Lyle E. Schaller, Small Congregation, Big Potential: Ministry in the Small Membership Church. Abingdon Press, 2003.
Referenced in: Small Church Leadership
LifeandLeadership Summary
Schaller is one of the most prolific authors in the field of church leadership, and if he has written a book on a subject, it usually makes sense to read it. This is his fourth volume on small churches. Others include:
- The Small Church is Different (1982)
- The Small Membership Church: Scenarios for Tomorrow (2000)
- The Middle-Sized Church: Problems and Prescriptions (1985) – addresses the unique issues of 100-200 member churches.
Each of these has content distinct enough to merit separate consideration.
Though this is not the primary text I would recommend on this subject, there are several useful ideas. He is affirming and hopeful that small churches are valuable in themselves, not only for the potential they have to become larger, and that their real potential comes in capitalizing on their unique strengths. The chief value is that Schaller always thinks outside the box, raises questions that stretch the reader beyond the current paradigms, and presents some fairly unconventional solutions. He is particularly adept at observing successful cultural experiments and suggesting ways churches may learn from them. Examples are his idea of watching video sermons vs. hiring a located preacher, and the McChurch, a large church with several smaller satellites all governed by one board and being served by one ministerial staff (this differs somewhat from his insistence in The Small Church is Different (1982) that the small church is not a branch office but an autonomous group [130]). Also typical of Schaller, he is a keen observer of cultural trends as they affect the place of churches in society, and in this book, the state of small churches. Demographers like George Barna are quite helpful in keeping church leaders well fed with such data, but no one has the seasoned capacity to make Schaller-type observations (he has to be the oldest surviving church leadership guru). Some of his ideas assume the small church valuing things such as competence, “customer” sensitivity, organizational effectiveness, and numerical growth, perspectives most of the other literature says are not characteristic of small churches. Readers may or may not agree with these assumptions, but even apart from this, there is much to be gleaned from this volume.
From the Publisher
There are many questions that leaders of small-membership congregations ask themselves about their church’s future. Lyle Schaller suggests that two in particular should rise to the top of the list. First, what’s the right size for a church? Is the small congregation averaging two or three dozen people at worship a legitimate order of God’s creation? You bet it is, says Schaller. Second, should these congregations make their plans on the basis of few resources and fewer options, or should they see themselves as possessed of pools of talent and expanding possibilities? If you are convinced that the former is true, then this book is not for you.
If, however, you are among those who believe that small-membership churches are distinctive places of Christian witness and service, spreading the gospel and living in service to the world in ways that other, larger churches are not, then this book is for you. In it you will find the right questions to ask as you seek to lead a small-membership congregation, and solid, practical guidance for doing so.
About the Author
Lyle Schaller is the country’s leading interpreter of congregational systems and their vitality. He has written over 60 books.
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