Small Church Essentials

Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250

By: Karl Vaters

Narrated by: George W. Sarris

Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Listeners will: 

• Be assured that leading a small congregation does not make them ministry failures
• Come away inspired to lead with passion, regardless the size of their church
• Have field-tested principles for leading a church in their context
• Possess new metrics for biblically measuring vitality in small churches
• Have a toolkit of resources to use in their everyday ministry

Karl Vaters has been a small church pastor for 30 years and is the author of The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches, and the Small Thinking That Divides Us (2013). He 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 you:

• Stop believing lies about small churches
• Lead your church to fulfill the role only small churches can
• Understand your congregation’s strengths and weaknesses
• Turn around a dying or unhealthy church
• Identify good trends and bad in church and culture

©2018 eChristian (P)2018 eChristian

Small churches can also be healthy churches

I knew much of through experience, but it was very helpful to have it all in one place. I wish my seminary would have made this required reading instead of all those books on church structure that has nothing to do with my ministry context.

Encouraging

Very helpful advice from a pastor who has experienced the ups and downs of shepherding a small church. My church is about 20 people and the recommendation to keep it simple, focus on the essentials and prioritize mentoring is a relief.

Splendid!

Exceptionally revealing, impressive and impactful. I could not stop listening till I got to the end. Really practical and time tested.

Good listen and great advice!

Good book for pastors or anyone in church leadership roles. I found it helpful and insightful to learn how to not focus on growth as a goal but Ministry and growth or outreach as the end-result.

Excellent and practical

Vaters gives practical direction and argument for effective small churches.

This isn’t a strategy book, it’s a book about heart and honoring Jesus.

Small churches please read

This book had great insight and encouragement to those of us who struggle thinking we need to be bigger to make a difference!!!

Grateful for this book!

I am a Pastor of a small passionate, community loving, unreasonably generous Church. Unfortunately, when some hear the word small, nothing that comes after it matters in the ministry world which is a shame. I loved this book and the ideas discussed because it’s a reminder that no matter the size we are called to lead well what God has entrusted to us. I have recommended this book to so many Pastor friends of mine. It was so good!

Excellent Observations

Karl does a great job providing insight and focus where it belongs - the health of the church. He doesn’t discredit large churches, but points out the differences between small and large. He provides plenty of examples and practical advice for small church pastors and leaders. We are going through this book as ministry leaders in our church. It is worth the read.

You will have to take into account that there are a few ministry examples Karl used that seemed safe in 2018 but may not be so today. He has it covered though, but challenging the church to be authentic.

Practical, insightful, and encouraging

This book was insightful and helped me to understand and better balance ministry demands, planning, and priorities within the context of my small church. I highly recommend it for all pastors and church leaders, especially those in smaller congregations. The general message that both small and large churches can be unhealthy - and we should focus on church health rather than church size is extremely important. The author does well to give his stories and helpful ideas to get thoughts going toward the goal of building a more healthy church culture regardless of current status/size. It was encouraging to be reminded that God calls some to serve in smaller churches for a reason and that just because a church is small, doesn’t mean it’s less important to God’s kingdom work! Don’t play the numbers or comparison game and instead be about the work that God has called you to do today with the people in your church today! Definitely a needed voice in today’s church leadership genre.

this is a re-read to keep on the shelf

a breath of fresh air for leaders of smaller congregations. you probably want a print copy to mark up and highlight as well