More than one-third (37%) attend a midsize church of over 100, but not larger than 499.

One in 11 (9%) attends a church with between 500 and 999 attendees, and slightly fewer (8%) attend a very large church with 1,000 or more attendees.

Although this survey dates from 2016, it remains useful context for understanding the significant place smaller churches hold in American church life. The perception of small churches is often different from reality.

Why do so many people enjoy belonging to a smaller church?

I think small churches hold some genuine advantages over larger churches, alongside a few key hindrances.

7 Advantages of Smaller Churches

1. Family Feel

Small churches excel at creating a family feel. People know one another, notice when someone is missing and share in each other’s joys and struggles. Larger churches invest considerable effort in small group structures to recreate the relationships that come naturally in a smaller congregation.

Smart pastors amplify this strength. They build on these close connections and make them an opportunity to minister to people whose own family experience has been fractured or painful.

2. Quick Integration of New People

When a visitor walks into a small church, they stand out. People notice them, engage with them and begin introducing them to others. The process of belonging can begin immediately.

Medium and larger churches need organised systems to achieve what a smaller church can accomplish through personal contact. A small church pastor can learn a visitor’s name, hear their story and help them connect without sending them through multiple stages. This direct, personal approach is a genuine advantage.

Integration of new people is essential to grow a healthy church. Explore practical ways to help church visitors connect and return.

3. Simpler Systems

Small churches are simple organisations. They lack the multiple layers of complexity that you find in medium and larger churches.

There are fewer departments, fewer rosters to fill, fewer extra meetings to attend, and fewer moving parts.

If a small church pastor keeps things simple they can focus their endeavours on personal evangelism and discipleship.

This is especially true in small country churches where relational connections are amplified due to the nature of connections in country towns.

4. Earthed Preaching

Small church pastors are intricately involved with the lives of their members.

They walk with them in both their good times and their struggles and they are there when things turn south.

This is an enormous help to a pastor’s preaching.

The everyday struggles of church members enable their preaching to be earthed and keep them mindful of real life when presenting the truth.

I will never forget the 7 things I learned watching TD Jakes preach at a conference. His ability to tell stories reminded me of the central importance of earthing your preaching to the everyday lives of your members.

5. Shepherding Suits More Pastors

Pastors did not join the ministry to run staff meetings.

They responded to the call of God primarily because of a love for people.

Most pastors enjoy pastoring people more than engaging with the demands of leading a large organisation.

This natural bent towards shepherding people makes pastoring a small church a natural fit.

6. Fewer Staff

Smaller churches have fewer staff, and this can work positively for small churches.

Staff require significant resources.

They need money. They take time.

Also, they can cause you heartache when they get disgruntled. They must be supervised. And at times you have to fire them which is never fun.

When a church does not have the resources to employ staff it opens the opportunity to be very creative with volunteers.

While productive staff can bring significant blessings to a church there is a downside and small churches avoid this downside.

7. Pastoral Lifestyle

An often-forgotten advantage of pastoring a small church is the freedom to shape your working week. With fewer staff meetings and organisational demands, you can arrange preparation, appointments and pastoral visits around a rhythm that works for you and your church.

Rather than having every hour dictated by a busy office, you have room to organise your day. You remain accountable to your board and congregation, but this flexibility is a genuine benefit of small church ministry.

Two Sizable Problems of Smaller Churches

1. The Church Bully

Every church has them.

Bullies.

People who dominate the landscape through intimidation. They revel in their ability to persuade people to yield to their perspective, their way.

They dominate discussions even when they’re not in the room.

Their rule is sometimes positional, holding sway in the board room or it can be informal, dictating outcomes from behind the scenes.

Either way, their influence is disproportionate.

In small churches, bullies find it easier to intimidate and dominate. There are fewer opponents and smaller factions.

They’ve outlived a few pastors and cast a long shadow over all major proceedings.

In a small church, a bully’s influence can loom large. There are fewer people to counter their demands, and they may have outlasted several pastors. Their opinions can shape decisions before a discussion even begins. This makes dealing with a dominant, intimidating person one of the sizable leadership challenges of pastoring a smaller church.

2. Pastoral Feelings of Inferiority

All pastors compare their churches to others.

However, small church pastors are more likely to suffer from feelings of inferiority and inadequacy when they compare their numbers, facilities, and leaders to what occurs in larger churches.

Feelings of inadequacy are heightened at leadership conferences when large church pastors imply that small church pastors are poor leaders, failures even, or have significant problems that are preventing them from growing their church.

Thus, small church pastors often feel misunderstood by large church pastors.

In John 21 we see Jesus address the issue of comparison when Peter asks Jesus about the fate of the beloved disciple.

Jesus asks him, if I want him to live until the kingdom comes, what is that to you?

Jesus asks us, if I want to bless another leader in a unique way that is different to you, what is that to you?

This searching question helps us understand our hearts and is designed to lead us away from a sense of inferiority born out of comparison.

It moves us to a place of obeying the distinctive call of God in our lives.

Should Small Churches Seek to Stay Small?

It’s an interesting question but it’s also the wrong question.

Here’s a better question.

How healthy is my small church?

Size is never an indicator of health.

Is a radish unhealthy because it’s small?

Is an oak tree healthy because it’s large?

As Karl Vaters states, small churches are not a problem to be fixed but neither are they an excuse for laziness.

Small churches should seek to improve their health while celebrating their unique and significant advantages.