Small Church, Big Lessons: 30 Key Insights

Small Church, Big Lessons: 30 Key Insights

By Brian Dodd From the time I was in college until shortly after being married I was a leader in a church with an average weekly attendance of just under 100 people. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life and laid the foundation for how I would lead people moving forward.
Before I get into the list, I cannot recommend enough you click HERE for information on an upcoming Breaking the 200 (Attendance) Barrier course being put on by Church Fuel. It is as good as anything I have seen and a must-have for small church pastors.
Now as promised, the following are 30 Things I Learned Leading in a Small Church:

1. I learned to love pastors and how to serve them.
2. I learned about church leadership from riding with my pastor on Monday and Tuesday night visitation.
3. I learned how to teach the Bible.
4. I was able to work on my craft at a slow pace because my small church was forgiving of my mistakes.
5. I learned how to pray.
6. Thanks to Continuing Witness Training, I learned how to share my faith.
7. I learned rigorous work was required to reach my full potential.
8. I learned about John Maxwell.
9. I learned about Bill Hybels.
10. I learned the importance of visiting people in hospitals.
11. I learned that to be an effective youth pastor you must also pastor the parents.
12. I learned how to organize youth services, activities and retreats.
13. I learned how to experience love because we were like a family.
14. I learned how to deal with gossip because we were like a family.
15. I learned competition is sickening to God.
16. I learned how hot the bright lights of the stage can be.
17. I learned passion and naivety can be greatly used by God, but passion and naivety would eventually not be enough. I had to get better by improving my skills.
18. I learned how hard decisions are made.
19. I learned how to build lifelong friendships.
20. I learned I could not sing. Though I will be a worship leader in Heaven when I have my glorified body.
21. I learned the value of a visitor.
22. I learned it is almost impossible to grow without quality leadership.
23. I learned you can’t do all the work. You must build a team.
24. I learned loving people can overcome a lack of financial resources.
25. I learned generosity through the people who loved and served me as a youth pastor.
26. I learned my small tithe makes a big difference.
27. I learned bi-vocational ministry can destroy your soul if you are not careful.
28. I learned small church pastors are grossly underpaid.
29. I learned God honors faithfulness.
30. I learned there are many mega-pastors in small church environments. Their church just has not caught up with them yet.

***Bonus*** I also learned you can find a great wife in a small church!
Once again, if you are in a small church environment and want to know how to break the 200 attendance barrier, click HERE.