They’re the most frustrated people in the church. Well, that’s been my experience.
They’re typically highly engaged and gregarious. They have obvious spiritual gifts and understand the local church. So why are they frustrated?
Perhaps because they don’t have a ministerial title.
And what’s odd, they really don’t want one. But, they believe God wants them to have one.
My assistant knocked on my door and named the person on the phone who’d like to speak with me. I was awaiting a conference call and couldn’t take the call. But as I thought about why this person was calling, negative thoughts entered my mind.
The person calling is a wonderful person who serves on a team leaders of our church who help govern our church. I’d been in a meeting with this person the night before. My mind raced, “what did I say that could’ve made them mad?” “Did I cut them off while they were talking?”
I later returned the call and braced myself to hear what they had to say. What they had to say…
Perhaps nothing. God uses small churches to do His work. Most of my readers are currently attending or have attended a small church. Some of those churches are effective, and some aren’t. Although there can be a correlation between ineffectiveness and small attendance, many times size is circumstantial. Therefore, a church’s effectiveness isn’t (and shouldn’t be) defined by their attendance.
Many small churches are comfortable in their own skin. But problems can occur when a small church or its leadership begins to believe the grass is greener at a larger church.
This thinking can debilitate church effectiveness – and leaders who suffer from church leader jealously syndrome often chase cool, leading their churches to fruitless pursuits that hinder the Gospel and hurt those who attend.