When You Work for the Church

Church consultant Lyle Schaller once noted:

Churches have more in common by size than by denomination, tradition, location, age or any other single isolatable factor.

So when a friend sent me a copy of Significant Church: Understanding the Value of Small Evangelical Churches in Canada, I read the report to see what my small church might have in common with the small churches that took part in this study by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

I found myself nodding with researchers Rick Hiemstra and Lindsay Calloway:

A church of forty congregants is not the same as a church of 4,000. In the same way a Honda Civic differs from a concrete mixer, a small church is distinct in its function, its congregational life and in how it relates to the community.

For the purposes of this study, a small church was defined as having an average worship attendance of 150 or less. In the survey, 67% of the small churches had an average worship attendance of 50 or less. Small church distinctives identified in the study include:

• a family-like atmosphere of close relationships
• participatory worship services
• a reliance on volunteers
• a simplicity in ministry which requires fewer resources than a church with multiple programs
• a congregational understanding of why the church exists, “often discerned in the founding stories that congregations tell themselves, but more often, it is something that can better be felt than explained.”

Here is an excellent video overview of the study by lead researcher Rick Hiemstra:

Understanding size dynamics helps us understand the different ways congregations of all sizes work, and more importantly understanding size dynamics helps us understand how small churches can play to their strengths.

 It helps churches of other sizes understand why a denomination or movement might want churches of various sizes depending on what the ministry context requires.

 What does your church’s size make it particularly good at?

 How could you lean into these strengths for the glory of God?

For a free download of the whole report, please see Significant Church: Understanding the Value of the Small Evangelical Church in Canada by Rick Hiemstra and Lindsay Callaway, Faith Today Publications, 2023.