, 2018Filed under "strange things I read for story research".
March 23, 2020
One of the best books on small church ministry that I have read. Very practical and he does it without bashing big churches!
July 14, 2021
The first 100 pages are spent arguing that small churches can be healthy, and being a "big" church isn't the only indicator of health. I agree! He says what not many seem to be able to say. However, I think the argument was made well before he was finished. In my opinion, the book could have been much shorter. There are some other helpful topics, and I still would suggest reading it if one is a pastor of a small church.
April 9, 2024
Wanted to give it six stars but Mr. Goodreads shut that operation down…
November 5, 2020
Super helpful. Paradigm-shifting and encouraging.
March 22, 2018
“Your church is big enough,” writes Karl Vaters in Small Church Essentials. “Right now. Today, at its current size.”
Vaters’ statement goes against the grain of what many ministers have been taught, explicitly and implicitly, about church growth. “A healthy church will grow numerically,” they’ve been taught in so many words. “If yours isn’t growing, you’re doing something wrong. Here’s how to break the ____ barrier” (fill in the blank with a large number).
The intent of this teaching is good, of course. Church growth aims at increasing a church’s size by increasing the number of people it wins to Christ. And church-growth ideas have been successfully implemented at a number of churches, which have grown exponentially.
But not all churches. Not even most churches. Indeed, despite the intent, the effect of church-growth teaching can be demoralizing to small-church pastors who implement it with little or no resulting growth. That’s certainly how Vaters felt after implementing church-growth programs at his church for many years with no appreciable change in size.
Things came to a head when he heard a denominational leader state that 80 percent of that denomination’s churches were under 200 in weekly attendance, and 90 percent were under 100. “I knew the expected response to the statistic should be, ‘Our church is small too. Oh no!’ But something inside me broke that day.”
His immediate response was defensive and a bit cynical: “Our church is small, so what?” But as weeks passed, he realized that “so what?” was not an agenda. While planning an upcoming church event, the thought hit him: “Our church is small, now what?” That was a game-changer, an epiphany.
It led Vaters to a new understanding of a growing church, epitomized in this sentence: “We are always striving to increase our capacity for effective ministry.” Any church can do this, at any size.
Of course, capacity for effective ministry is going to look different at small churches than at big churches. Why? Because of the Law of Large Numbers: “The bigger the group, the more predictably they behave. The smaller the group, the less predictably they behave.”
So, for example, leading a big church requires a pastor to focus on systems and processes. Those systems and processes move people from the large-group experience on Sunday to a small-group experience at midweek. A small church is already a small group, however. Instead of focusing on systems and processes, a small-church pastor leads by personal relationship.
Here’s another example: In a big church, discipleship typically takes place using a curriculum model. (Think of Rick Warren’s baseball diamond analogy here.) When a church needs to train large numbers of people, this systems-oriented approach works well. But a mentoring model works better in a small church precisely because it leverages the value of personal relationship.
I could cite other examples of how the Law of Large Numbers shapes leadership in big and small churches, but I think you get Vaters’ basic point. Leading a small church requires different ways of thinking about and practicing ministry than leading a big church. Not better or worse, mind you, just different.
Small Church Essentials isn’t anti-big church by any stretch of the imagination. By the same token, though, it’s not uncritically pro-small church. “Small churches are not a problem, a virtue, or an excuse,” Vaters writes. “Jesus calls every church and every church leader for a purpose,” he concludes, “and He equips us with everything we need to accomplish that purpose.”
Regardless of size.
If you’re a small-church pastor who wants to increase your own capacity and your church’s capacity for effective ministry, I highly recommend this hopeful, helpful book.
Book Reviewed
Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250 (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2018).
P.S. I wrote this review for InfluenceMagazine.com. It appears here by permission.
P.P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.
Vaters’ statement goes against the grain of what many ministers have been taught, explicitly and implicitly, about church growth. “A healthy church will grow numerically,” they’ve been taught in so many words. “If yours isn’t growing, you’re doing something wrong. Here’s how to break the ____ barrier” (fill in the blank with a large number).
The intent of this teaching is good, of course. Church growth aims at increasing a church’s size by increasing the number of people it wins to Christ. And church-growth ideas have been successfully implemented at a number of churches, which have grown exponentially.
But not all churches. Not even most churches. Indeed, despite the intent, the effect of church-growth teaching can be demoralizing to small-church pastors who implement it with little or no resulting growth. That’s certainly how Vaters felt after implementing church-growth programs at his church for many years with no appreciable change in size.
Things came to a head when he heard a denominational leader state that 80 percent of that denomination’s churches were under 200 in weekly attendance, and 90 percent were under 100. “I knew the expected response to the statistic should be, ‘Our church is small too. Oh no!’ But something inside me broke that day.”
His immediate response was defensive and a bit cynical: “Our church is small, so what?” But as weeks passed, he realized that “so what?” was not an agenda. While planning an upcoming church event, the thought hit him: “Our church is small, now what?” That was a game-changer, an epiphany.
It led Vaters to a new understanding of a growing church, epitomized in this sentence: “We are always striving to increase our capacity for effective ministry.” Any church can do this, at any size.
Of course, capacity for effective ministry is going to look different at small churches than at big churches. Why? Because of the Law of Large Numbers: “The bigger the group, the more predictably they behave. The smaller the group, the less predictably they behave.”
So, for example, leading a big church requires a pastor to focus on systems and processes. Those systems and processes move people from the large-group experience on Sunday to a small-group experience at midweek. A small church is already a small group, however. Instead of focusing on systems and processes, a small-church pastor leads by personal relationship.
Here’s another example: In a big church, discipleship typically takes place using a curriculum model. (Think of Rick Warren’s baseball diamond analogy here.) When a church needs to train large numbers of people, this systems-oriented approach works well. But a mentoring model works better in a small church precisely because it leverages the value of personal relationship.
I could cite other examples of how the Law of Large Numbers shapes leadership in big and small churches, but I think you get Vaters’ basic point. Leading a small church requires different ways of thinking about and practicing ministry than leading a big church. Not better or worse, mind you, just different.
Small Church Essentials isn’t anti-big church by any stretch of the imagination. By the same token, though, it’s not uncritically pro-small church. “Small churches are not a problem, a virtue, or an excuse,” Vaters writes. “Jesus calls every church and every church leader for a purpose,” he concludes, “and He equips us with everything we need to accomplish that purpose.”
Regardless of size.
If you’re a small-church pastor who wants to increase your own capacity and your church’s capacity for effective ministry, I highly recommend this hopeful, helpful book.
Book Reviewed
Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250 (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2018).
P.S. I wrote this review for InfluenceMagazine.com. It appears here by permission.
P.P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.
June 1, 2018
Karl Vaters, who pastors Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley California, writes for Christianity Today, and founded NewSmallChurch.com, is at it again with his new 256 page paperback, "Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250". Very much like his previous book, "The Grasshopper Myth," the author energetically and thoughtfully encourages small churches and their pastors, but moves more into practical ways to be a thriving church.
"Small Church Essentials" begins in familiar territory, showing how being small does not mean being broken. In the first three chapters Vaters addresses the reality that over 90% of churches in North America are under 250, and that this is a good thing. "Let's stop acting like we're embarrassed by all the small churches in the world. Maybe there are so many small churches because they're God's idea, not our failure" (20). This shift in focus is an extremely significant one, and needs to be trumpeted across the amber waves of grain, over the purple mountain majesties, and above the fruited plain!
In the next four chapters Vaters tackles the dynamics of smaller churches; how the lesser the number of people in your congregation increases the impact of personal and relational idiosyncrasies and peculiarities; and ways to increases your congregation's capacity for effective ministry. In these chapters the author pops some balloons of misplaced notions: getting bigger fixes problems, all church growth and church leadership principles should work in ever church no matter the size, and paying close attention to attendance numbers is overly important. As I read these chapters I found myself being challenged, but also richly encouraged. In fact, while working through the sub-section titled "God Doesn't Take Attendance" my spirits were lifted and I was brought into a season of prayer and thanksgiving!
Chapters 8-12 of "Small Church Essentials" walked through loads of ideas and plans . The author discussed what he sees as indications that your church might be stuck; how to know if your congregation really needs a small group ministry; examining what your church does well and ways to do it better; the need to always be improving; and small church vision-casting. This third section of the book is packed with suggestions and promptings to modify your fellowship's way of doing ministry.
The final chapters look at simple ways of helping your small church to become a great small church. Vaters examines some easy-to-fix aspects making your congregation more welcoming. He also addresses mentoring and discipleship and planning. The author promotes the important notion that we should think more about doing ministry from the church and not just in the church. And the writer leaves the reader on the high-note that your church is big enough for what God wants it to do! "Your church is big enough to minister the healing grace of Jesus to its members, and you have enough members to take that grace to your community in an overflow of joy, hope, and healing. Pastoring a small church with passion and joy is not settling for less, it's about doing all you can with everything you've been given. Now" (251).
Since all church renewal and renovation programs arise from a specific set of conceptions as to what "church" is, and what the sacraments are, "Small Church Essentials" is no exception. Vaters writes from with the Pentecostal stream, and therefore the third section of the book (Chapters 8-12) approaches changes and ways of doing church and ministry from within that stream. Those with a high ecclesiology and sacramentology, such as Anglicans, Lutherans, and Presbyterians, will likely find this portion the least helpful. But the author recognizes from where he is writing and acknowledges that not every recommendation he posits fits every liturgical and theological system.
"Small Church Essentials" is a valuable manual! If your pastoring a small church, you need to snatch up a copy immediately. This is a book that ought to be in the hands of young ministers, older clergy, elder boards, and seminarians. I happily commend it to you!
My thanks to Moody Publishers for sending me a copy of the book used for this review, upon my request. The thoughts and recommendations in this review are mine and freely given.
"Small Church Essentials" begins in familiar territory, showing how being small does not mean being broken. In the first three chapters Vaters addresses the reality that over 90% of churches in North America are under 250, and that this is a good thing. "Let's stop acting like we're embarrassed by all the small churches in the world. Maybe there are so many small churches because they're God's idea, not our failure" (20). This shift in focus is an extremely significant one, and needs to be trumpeted across the amber waves of grain, over the purple mountain majesties, and above the fruited plain!
In the next four chapters Vaters tackles the dynamics of smaller churches; how the lesser the number of people in your congregation increases the impact of personal and relational idiosyncrasies and peculiarities; and ways to increases your congregation's capacity for effective ministry. In these chapters the author pops some balloons of misplaced notions: getting bigger fixes problems, all church growth and church leadership principles should work in ever church no matter the size, and paying close attention to attendance numbers is overly important. As I read these chapters I found myself being challenged, but also richly encouraged. In fact, while working through the sub-section titled "God Doesn't Take Attendance" my spirits were lifted and I was brought into a season of prayer and thanksgiving!
Chapters 8-12 of "Small Church Essentials" walked through loads of ideas and plans . The author discussed what he sees as indications that your church might be stuck; how to know if your congregation really needs a small group ministry; examining what your church does well and ways to do it better; the need to always be improving; and small church vision-casting. This third section of the book is packed with suggestions and promptings to modify your fellowship's way of doing ministry.
The final chapters look at simple ways of helping your small church to become a great small church. Vaters examines some easy-to-fix aspects making your congregation more welcoming. He also addresses mentoring and discipleship and planning. The author promotes the important notion that we should think more about doing ministry from the church and not just in the church. And the writer leaves the reader on the high-note that your church is big enough for what God wants it to do! "Your church is big enough to minister the healing grace of Jesus to its members, and you have enough members to take that grace to your community in an overflow of joy, hope, and healing. Pastoring a small church with passion and joy is not settling for less, it's about doing all you can with everything you've been given. Now" (251).
Since all church renewal and renovation programs arise from a specific set of conceptions as to what "church" is, and what the sacraments are, "Small Church Essentials" is no exception. Vaters writes from with the Pentecostal stream, and therefore the third section of the book (Chapters 8-12) approaches changes and ways of doing church and ministry from within that stream. Those with a high ecclesiology and sacramentology, such as Anglicans, Lutherans, and Presbyterians, will likely find this portion the least helpful. But the author recognizes from where he is writing and acknowledges that not every recommendation he posits fits every liturgical and theological system.
"Small Church Essentials" is a valuable manual! If your pastoring a small church, you need to snatch up a copy immediately. This is a book that ought to be in the hands of young ministers, older clergy, elder boards, and seminarians. I happily commend it to you!
My thanks to Moody Publishers for sending me a copy of the book used for this review, upon my request. The thoughts and recommendations in this review are mine and freely given.
November 15, 2019
What are the essentials of a small church? Well, to become larger and to have more money, right?
Not necessarily, Karl Vaters argues in his book, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250.
I can’t tell you how much I hate it when someone asks what our average attendance is and I say, “25,” and they respond, “Oh, I’m sorry” or “Have you thought about an open house?” Or a revival? Or a sermon series on giving? Or focusing your ministry on doing whatever you have to do to change to get people in the doors?
Vaters has been to all the church growth seminars – as he shows with quotations and endnotes. Yet, he states the average Protestant church in the US has 80 congregants (18) and that is not necessarily wrong or indicative that a church is broken; it may be perfectly healthy and obedient – and there’s the rub – the Church is to “equip the saints, reach the lost, and glorify God” (41) and there is no numerical equivalent to that mandate.
In Part Two of his book, Vaters presents the differences between big and small church and argues that the differences merely make them different, not wrong.
In Part Three, he asks if your church is small because there is a problem or because it is strategically small by virtue of its context – in which case, there is nothing to be fixed.
If there is a problem, the problem must be understood and addressed (though the problem’s resolution does not mean the church will grow financially or monetarily).
Vaters begins by arguing that all churches should “fill up” and “empty out” in being who God calls them to be – there is a receiving part in the church and a giving out in the church (116). The problem could be that the church focuses on one and not the other, rather than having a balance.
Functional churches are not cluttered (120). (And he helps the reader understand what clutter is and how best to remove it.)
In chapter ten, he argues that each church has something(s) that it does well, and that is what it should focus on – that is what it’s purpose/way/method it brings the Gospel and grows as a church (135ff).
In part four, he argues that being a “great” small church is found in recognizing that small churches are much more about relationships than large churches, so maximize relationship-building (191ff).
Vaters book is very readable – great for church boards to read through and plan with, as well as for senior/solo ministers to read and bring forth to the church. It is extremely important that we disabuse ourselves of the notion that all churches must be large or that small churches are being punished. A faithful, Gospel-preaching, obedient church can be perfect with 25 people in it.
[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]
Not necessarily, Karl Vaters argues in his book, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250.
I can’t tell you how much I hate it when someone asks what our average attendance is and I say, “25,” and they respond, “Oh, I’m sorry” or “Have you thought about an open house?” Or a revival? Or a sermon series on giving? Or focusing your ministry on doing whatever you have to do to change to get people in the doors?
Vaters has been to all the church growth seminars – as he shows with quotations and endnotes. Yet, he states the average Protestant church in the US has 80 congregants (18) and that is not necessarily wrong or indicative that a church is broken; it may be perfectly healthy and obedient – and there’s the rub – the Church is to “equip the saints, reach the lost, and glorify God” (41) and there is no numerical equivalent to that mandate.
In Part Two of his book, Vaters presents the differences between big and small church and argues that the differences merely make them different, not wrong.
In Part Three, he asks if your church is small because there is a problem or because it is strategically small by virtue of its context – in which case, there is nothing to be fixed.
If there is a problem, the problem must be understood and addressed (though the problem’s resolution does not mean the church will grow financially or monetarily).
Vaters begins by arguing that all churches should “fill up” and “empty out” in being who God calls them to be – there is a receiving part in the church and a giving out in the church (116). The problem could be that the church focuses on one and not the other, rather than having a balance.
Functional churches are not cluttered (120). (And he helps the reader understand what clutter is and how best to remove it.)
In chapter ten, he argues that each church has something(s) that it does well, and that is what it should focus on – that is what it’s purpose/way/method it brings the Gospel and grows as a church (135ff).
In part four, he argues that being a “great” small church is found in recognizing that small churches are much more about relationships than large churches, so maximize relationship-building (191ff).
Vaters book is very readable – great for church boards to read through and plan with, as well as for senior/solo ministers to read and bring forth to the church. It is extremely important that we disabuse ourselves of the notion that all churches must be large or that small churches are being punished. A faithful, Gospel-preaching, obedient church can be perfect with 25 people in it.
[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]
March 6, 2018
I am not the pastor of a small church, but simply a member of a church of around 25 people who would like to see our church be the best church that it can be. When I saw the opportunity to be a part of the launch team for the new book "Small Church Essentials" by Karl Vaters, I jumped at the opportunity.
Karl believes that many of the criticisms he has seen directed toward small churches have less to do with their size and more their health. He doesn't argue that churches should be small, but instead wants churches to be great at whatever size. "Small Church Essentials" seeks to guide the reader and their small church toward this goal through persuading small churches that they can be great, showing what a great small church looks like, and providing ideas and resources for how a small church can be great.
As Karl mentions, “once you reach a certain threshold of size, there’s little difference in the way people function and interact” (p. 50). That is why in a bigger church, it can be easier to use the same principles that worked at another large church. But the smaller a church, the more likely they are to have their own unique personality and deal with their own unique problems. Because of this, if you are looking for a “silver-bullet” program or quick-fix to implement in your church, this is not the book for you. This book, however, gives great advice and gets the wheels turning in your head on how you can use small church principles to fit your unique situation and become a healthy, great small church!
After reading this book, it reminded me that the mission of the church is essential and cannot change, but “a church that isn’t willing to change on nonessentials will die” (p. 147). Our Sunday Evening Bible Study group has had fairly low participation and we’ve been unsuccessful time after time in getting some of our regular Sunday morning attendees to join. I realized that the purpose of this group was not to get people to attend another church gathering, but to get people to draw closer to God by diving deeper into His Word. Using some of the principles in the book, I decided to launch a 5-week Bible reading plan for our whole church with a Facebook group to compliment it. Our Sunday Evening group will now be used to discuss the previous week’s readings. I don’t expect our Bible Study group to suddenly draw large crowds, but our Facebook group has close to twice as many people as our Sunday morning average and some people are starting down the path of making Bible reading a habit in their lives. I would highly recommend this book to help your church move its focus from the obstacles of being a small church to its unique opportunities to expand God’s kingdom!
Karl believes that many of the criticisms he has seen directed toward small churches have less to do with their size and more their health. He doesn't argue that churches should be small, but instead wants churches to be great at whatever size. "Small Church Essentials" seeks to guide the reader and their small church toward this goal through persuading small churches that they can be great, showing what a great small church looks like, and providing ideas and resources for how a small church can be great.
As Karl mentions, “once you reach a certain threshold of size, there’s little difference in the way people function and interact” (p. 50). That is why in a bigger church, it can be easier to use the same principles that worked at another large church. But the smaller a church, the more likely they are to have their own unique personality and deal with their own unique problems. Because of this, if you are looking for a “silver-bullet” program or quick-fix to implement in your church, this is not the book for you. This book, however, gives great advice and gets the wheels turning in your head on how you can use small church principles to fit your unique situation and become a healthy, great small church!
After reading this book, it reminded me that the mission of the church is essential and cannot change, but “a church that isn’t willing to change on nonessentials will die” (p. 147). Our Sunday Evening Bible Study group has had fairly low participation and we’ve been unsuccessful time after time in getting some of our regular Sunday morning attendees to join. I realized that the purpose of this group was not to get people to attend another church gathering, but to get people to draw closer to God by diving deeper into His Word. Using some of the principles in the book, I decided to launch a 5-week Bible reading plan for our whole church with a Facebook group to compliment it. Our Sunday Evening group will now be used to discuss the previous week’s readings. I don’t expect our Bible Study group to suddenly draw large crowds, but our Facebook group has close to twice as many people as our Sunday morning average and some people are starting down the path of making Bible reading a habit in their lives. I would highly recommend this book to help your church move its focus from the obstacles of being a small church to its unique opportunities to expand God’s kingdom!
September 4, 2018
In over 25 years of ministry I’ve been to several church conferences. I will admit that there have been several times where I’ve come home either feeling guilty for not pastoring well because I didn’t measure up to the success that was displayed at the conference, or I’ve come home and tried to implement their blueprint for our ministry when it just didn’t fit. In the end it almost seemed like a worthless pursuit. Since 90% of the churches are composed of 200 or less people, it makes sense for somebody to focus on the small church.
Karl Vaters speaks to the small church pastor in his newest book: Small Church Essentials, Field-tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250 published by Moody Publishers. Finally, there is a book for the rest of us.
Vaters authored The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches, and the Small Thinking that Divides Us (2013), speaks extensively at conferences on the topic of the small church, and writes a blog on small churches for Christianity Today. He has put a lot of thought on the subject. He even pastors a small church and shares stories in his book on how he has had to overcome many of the challenges in his pastorate as small church pastors all over.
One of the first things Vaters does in his book is alleviate this feeling of insignificance that small church pastors may feel at times because of the size of his church. He grows through great lengths to show that small doesn’t necessarily mean unhealthy and that our goal should be becoming a great small church. Personally I found this very encouraging.
What I found helpful was the practical advice given in this book on tackling the issues and problems that arise in a small church, that a larger church doesn’t have. From dealing with difficult people to dealing with a lack of resources, there is some truly helpful tidbits in this book. I even found myself convicted a few times for how I’ve handled things recently.
All in all I believe that this will be a helpful book for small church pastors. I could see small church pastors meeting together to go through this book.
I have always been a small church pastor and probably will remain in that role. In closing I believe that there is a special place in Heaven for those pastors who work 40 hour weeks while pastoring a flock. I’m thankful for the opportunity to read this book.
I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher for an honest review. I’m thankful for the opportunity.
Karl Vaters speaks to the small church pastor in his newest book: Small Church Essentials, Field-tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250 published by Moody Publishers. Finally, there is a book for the rest of us.
Vaters authored The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches, and the Small Thinking that Divides Us (2013), speaks extensively at conferences on the topic of the small church, and writes a blog on small churches for Christianity Today. He has put a lot of thought on the subject. He even pastors a small church and shares stories in his book on how he has had to overcome many of the challenges in his pastorate as small church pastors all over.
One of the first things Vaters does in his book is alleviate this feeling of insignificance that small church pastors may feel at times because of the size of his church. He grows through great lengths to show that small doesn’t necessarily mean unhealthy and that our goal should be becoming a great small church. Personally I found this very encouraging.
What I found helpful was the practical advice given in this book on tackling the issues and problems that arise in a small church, that a larger church doesn’t have. From dealing with difficult people to dealing with a lack of resources, there is some truly helpful tidbits in this book. I even found myself convicted a few times for how I’ve handled things recently.
All in all I believe that this will be a helpful book for small church pastors. I could see small church pastors meeting together to go through this book.
I have always been a small church pastor and probably will remain in that role. In closing I believe that there is a special place in Heaven for those pastors who work 40 hour weeks while pastoring a flock. I’m thankful for the opportunity to read this book.
I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher for an honest review. I’m thankful for the opportunity.
March 15, 2018
Being active in a small church with about 100 people on a Sunday morning has taught me much, blessed me greatly, and prompted many questions. I’ve learned more about myself and my preferences. I’ve discovered how my gifts fit into God’s kingdom. I’ve pursued ideas because if I wanted a study or project to happen I had to lead it. People have shown up with meals after we adopted babies or as my son recovered from second-degree burns. A couple our parents’ age has poured into our family. We’ve befriended college students and other families.
But I’ve been feeling stuck in my small church.
So when I saw a post about the launch team for “Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of under 250” on Facebook, I was intrigued. I’m not a pastor. I don’t work for my church. But I do care about the future of our small church (and churches in general) and wanted a fresh perspective as the wife of an elder and a small group leader.
I’m not the only one in this size of a church. Vaters quotes information that says half of North America’s 320,000 churches are Protestant churches that have about 80 in their weekly attendance. One a church reaches 100 people, it’s larger than 60 percent of its peer churches; at 140 people, it’s 75 percent larger; and at 200, 85 percent. The numbers don’t matter but the sentiment does: Leading and being active in small churches is important because that’s the majority of what The Church is in America.
This book is definitely written directly to pastors, but I still benefitted as someone invested and interested in seeing improvements in our church. It’s divided into four sections that are then broken down into smaller chapters that address everything from church philosophy, purpose, starting and stopping ministries, vision-casting, service, discipleship, leadership models, and planning. Personally, it helped me gain perspective on both the role of a small church and where I fit into that.
* I was given a complimentary copy of this book as part of the launch team, but I'm thankful for the message and perspective it gave me.
But I’ve been feeling stuck in my small church.
So when I saw a post about the launch team for “Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of under 250” on Facebook, I was intrigued. I’m not a pastor. I don’t work for my church. But I do care about the future of our small church (and churches in general) and wanted a fresh perspective as the wife of an elder and a small group leader.
I’m not the only one in this size of a church. Vaters quotes information that says half of North America’s 320,000 churches are Protestant churches that have about 80 in their weekly attendance. One a church reaches 100 people, it’s larger than 60 percent of its peer churches; at 140 people, it’s 75 percent larger; and at 200, 85 percent. The numbers don’t matter but the sentiment does: Leading and being active in small churches is important because that’s the majority of what The Church is in America.
This book is definitely written directly to pastors, but I still benefitted as someone invested and interested in seeing improvements in our church. It’s divided into four sections that are then broken down into smaller chapters that address everything from church philosophy, purpose, starting and stopping ministries, vision-casting, service, discipleship, leadership models, and planning. Personally, it helped me gain perspective on both the role of a small church and where I fit into that.
* I was given a complimentary copy of this book as part of the launch team, but I'm thankful for the message and perspective it gave me.
March 7, 2018
This book did something for me that I thought wouldn’t happen again, at least not so soon after leaving full-time ministry two years ago; it provided me with hope. Hope in the fact that there were others out there who focused on doing the Jesus stuff well. Hope in the fact small church does not equal failure. Hope in the reality that if churches focus on being healthy, Jesus will do the rest, and that does not equate to making a church huge.
See, I had mostly given up on the current concept of church (as it exists in the US) and really wanted no part of the come-and-watch “concert culture” many churches have become. Karl has restored my hope that a church in America today can be what Jesus intends the church to be. More than that, we need small churches to be great churches not seeking to become great-big churches, unless that what Jesus wants for them.
This book is now the most highlighted book on my shelf, and I’m not even in ministry!
Who this book is written for
While Karl is himself a pastor writing to other pastors, I think the net needs to be widened. Not just to other pastors on staff, not just to the assistants, custodians, and volunteer leaders. I think every Christian needs to read this book, regardless of the size of your church.
If that statement intrigues or confuses you, then that right there tells me that you need to read this book. The reason being that everyone in a church participates in the health of a church. Everyone. If your concept of church is that the staff puts on the Sunday service and people come and watch, then you are thinking about small church in an unhealthy way.
Karl does an amazing job of explaining the thinking and the doing behind what small church can and should be. I cannot recommend this book more highly!
See, I had mostly given up on the current concept of church (as it exists in the US) and really wanted no part of the come-and-watch “concert culture” many churches have become. Karl has restored my hope that a church in America today can be what Jesus intends the church to be. More than that, we need small churches to be great churches not seeking to become great-big churches, unless that what Jesus wants for them.
This book is now the most highlighted book on my shelf, and I’m not even in ministry!
Who this book is written for
While Karl is himself a pastor writing to other pastors, I think the net needs to be widened. Not just to other pastors on staff, not just to the assistants, custodians, and volunteer leaders. I think every Christian needs to read this book, regardless of the size of your church.
If that statement intrigues or confuses you, then that right there tells me that you need to read this book. The reason being that everyone in a church participates in the health of a church. Everyone. If your concept of church is that the staff puts on the Sunday service and people come and watch, then you are thinking about small church in an unhealthy way.
Karl does an amazing job of explaining the thinking and the doing behind what small church can and should be. I cannot recommend this book more highly!
February 23, 2019
This is an inspiring but challenging book. It ties in well with his equally-helpful and challenging and inspiring The Grasshopper Myth. Helpful, practical tools and advice on how each church, regardless of size or circumstances, can reach their community with the love of Jesus. Challenging in that he has done some things that are exciting and community-transforming. However, it is important to remember that he has done this after 25 years of ministry in that place. We might not be there yet and we might not be able to do everything, but we can do something and we can start to become healthier. A few of the many great quotes from this gem.
"We don't need fewer big churches or fewer small churches - we need more healthy, active, passionate churches of all sizes, working together."
"Your church is big enough to minister the healing grace of Jesus to its members, and you have enough members to take that grace to your community in an overflow of joy, hope, and healing. Pastoring a small church with passion and joy is not about settling for less, it's about doing all you can with everything you've been given. Now."
"Jesus was the most culture-challenging, paradigm-shifting, tradition-breaking, change agent who ever lived. How did His followers become so boring?"
"How can we reach our communities if they have no idea we love them? And how will they know we love them if we don't work alongside them?"
"There is more good work being done by churches than by any other group of people in the world. Sadly, many folks outside the church don't know that, because we often insulate ourselves from others as we do it. How can we be light in the darkness when we only hang out with other candles? That's what happens when we only work with other churches or Christian ministries."
"We don't need fewer big churches or fewer small churches - we need more healthy, active, passionate churches of all sizes, working together."
"Your church is big enough to minister the healing grace of Jesus to its members, and you have enough members to take that grace to your community in an overflow of joy, hope, and healing. Pastoring a small church with passion and joy is not about settling for less, it's about doing all you can with everything you've been given. Now."
"Jesus was the most culture-challenging, paradigm-shifting, tradition-breaking, change agent who ever lived. How did His followers become so boring?"
"How can we reach our communities if they have no idea we love them? And how will they know we love them if we don't work alongside them?"
"There is more good work being done by churches than by any other group of people in the world. Sadly, many folks outside the church don't know that, because we often insulate ourselves from others as we do it. How can we be light in the darkness when we only hang out with other candles? That's what happens when we only work with other churches or Christian ministries."
April 6, 2018
I have enjoyed Karl Vaters' previous writings (his book 'The Grasshopper Myth', and his Christianity Today blog 'Pivot') so was delighted to hear about his new book 'Small Church Essentials'. Full disclosure: I was sent a review copy of this book, but it was a little slow getting to the wilds of Canada, so I purchased my own Kindle copy!
The gift Karl gives us in this book is a sense of what I refer to as 'the distinct, God-given identity of the small church'. The small church is a different animal than the big church: not better or worse, just different. Most church growth/church health specialists learned their chops in big churches, and so the principles they teach are mainly big church principles. But attempting to apply big church principles in small churches does harm to the small church. So we small church practitioners have to reclaim our charism and share with one another the things we have learned about doing effective ministry in small churches. This is what Karl is doing in this book.
As I worked my way through the book I kept saying to myself 'Okay this is the most useful chapter yet', because every chapter contains practical gems to be thought through and applied (not slavishly, but thoughtfully and intelligently) to our own situations. Having finished the first read, I will be going back through the book with notebook and pen in hand. I will be sharing the teachings with my vestry (church board) and with my clergy colleagues. This is one of the most useful books about ministry I have ever read. I highly recommend it.
The gift Karl gives us in this book is a sense of what I refer to as 'the distinct, God-given identity of the small church'. The small church is a different animal than the big church: not better or worse, just different. Most church growth/church health specialists learned their chops in big churches, and so the principles they teach are mainly big church principles. But attempting to apply big church principles in small churches does harm to the small church. So we small church practitioners have to reclaim our charism and share with one another the things we have learned about doing effective ministry in small churches. This is what Karl is doing in this book.
As I worked my way through the book I kept saying to myself 'Okay this is the most useful chapter yet', because every chapter contains practical gems to be thought through and applied (not slavishly, but thoughtfully and intelligently) to our own situations. Having finished the first read, I will be going back through the book with notebook and pen in hand. I will be sharing the teachings with my vestry (church board) and with my clergy colleagues. This is one of the most useful books about ministry I have ever read. I highly recommend it.
July 24, 2018
When 95% of churches are under 200 people...why are we all reading books written by, going to conferences hosted by, and listening to podcasts recorded by big church pastors (and why do we tend to sprinkle in a little personality cult worship while we consume their products?) In a spirit of charitable judgment, we all have mixed motives for why we pine over mega churches... some good because we want to reach more people for Christ and some not so good because we live in 'Merica where the dominant philosophy of pragmatic materialism makes us mindlessly assume bigger, polished and popular are always better.
Into this dearth of small church resources steps Karl Vaters! He provides insight that is actually applicable and helpful to the majority of churches in the world! His balanced and gracious tone alone, makes you instantly realize this is a man who has some valuable wisdom to share. And he does not disappoint!
God made all sizes of physical bodies, and it is beautiful. They all have equal value. He also made all sizes of church bodies and this too is beautiful. They all have equal value in that they are uniquely designed by Christ, the Head of the Body, to accomplish a mission for Him that only they at their unique size, can accomplish (not the big church or the small church plant down the street... for they have their own God-designed mission).
Awesome and much needed book!
Into this dearth of small church resources steps Karl Vaters! He provides insight that is actually applicable and helpful to the majority of churches in the world! His balanced and gracious tone alone, makes you instantly realize this is a man who has some valuable wisdom to share. And he does not disappoint!
God made all sizes of physical bodies, and it is beautiful. They all have equal value. He also made all sizes of church bodies and this too is beautiful. They all have equal value in that they are uniquely designed by Christ, the Head of the Body, to accomplish a mission for Him that only they at their unique size, can accomplish (not the big church or the small church plant down the street... for they have their own God-designed mission).
Awesome and much needed book!
July 17, 2023
A practical book which strongly reflects a North American pre-occupation with size. A substantial proportion of the book (I'm estimating 25%) is an argument for the value of churches which number fewer than 250 people. I don't think many church leaders in Australia or Britain will need convincing of that. It is a given; a norm; a fact of our post-Christendom context. That means Part 1 ("Small doesn't equal broken") and Part 2 ("Thinking like a great small church") can be skipped or skimmed. Part 3, "Bringing new life to an existing small church" features practical ideas for approaching the kingdom work of small church life in the contemporary west, and most people will find something of use here. I found the sections on managing change helpful, especially the emphasis on understanding the culture and history of small churches. The book is not developed theologically, with the explanation of the mission of the church and its intersection with the mission of God being somewhat simplistic. One of the most useful phrases I came across was the definition of church growth:
Overall, a worthwhile read - it won't take long to read it, and everyone will find something useful in there - but its value is limited outside of the USA by its cultural assumptions.
"We are always striving to increase our capacity for effective ministry." (p.94)
Overall, a worthwhile read - it won't take long to read it, and everyone will find something useful in there - but its value is limited outside of the USA by its cultural assumptions.
April 2, 2023
Wish I had read this sooner!
Our Leadership Team (of 3) was encouraged to read this by our Pastor. Ours is a small Church Group of 10-12 people. We were greater in number, sometimes having 25-30 in the seats. When our new Pastor and wife came to us we were a very sick dying Church. Changes were made, mistakes and miscommunication occurred and people left. Though the numbers dropped, our Church is Spiritually healthier than it has been in the 8 years I have been going there!! People have come to know Jesus as their Savior, studying The Bible in a deeper more meaningful way and are sharing their Faith.
What is discussed in Pastor Vaters' book is so refreshing and eye-opening that it needs to be on every bookshelf of every Small Church member everywhere!! His insight as a Small Church Pastor is invaluable in clarifying the TRUE meaning of who the Church is and what needs to happen to carry out The Great Commandment and Great Commission.
Thank you, Pastor Vaters, for sharing and showing how small Church Groups can reach people who may otherwise never hear about JESUS.
Our Leadership Team (of 3) was encouraged to read this by our Pastor. Ours is a small Church Group of 10-12 people. We were greater in number, sometimes having 25-30 in the seats. When our new Pastor and wife came to us we were a very sick dying Church. Changes were made, mistakes and miscommunication occurred and people left. Though the numbers dropped, our Church is Spiritually healthier than it has been in the 8 years I have been going there!! People have come to know Jesus as their Savior, studying The Bible in a deeper more meaningful way and are sharing their Faith.
What is discussed in Pastor Vaters' book is so refreshing and eye-opening that it needs to be on every bookshelf of every Small Church member everywhere!! His insight as a Small Church Pastor is invaluable in clarifying the TRUE meaning of who the Church is and what needs to happen to carry out The Great Commandment and Great Commission.
Thank you, Pastor Vaters, for sharing and showing how small Church Groups can reach people who may otherwise never hear about JESUS.
December 9, 2023
Helpful, but single-minded perspective
I found a good amount of practical help from this book. I believe the author is a champion for small church pastors and is a great encouragement to them. Where my concern lies is that I am a large church pastor transitioning to leading a small church. I felt he criticized how some leaders lead, unintentionally I am sure, by how much he sought to differentiate large from small.
The make-up of the leader and his/her gifts are important factors that were not addressed. The presupposition he makes is that large ideas do not work with small. However, all large churches were once small churches. The things they implemented as a small church led to growth in their case. What was the difference? It was not necessarily strategy or that they are better. Some churches will grow larger and some will not, which he agrees, but the makeup of the leader is not addressed except to say, small church pastors are more like this and large church pastors are like this. In my case, I don't fit the mold for answering God's call to pastor a small church?
I found a good amount of practical help from this book. I believe the author is a champion for small church pastors and is a great encouragement to them. Where my concern lies is that I am a large church pastor transitioning to leading a small church. I felt he criticized how some leaders lead, unintentionally I am sure, by how much he sought to differentiate large from small.
The make-up of the leader and his/her gifts are important factors that were not addressed. The presupposition he makes is that large ideas do not work with small. However, all large churches were once small churches. The things they implemented as a small church led to growth in their case. What was the difference? It was not necessarily strategy or that they are better. Some churches will grow larger and some will not, which he agrees, but the makeup of the leader is not addressed except to say, small church pastors are more like this and large church pastors are like this. In my case, I don't fit the mold for answering God's call to pastor a small church?
August 14, 2018
One of the best "church health" books I've ever read. This is a book that probably should have been written decades ago, but because of church growth assumptions, the ideas it unpacks and the philosophies it adopts were simply unthinkable. But Karl Vaters has both feet firmly planted in the real world: most ministers will only ever work with small, "under 250 member" churches. If this is the case, according to Vaters, it seems foolish to continually dwell upon "big church" tools and methods. Those tools work well in big churches, but few are actually transferable to the small church. Vaters actually gives us something we can use because he writes from the "small church" perspective. In reality, church growth may or may not happen, regardless of the right tools and methods. The focus for church leaders should be on creating a healthy church and not necessarily a numerically growing church. Vaters shows us how. Terrific book.
October 19, 2021
This is a paradigm-altering read. Having only ever attended 1000+ member churches, I’ve never known anything else as “church.” The vibrancy, authenticity and faithfulness that Vaters alludes to in the life of a “small” church makes me envious.
I’ve become disenfranchised with the corporate model that “large” churches use. It seems to be too far disconnected from relational ministry and emphasize too greatly some faceless “mission and vision.” We are on a dangerous path when we no longer see the hands, feet and face of Jesus sitting and working among us in our congregation.
I think we all need to adapt the attitude of relationships and people first, principles and politics second (or not at all!). As Vaters describes them, “small” churches truly encapsulate the pulse of faithful Christian witness in the world.
I’ve become disenfranchised with the corporate model that “large” churches use. It seems to be too far disconnected from relational ministry and emphasize too greatly some faceless “mission and vision.” We are on a dangerous path when we no longer see the hands, feet and face of Jesus sitting and working among us in our congregation.
I think we all need to adapt the attitude of relationships and people first, principles and politics second (or not at all!). As Vaters describes them, “small” churches truly encapsulate the pulse of faithful Christian witness in the world.
July 25, 2024
I wish I had read this two years ago.
Coming from a big church, and now in a small church, there's a lot of things you know intuitively don't cross over, but it's a bit hard not to elevate one over the other, or understand the differences.
Vaters is generous in that he values the contributions of large churches but is deeply invested in small churches (not to make them larger, but to make them healthy!) He is able to explain why somethings work in large churches that do not translate to small churches, and a better way forward for small churches.
It made so much sense and was so helpful for me to be able to put aside practices/strategies that aren't helpful for us without rejecting the good. Such an important read for anyone in leadership in small churches, especially for those of us who have experience in both.
Coming from a big church, and now in a small church, there's a lot of things you know intuitively don't cross over, but it's a bit hard not to elevate one over the other, or understand the differences.
Vaters is generous in that he values the contributions of large churches but is deeply invested in small churches (not to make them larger, but to make them healthy!) He is able to explain why somethings work in large churches that do not translate to small churches, and a better way forward for small churches.
It made so much sense and was so helpful for me to be able to put aside practices/strategies that aren't helpful for us without rejecting the good. Such an important read for anyone in leadership in small churches, especially for those of us who have experience in both.
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