Instead of stepping away from the classroom, Oscar chose to stay. And from that place of relational credibility and everyday presence, a church began to form—not around a platform, but around shared life, conversations and a slow, steady rhythm of discipleship.

Oscar represents a growing wave of covocational church planters and pastors—men and women who choose to remain in their marketplace roles while planting and sustaining faith communities. In a time when financial resources are limited and relational connections are hard to come by, a covocational strategy is a compelling option. It provides planters and pastors with a longer runway to engage their community, make disciples, and plant and grow a church without the pressure to fund a full-time salary. But covocational ministry is more than a financial strategy; it is a return to the roots of mission—ordinary people living ordinary lives with gospel intentionality, where God has already sent them.

Unlike a traditional church model, where leaders are either fully funded from the church or juggle side hustles out of necessity (what is often called “bivocational”), covocational leaders view their profession as a primary context for mission. Rather than compartmentalizing work and ministry, they integrate the two, seeing their workplace as an extension of the church’s presence in the community.

Let’s look more closely at why more church planters and pastors are choosing to be covocational. 

1. Relational Connections

Here’s the reality: The majority of pastors spend most of their time with church people. That’s not a bad thing—it’s just the nature of being a pastor. But if the goal is to reach people who are not Christians, living in a church bubble is a problem.

By working in the marketplace, a covocational planter or pastor naturally engages with co-workers, clients and residents—people who may never step foot inside a church building. Their vocation becomes a built-in mission field, providing daily interactions with individuals from diverse backgrounds, belief systems and life experiences. A covocational minister sees their workplace as a space where discipleship, evangelism and kingdom influence happen organically. Instead of viewing their marketplace job as a hindrance to ministry, they recognize it as a God-ordained advantage—an opportunity to incarnate and proclaim the gospel in the rhythms of everyday life.

2. Credibility

In a time when the term “pastor” doesn’t always receive the warmest reception, it makes a difference when people see that you work a job just like they do. It builds trust—especially with those outside the church who might be skeptical of religion or organized faith. It shows that you’re not removed from the pressures and complexities of everyday life.

But it’s not just about how outsiders see you. When a pastor works in the real world, the people inside the church notice too. They see that you understand what their Monday-to-Friday looks like. That shared experience can help to break down the “clergy-laity” divide and remind everyone that all work matters. It reinforces the idea that faith isn’t just for Sundays—it’s meant to shape our whole lives, including the workplace. People trust leaders who live in the same world they do.

3. Financial Stewardship

Planting a church or shepherding a small church is hard enough without the added pressure of finances. A stable income from outside the church allows planters to provide for their families without the stress of fluctuating giving patterns. Additionally, many full-time jobs offer essential benefits such as health insurance, paid vacation and retirement plans—provisions that new or small churches often cannot afford to provide.

And for the church itself, not having to fund a full-time salary frees up resources to invest in mission and ministry. You can take time building relationships instead of rushing to grow numbers to support the church budget.

Further, covocational strategies allow denominations and church planting networks to support more planters in more places—especially in expensive and underserved areas where traditional funding models just don’t work. If we want to see a church planting movement in every place and people group, we must engage with covocational leaders.

4. Shared Leadership

When a pastor can’t do everything (because, you know, they have a job), something important happens: People step up.

Covocational ministry creates space for others to lead, serve and grow. They have to. And that’s a good thing. Instead of a “come and watch the pastor do ministry” model, covocational-led churches become communities of participation. People discover their gifts. Leadership is shared. Ownership grows. And the whole church becomes stronger and more fruitful because it’s not built around one person.

This shift also reawakens a powerful and often underutilized truth: the priesthood of all believers. Every follower of Jesus is called, gifted and empowered to be a minister in their own right—not just the person with a title or a microphone. Covocational churches lean into this by necessity, but in doing so, they recover a deeper theological reality: The church is healthiest when everyone plays a role in the mission.

5. Freedom to Speak Prophetically

Sometimes speaking the truth comes with a cost. In a traditional model, where your salary may depend on keeping everyone happy, that can get complicated. But when a pastor’s support comes from the marketplace, they often feel more freedom to speak boldly—whether it’s challenging injustice, calling the church to repentance, or speaking hard truths. When pastors are free to speak with honesty and conviction, the church is in a better position to become a place of real transformation.

6. Personal Growth

Many covocational leaders say their day jobs make them better pastors. Why? Because they’re constantly learning how to manage time, work with people, solve problems, adapt to change, and communicate clearly. These marketplace skills can translate into ministry in meaningful ways. Rather than being a diversion from their ministry calling, the workplace becomes a training ground that shapes them into more well-rounded leaders.

The Greatest Challenge

Now let’s be real. Covocational ministry isn’t easy. Balancing a full-time job and the demands of church leadership takes serious intentionality. It requires boundaries, support systems and a clear sense of calling. And if there’s one challenge that rises above the rest, it’s time. There never seems to be enough of it.

But the good news is that you’re not powerless. Here are five simple yet powerful ways you can take control of your time: calendar, priorities, distractions, margin and team. They won’t magically add hours to your day, but they will help you make the most of the ones you have.

Calendar

A calendar can be a powerful tool to effectively manage time; however, for that to work, you must be the one to manage it. Take a serious look at your calendar to examine what an average week looks like.

In the book Time Traps, Todd Duncan argues for a time budget, which is like a financial budget, except instead of tracking dollars, you track hours. Where’s your time really going? What’s getting crowded out? What’s causing stress?

Perhaps before saying yes to the next meeting request, examine your calendar and determine if it is a good fit for that time and day. And remember, you don’t have to say yes to everything. Saying no is not just a good idea—it has now become a mathematical necessity. If there are 15 good things to do today and you only have time to do 10 of them, you will need to say no five times. As author Anne Lamott says, “No is a complete sentence.” So instead of letting your schedule boss you around, start using it as a boundary-setting tool. 

Priorities

Here’s something we often forget: You can’t prioritize everything. That’s why setting clear priorities is key. And when you’re covocational, it’s even more important to decide ahead of time what deserves your best time and energy.

So where do you start? Try this: Put your family and your health—physical, emotional and spiritual—at the top of the list. Block out time on your calendar for rest, relationships and renewal like you would any other appointment. And when someone asks if you’re free, you can tell them you already have a prior commitment.

Remember, if your health collapses or your family falls apart, it doesn’t matter how successful your ministry is. 

Distractions

We all know the feeling: You pick up your phone to check one quick thing and before you know it, 30 minutes have vanished. You’re watching cute panda videos, or you are knee-deep in an argument with a total stranger on social media. It’s not just you. We’re all living in a digital world designed to keep us scrolling, clicking and consuming.

Distractions are everywhere. They come dressed as notifications, endless reels, breaking news or even “urgent” work emails that could’ve easily waited. While we can’t eliminate every distraction, we can create a few healthy boundaries to keep us focused and protect our time. Here are a few small, intentional changes to help you reclaim chunks of your day, and over time, your clarity and productivity.

• Turn off nonessential notifications. If your phone lights up every time someone posts a story or likes a photo, you’re inviting constant interruptions. Silence the noise.

• Take regular breaks from social media. Even a 24-hour detox can reset your focus. Make space for what is happening right in front of you.

• Unfollow or mute accounts that stir up stress or drama. Your feed should nourish you, not drain you.

• Be mindful of the content you consume, especially when you’re already tired. When your brain is fatigued it’s more vulnerable to mindless scrolling and emotional triggers.

Margin

When it comes to juggling work, family and ministry, one of the most important things we can do is create space. In his book Margin, Richard Swenson gives us a picture that really sticks. He asks: How crazy would it be if a book had no margins? Imagine every page crammed edge to edge with words—no white space at all. It would be overwhelming, hard to read, and just plain chaotic. Sound familiar?

Swenson says margin is the space between our load and our limits, between thriving and burning out. It’s the opposite of overload. And that space? It’s where rest, healing, wisdom and strong relationships can grow.

Think about it: We don’t tailgate someone two inches from their bumper on the highway. Instead, we make sure there is space in case something goes wrong. We don’t book flights with a two-minute layover in a large airport. We don’t load a boat until it’s almost underwater. So why do we live our lives without breathing room?

This metaphor is a helpful way to talk about time, especially when we’re trying to balance the demands of church, work and family. It gives us a common language we can use when we look at our schedules or check in with each other. We can ask: Do I have margin? Where am I overloaded?

But margin doesn’t just happen. You must plan for it. In fact, in a culture that applauds ambition and perpetual activity, we will have to fight for it. 

Team

If you’re covocational and trying to run everything solo, burnout isn’t a possibility, it’s a guarantee. That’s why team matters. A lot. Build a team of leaders with different strengths. If you’re a shepherd at heart, bring in someone with apostolic or evangelistic gifts. If you love teaching, find a partner who’s great at gathering or organizing.

When you lead with others, it multiplies ministry and models the kind of church culture where everyone gets to contribute. By understanding your own strengths and intentionally building a team, you can foster a church culture where ministry is shared, mission is advanced, and people are equipped to serve in their sweet spot. Building a team not only creates sustainability, but it also reflects the diverse ways God has designed the church to flourish.

Everyday Impact

Covocational ministry isn’t just about balancing a budget. It’s about embracing a whole new way of being on mission. When you work in the marketplace and lead in the church, you begin to blur the lines between the sacred and the secular. You show people that faith doesn’t just live in Sunday services—it shows up in office breakrooms, construction sites, classrooms and board meetings. Sure, it’s challenging. And yes, it takes intentional effort. But it’s also one of the most meaningful, creative and integrated ways to live out your calling.

For more on co-vocational church planting go to CovoChurchPlanting.com.

12 Potential Covocational Callings

A covocational pastor balances the dual role of leading a church while maintaining a career outside of traditional ministry. The right marketplace vocation for a covocational leader should allow flexibility; align with the leader’s skills; and if they’re planting a church, it should complement their church-planting strategy. Here are several vocations that could be a good fit.

Teaching/Education

Teaching roles often offer flexible schedules, extended breaks and the opportunity to invest in people’s lives. Being a teacher allows for intentional relationships and can serve as a platform for mentoring, community building and leadership development.

Entrepreneur/Small Business Owner

Owning a business provides flexibility with work hours and the ability to connect with the community. Entrepreneurs also often have a greater level of influence in their community, and can integrate faith principles into the marketplace.

Consulting

Consulting offers flexibility and can provide an opportunity to work part-time or on a project-by-project basis. Consulting roles often involve leadership development and strategic thinking, which can benefit church planting efforts.

Real Estate

Real estate agents often have flexible schedules. Additionally, real estate offers opportunities to network with people in the community and build relationships.

Freelancing (Writing, Graphic Design, Marketing, Web Development)

Freelancers can control their own schedules. These roles can often be done remotely, allowing for mobility and flexibility in managing multiple commitments.

Health Care (Nursing, Therapy)

Health care roles, such as nursing, physical therapy or counseling often offer shift-based work, which can create flexibility. Additionally, health care vocations are people-centered, offering many opportunities to demonstrate care, build relationships and show God’s love in practical ways.

Social Work/Nonprofit

Working in a nonprofit or social work capacity allows individuals to be deeply involved in the needs of the community. This can align well with the mission focus of church planting.

Trades (Carpentry, Electrician, Plumber)

Skilled trades often offer flexibility with self-employment or project-based work. These professions also create regular interactions with different people in the community, opening doors for relationship building and outreach.

Technology (Software Developer, IT Specialist, Cybersecurity)

Many technology roles allow for remote work or flexible schedules. The tech industry also offers potential for significant income.

Sales

Sales roles, particularly those that offer commission-based income, often come with a degree of schedule control and flexibility. Salespeople are also in regular contact with the public, providing opportunities for engagement and relationship building.

Financial Planning/Advising

Financial advisors often work flexible hours and build long-term relationships with clients, which can provide opportunities to engage in deeper conversations about life and values. This vocation also allows the church leader to manage their time effectively while helping individuals and families with their financial futures.

Hospitality Industry (Restaurant Owner, Coffee Shop Manager)

Owning or managing a business in the hospitality sector, such as a coffee shop, provides many opportunities for community engagement and relationship building. These businesses can also serve as gathering spaces for church-related events or small group meetings, creating a natural overlap between vocation and ministry.

THE CHALLENGE
Find an unconventional way to reach out to people. 

ONE BIG IDEA 
Hold churchwide baking parties, then deliver the baked goods to neighbors in need. 

When the members of Lebanon Baptist Church in Lebanon, Kentucky, want to bless their neighbors, they often turn to food. Last Thanksgiving, church members walked the neighborhoods around the church to deliver pumpkin pies, no strings attached. And just a few months ago, they gave freshly baked cookies to the local hospital, area health clinics and a retirement home. 

But the treats didn’t come prepackaged from a store. Lebanon Baptist used this outreach opportunity to deepen relationships between the church and the community—and within the church walls too. They hosted baking parties in private homes or at the church kitchen, gathering small groups of people from various backgrounds who didn’t necessarily spend time together to bake the treats. The goodies were then boxed up and loaded in the church van.

Last November’s outreach distributed more than 175 pies to neighbors right before Thanksgiving. 

“It has opened doors to conversation and prayer,” says Lead Pastor Craig Dunbar of this unique outreach, adding that the delivery people always introduce themselves as members of Lebanon Baptist and offer the food as a blessing.

This sort of outreach is fairly new to the church, but it’s not new to Dunbar, who has been feeding people on his own since he came to Christ a decade ago. Dunbar, a former addict, got clean in 2015. As someone who has lived on the fringes, he always has had a heart for those who are down-and-out. He once bought a hot dog cart and used it to feed people without homes. 

Dunbar has spent time in the rougher neighborhoods of Louisville, Kentucky, and even as far away as Alaska, doing street ministry, offering prayer and connecting people in crisis to resources. Many churches would call him asking for street ministry advice.

“We took what resources we had and what we knew of, and we loved on [those in need] with the love of Christ,” he explains.

After a year in Alaska, as an interim and then associate pastor, Dunbar received a call from Lebanon Baptist—and his native Kentucky. He accepted the lead pastor position, while noting that his T-shirt, jeans and Converse All Stars with bright laces were a far cry from the older church’s suit-and-tie history.

“They were used to very traditional views of doing church,” he notes. “I’m church unplugged. 

“Historically, [church members] really have never done [church like] that,” he adds, “so it was uncomfortable for them, but they have caught on to the vision and slowly come on board.”

When Dunbar arrived in February 2024, the church sat at about 30 attendees on a typical Sunday, mostly elderly folks. Now, a little more than a year later at the time of writing, more families have joined and attendance is approaching 100.

In addition to baking and delivering pies and cookies, the church also has baked and delivered bread, picked up trash around town, handed out grocery store gift cards, and fed people without homes and those who are hungry every Wednesday night.

“Outreach is so important,” Dunbar underscores. “Churches seem to have an expectation that people need to come to us when, in reality, Jesus said to go and make disciples. We need to change that paradigm.”

He notes that the baked goods outreaches in particular give people from the church an opportunity to pray for their neighbors on their doorstep, and to share the love of Christ in a practical way. Many of the church members have never done that before.

Located in central Kentucky, 63 miles southeast of Louisville, Lebanon is known for its bourbon distilleries and its Ham Days Festival and Tractor Show. In the past year, the community has taken notice of Lebanon Baptist and has been welcoming of the church’s renewed presence.

“When you do things, people notice,” Dunbar observes. “And who doesn’t like a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving?”

There are some days I would like to retire the term “small church” altogether. For one, there’s no consensus definition for “small.” We can all agree that a church of 20 is small. But where does small stop? At 100? 200? 

Similarly, there is no single “small church experience.” Small churches are found in all types of communities, and the social challenges and opportunities in each place vary significantly. Some churches are small because they are new, and they will get bigger. Others are small today but once were large. Demographics and their attendant pastoral challenges will be quite different in each case.

Perhaps the biggest issue with the term “small church” is that it promotes a misconception about what size church is “normal.” It’s tempting to interpret small church to mean something like smaller than average. Tempting—but wrong. 

Today almost 70% of America’s churches have fewer than 100 participants in regular attendance. Fewer than 10% have more than 250. That means that “small” is average, typical, normal. Rather than being a subcategory of American ministry, the small church is the norm. If you take a longer and broader view, most churches throughout history and in most parts of the world are and always have been small. 

Which is to say that small churches are perfectly normal churches. And while I’m not a prophet or a futurist, I suspect smaller churches will become even more normal in the next generation.

Pastors and congregations alike, in my experience, have a very different impression of reality. Small churches operate in the shadows cast by statistically fewer but vastly more influential large churches. The normative vision for church ministry and success is determined by the overwhelming minority of practitioners. As a result, when pastors and congregations fail to achieve ministry success as it is defined by unusually large churches, they can experience profound spiritual shame. What a terrible burden. 

Fortunately, there is a robust body of literature developed by people who are convinced, like I am, not only that there is nothing wrong with small churches but that every congregation has everything it needs to do the work God has called it to do. The following selection of books belong in that category. 

Some are more theological, some more contemplative, others more practical or tactical. Each is written by practitioners—people who have actually done the work and love the work. All of them are warm in tone, highly readable and immensely helpful.

Preaching and Worship in the Small Church by William H. Willimon and Robert L. Wilson (Wipf and Stock) does two things helpfully: It shows just how long-held our nationwide embarrassment about small churches is and reminds us that the

The Pastor: A Memoir by Eugene H. Peterson (HarperOne) is a moving reflection on ministry and pastoral calling from someone who was never seduced by the upsizing of church. He’s the sort of pastor many of us would be happy to emulate.

De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What’s Next by Karl Vaters (Moody Publishers) offers a historical survey of how size became a primary metric for ministry success and suggests better ways to evaluate the health and effectiveness of religious work.

Shepherding the Small Church: A Leadership Guide for the Majority of Today’s Churches, 2nd Ed. by Glenn C. Daman (Kregel) is a comprehensive guidebook for developing the theology, character, mission and vision of a local church.    

The Small Church Advantage: Seven Powerful Worship Practices That Work Best in Small Settings by Teresa J. Stewart (Market Square Publishing) celebrates and offers practical guidance about uniquely formative worship in small churches.

Pastoral Care in the Small Membership Church by James L. Killen Jr. (Abingdon Press) offers winsome and practical advice on deeply personal aspects of pastoral ministry, such as home visits, dealing with crises and conflict, and making conversation.

Imagining the Small Church: Celebrating a Simpler Path by Steve Willis (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers) is a philosophical reflection on ways serving a small church is both a cross-cultural and countercultural experience today.

THE CHALLENGE
A rural church was stagnating.

ONE BIG IDEA 
Refresh by meeting specific community needs

When Justin Holt arrived at Star City First Assembly of God to serve as youth pastor a decade ago, the church ran about 60–70 people on a Sunday and focused mostly on international missions. But the rural town of Star City, Arkansas, with a population of just over 2,000, needed help. Like many areas in the U.S., it has long battled a high poverty rate and the issues that result.. 

By 2018, the church’s lead pastor had left, and the church promoted Holt into the role. He knew they needed to serve their neighbors better. “We’re supposed to go into all of the world and make disciples, and we’re supposed to start right here in Star City. We’ve got to take care of what we’ve got here first so that we can continue to grow in finances to be able to bless missionaries and fund other projects.”

The church looked around and assessed local need. One of its biggest outreaches is now a community-wide distribution of food, clothes, shoes, backpacks, school supplies and other household items at back-to-school time. They also hold an annual block party for residents of a public housing development, and host a catfish and crawfish boil in a nearby park.

Perhaps the most noticeable local outreach has been the church’s addiction support services. Two years ago, a local drug-addicted man showed up at the church, and God radically changed his life. A year later, that man, now a Christian, started Celebrate Recovery at Star City to help other addicts. These days, 75–100 people show up for a meeting and dinner every Thursday night. Recently, teens have begun attending, so the church has started similar classes just for them.

As another avenue to reach out to troubled teens, the church is working with a local judge to possibly serve as a hub where the kids can complete community service hours. 

The church’s efforts have proven fruitful. Holt says its bigger presence has created a familiarity between the church and the community. 

“When anybody walks in here, whether they’re in shorts and a T-shirt or a suit, we treat them the same,” he adds. “We just keep loving people. We find the need and meet it with excellence.”

One of the primary missions of the local church is to reach new people with Christ’s love, which naturally implies growth.

But almost every church (and almost every organization) faces seasons in which growth stops. Some haven’t seen growth in years … or decades.

I was on a call with some leaders recently from a large growing church who told me that last year was the first time in 15 years they hadn’t grown. They’re addressing it and are back on track, but it was a tough year.

I can relate. I have been in church leadership for 19 years. We have seen growth almost every year (the majority of which has been from previously unchurched people), but there were two periods in which we stalled out. Those are tough seasons for leaders.

What was effective before has stopped being effective now.

A malaise sets in that’s difficult to describe.

As a leader, you’re not exactly sure how to get things back on track.

Ideally, you’d be asking questions before you hit a slump, but life isn’t that simple, is it?

So if you’re in a slump or see one coming, what do you do?

One of the best things any leader can do when they’re in a tough spot is to stop making assumptions and start asking questions. Our assumptions got us to where we are, but they won’t necessarily get us where we need to go.

Here are five telling questions every leader can ask when their church stops growing:

1. Is Our Sense of Mission White-Hot?

Effective churches have a white-hot sense of mission. It’s far more than a piece of paper on a wall or something the board recites at annual meetings, it lives daily in the soul of countless people in the congregation. It motivates all the action in the organization. It consumes people.

Often a church that has stopped growing has lost the urgency behind its mission. This is doubly sad in the case of a church because our mission is actually Christ’s mission. It’s the spread of the gospel into the world for which Jesus died.

Leaders and congregations that are effective in accomplishing their mission are consumed by their mission. It always burns white hot.

2. Are We Focused on Unchurched People or on Ourselves?

There’s a tendency you and I have as human beings. Our natural drift is to focus on ourselves. Not on Christ. Not on others.

The gravitational pull of any church is toward insiders, not outsiders.

Left unattended, your church will become a place where the preferences of the members trump passion for the mission.

There are two primary ways to address this drift:

In every decision, focus on who you want to reach, not who you want to keep.

Commit to losing yourself for the sake of finding others.

I completely understand that people automatically respond with Well what about me and my needs (or the needs of our faithful members)?

I believe Jesus said something about finding your life in the process of losing it. People who focus on helping others and honoring Christ soon discover that their needs are met far more deeply than they ever experienced otherwise.

3. Has Our Strategy or Approach Become Dated?

What got you here won’t necessarily get you there.

While the mission of the church is eternal, strategy should shift from generation to generation. This day it needs to shift even faster than that.

Identifying a dated strategy is easy if you’re a new leader who has taken over from someone else. It is much harder when you’ve led in a context for more than five years.

The challenge in long-term leadership is that the changes that you introduced may have been novel and effective when you introduced them, but it’s not 1995 anymore, or 2005 for that matter.

How do you tell if you’re strategy is dated? When it stops being effective. When you see very few people in the next generation adopting the approach or strategy in question.

If you want more on how church is changing, here are a few articles that can help:

10 Things That Ain’t Church (Some Thoughts On Irregular and Non-Attendance)

Why Charismatic Churches Are Growing (and Attractional Churches Are Past Peak)

Drew Powell and Matt Warren on Why Attractional Church is Past Peak, Why It’s Changing and What’s Next

The mission of the church is eternal. The method is temporary. The challenge, of course, is it’s easy to love the method more than the mission.

But in the future church, churches that love their method more than they love the mission will die.

4. Are We on Top of the Constant Change in Our Culture?

While you’re studying your strategy, you might also want to study culture. It’s changing, radically and quickly.

I believe when historians look back on our generation, they will see it as a crack in history. We now live in a post-Christian, postmodern world. That’s true in Canada. It’s increasingly true in the United States.

In my experience, many of us in church leadership don’t really grasp the enormity of the change going on around us.

Change is hard. But irrelevance is even harder. Unimplemented change becomes regret.

5. When Was the Last Time I Personally Invited Someone to Church?

This is a tough one.

The reality is many Christians, for a variety of reasons, don’t actually spend time with that many non-Christians.

Sometimes it’s fear-based. That’s a shame because Jesus seemed to like outsiders even better than insiders. He had no problem hanging around people who didn’t want to hang out at church. Jesus had no problem loving people who didn’t yet love him.

Sometimes it’s calendar-based. The church runs so many programs that Christians are at church five to seven nights a week. You don’t have time to build relationships with anyone outside, let alone be a family. That’s why at our church we only do community group one night a week. For the rest, we want our people to be home with their families as well as involved in local sports leagues, involved in their local schools and active in the community building friendships with people Jesus loves but who never attend church.

Sometimes it’s just a practical issue. If you’re on church staff, unchurched people rarely ask you for time. Churched people call you all day long and ask for your time and attention. And so you find yourself so absorbed with the work of the church that you miss the mission of the church.

If almost no one at your church knows any unchurched people, it’s no mystery why your church isn’t growing.

So why not go build some real friendships? And before you say we should be “in the world but not of it,” please read the Gospels again.

Read more from Carey Nieuwhof »

This article originally appeared on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Transformation | Derwin Gray

Small Church Pastor,

I believe in you! But more importantly, the God who bled for you, who died for you, who rose from the dead for you, and who now lives in you through the Holy Spirit, believes in you. The church you serve may be small, but you are on a big mission with Jesus (Matt. 28:18–20). Here are three practices that will cultivate evangelistic passion in your church.

First, your spiritual formation—as you rely on the Holy Spirit—will cultivate evangelism in your church. As you are formed into the image of Jesus, you will want what Jesus wants: the lost people found (Luke 19:10). The more you know and love Jesus, the more you will want your church to know and love Jesus (Phil. 3:7–10). Your passion will fuel your church to know Jesus and make him known.

Second, your Spirit-empowered preaching will cultivate evangelism in your church. Evangelistic preaching builds the believer and simultaneously reaches the lost because the gospel is not simply how we come to faith; the gospel is the faith. The life, death and resurrection of King Jesus justifies, sanctifies and glorifies us. All of Scripture echoes with the name of Jesus (John 5:39–40). A congregation transformed by the gospel will share the gospel with the lost.

Third, your organizational leadership will cultivate evangelism as you design clear systems and processes. A system determines how things are done. Systems also create behaviors, behaviors create habits and habits create our destiny. Processes are the things you do for your system to produce the desired results. If you want your church to be evangelistic, design systems and processes that allow evangelism to flourish. 

Your mission is big. Trust in our big God to accomplish it.

Pain is unavoidable when pastoring. It can’t be ignored. Complaining or white-knuckling our way through won’t work. When I was hurting the most, I existed in a state of cynicism, resentment, and frustration. I kept trying to heal on the fly and haphazardly bandage my wounds. But some wounds are too deep for Band-Aids and quick fixes.

Brothers, if we’re going to plant and pastor churches for the long haul, we must address our wounds. Our aim should be to maintain our spiritual health and connection to Jesus. But this is easier said than done when we’re suffering.

Here are three ways church leaders can prioritize healing from pain to ensure longevity in service to Christ.

1. Assess the Damage.

For years, I took a “head down, shoulders squared” approach to church planting. My motto was “forward at all cost.” I kept going, but only out of obligation, not joy. On the outside, I was determined; inwardly, I was dejected, discouraged, cynical, and often critical of others.

David prayed for God to search his heart, examine his motives, and reveal his sin (Ps. 139:23–24), and so should we. But be warned, brothers: asking God to examine you and reveal what’s hidden is a dangerous prayer. We may not like what we see.

Yet when God reveals our bitterness, resentment, fear, and anxiety, he also reveals himself, his grace, and mercy. He invites us to rest in him, trust his Spirit’s leading, extend forgiveness, uproot bitterness, and lean on his saints in our struggles.

To receive these heart checks, we must routinely hit pause. For longevity in church planting, we must spend time being still before God (Ps. 46:10), reflecting, resting, and refreshing. We can’t ignore our pain. We need to know what we’re dealing with. We seek help from the One who was wounded for us, for by his wounds we are healed (Isa. 53:5). Pastor, prioritize spending time in God’s presence, asking him to search your heart.

2. Grieve Well.

Loss is inevitable and plentiful in church planting. Pastors regularly address painful circumstances in the lives of their flock such as divorce, miscarriages, death, depression, dreams deferred, and more.

We’re tempted to focus on and repost baby dedications, baptisms, new campuses, and grand openings. But those are just the highlights. What we celebrate isn’t the whole game. Funerals, false starts, failed attempts, fractured friendships, and financial woes are critical parts of our stories, too.

I’ve been trained in useful ways and taught many things, but I wasn’t prepared to handle my pain. I didn’t know how to grieve. Pastor, you won’t be able to finish your race well if you know Greek but don’t know how to grieve.

Grief acknowledges our pain as well as the new dynamics in the aftermath of loss, but it should also draw us to the Savior’s healing. Grief propels us to Christ. I’ve had to learn to grieve desertion, death, and the demise of my expectations. When we know how to grieve well, we’re better equipped to help others in our church plants become good grievers, too. Grieving well is a grace of God that leads to longevity and health.

3. Run to Jesus.

When the pain of pastoring becomes unbearable, I’m prone to run in the wrong direction. Desperate for immediate relief, I scramble to seek temporal comforts. I doubt I’m alone. Sometimes in my suffering, I desire to be pacified instead of purified in his presence.

Brothers, to cross the finish line of pastoral ministry, we must turn to the Chief Shepherd when we’re hurting, bringing our pain to the foot of his cross. We don’t have to suffer alone, for Jesus meets our every need with his sufficiency. He is a man of sorrows (Isa. 53:3) who can sympathize with us because of his own suffering (Heb. 4:15). And he invites us to boldly, not timidly, approach his throne and find grace (Heb. 4:16).

We can run to all the wrong things for relief, can’t we? And we may find it, temporarily. But we won’t ever know true and lasting healing until we run to Jesus. He is our healer. To him we pray, “Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed” (Jer. 17:14).

Church planting is about more than a successful launch. It’s about a faithful finish. We can’t finish well when we’re distracted and embittered by pain. We must strive for longevity in ministry by addressing our wounds and relying on the Lord for restored health.

Our pain is great, but our God is greater. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Ps. 147:2). May we be men who glorify God in our pain by trusting him for healing, so we can get on with the mission of discipling nations.

This article originally appeared on TheGospelCoalition.org and is reposted here by permission.

I’m back in Korea in September for the fourth Lausanne Congress in Seoul. This will mark the largest representative evangelical gathering focused on mission in the history of the world. Billy Graham was instrumental in the first Congress in Lausanne, Switzerland, in July 1974. This first meeting birthed the Lausanne Movement, leading to Lausanne II in Manila, Philippines, in 1989, and more recently the third Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2010. This Lausanne Congress marks 50 years from the first one. 

Much of the conversation will be on the future of global mission, the work of cross-cultural missions, and probably some significant reflection on the church in Korea as well.

The Korean Megachurch Phenomenon

The Outreach 100 issue highlights both the largest and fastest-growing churches in the United States. But large churches are hardly an American phenomenon. You simply can’t survey the Korean church scene without considering the megachurch in that picture.

Many of the largest churches in the world are in Korea, including the Yoido Full Gospel Church, the single largest church in the world with almost a half million members. Myungsung Presbyterian has about 100,000 members. I preached at Onnuri Community Church with about 50,000 members, and at SaRang Church, which is recognized by the Guinness World Records as having the largest underground church building in the world (6500 seats–and literally built under the street). I spoke at a prayer meeting there on a Saturday morning where thousands of people prayed in a way that would be hard to replicate in an American church. 

Why Highlight Megachurches?

Each year, when we publish the Outreach 100 issue, it fosters some debate. Is there value in continuing to track the largest and fastest-growing churches? Why create such lists? 

There are many reasons, but one of the main reasons is that we think it’s a significant project worthy of study. Peter Drucker once noted, “The pastoral megachurches … have been growing very fast in the United States since 1980. They are surely the most important phenomenon in American society in the last 30 years. And while all traditional denominations have steadily declined, the megachurches have exploded. They have done so because they have asked, ‘What is value?’ to a nonchurchgoer.”

The Outreach 100 is an annual research project with Lifeway Research in collaboration with the Hartford Institute for Religion Research—which has maintained an online list of megachurches since 2000. As part of this we work to put out lists that illustrate the state of the American megachurch. It’s worth noting that American megachurches no longer rank as high in the list of the world’s largest megachurches as they once did. As you look around the world you find much larger churches throughout Africa, South America and Asia. 

Now to be honest, I would tell you that just as in the United States, the Korean megachurch phenomenon has not been a completely positive thing. Some have struggled with ministry failures, succession issues and more. But it is a uniquely American practice to criticize megachurches so widely, even when we see that around the world so many Christians choose to attend them. 

One of Many Ways God Works

I think a better way to look at this is to see the megachurch as one of the ways that God works among people around the world. In some contexts and some cultures, people gather in larger spaces for worship, and that can become a way for them to honor the Lord with their excellence and with a large-scale amount of participation.

However, it’s also worth noting that while I’m in Korea I’ll be in breakout groups talking about house church movements around the world, how missional incarnational communities are engaging secular spaces, and how traditional churches continue to do important work. One of my hopes for the future is that we might hold our church models loosely and our gospel clarity firmly. God has used the megachurch in places like Korea at the same time he’s used the house church in places like China. I think a bit more of a humble approach to this would be appropriate.

The point is that God has chosen the church to make known his manifold wisdom (Ephesians 3:10). Culture, times and places impact how churches gather, form and live on mission. At Outreach magazine we celebrate all the myriad forms that mission takes. For example, in his article “Disperse the Church” (Page 100 of the printed magazine), Rob Wegner writes about his experience transitioning from decades-long ministry in the megachurch to forming a microchurch network in Kansas City. Additionally, through our partnership with Exponential, and in other ways, we highlight small, rapidly reproducing networks that might be organic, simple or missional kinds of churches. We regularly have a small church focus where we talk about small and traditional churches. And in our next issue, we’ll partner with the Barna Group to explore the marks that thriving churches of all shapes and sizes share in common. In short, we believe in celebrating healthy churches whatever form they take. 

Mission Shapes All Churches.

We all share in the frustration when churches fail. When large church leaders fall, it makes national news, but both small church and large church leaders are prone to failure. There is no evidence or research that shows there’s a disproportionate failure rate between larger and smaller churches, though the blast radius of larger church failures is greater. I’ve seen the broken lives, hurt people and broken families in small and medium-sized churches as well. That’s why a church with mission-shaped people living together for the gospel makes all the difference. 

As I sat on that Saturday morning with thousands praying in Seoul, the word “teeming” came to mind. The space was teeming with people seeking after God. 

I think churches shaped by mission will be teeming with three specific traits:

1. Integrity

We want to celebrate churches that are on mission with integrity. These are churches that genuinely care about their community for the gospel’s sake, and resist any bait-and-switch approach to outreach. These churches don’t overlook obvious integrity issues in leadership or structure. This means there are systems of accountability for leaders, not only for their role, but also to protect them with times of rest, resources for times of struggle, and more. We need churches that value honesty and vulnerability without legalism. Can leaders in your church reach out for help with confidence they will receive it? Do you have a culture of accountability, and if so, is it driven more by confidence and support or by fear?

2. Evangelism

Celebrating big churches or small churches that don’t reach people, but only move people around, is not a good thing. Churches teeming with evangelism have a book of Acts kind of passion focused on spreading the gospel by word and deed, no matter the cost. How clear is your church on a burden for the lostness in your community and in our world? What are you specifically doing to equip believers to share Jesus and live on mission? What opportunities do they have through your church to show and share Jesus both locally and globally?

3. Discipleship 

Jesus called us to teach disciples to obey all that he commanded. Making disciples who make disciples is at the heart of churches shaped by mission. That can be done in megachurches through effective small group ministry, in house churches where intimacy in the group is a value, or in a traditional church through the Sunday school. Do you have a clearly articulated disciple-making pathway? Do people in your church know it well? Is it being implemented and evaluated?

The theme of the Fourth Lausanne Congress in Seoul is “Let the Church Declare and Display Christ Together.” Whether we are part of a house church or a megachurch, a rural church or an urban congregation, a church that is centuries old or just recently planted, may we be marked by showing and sharing Jesus to the world, together.

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Some churches—in an effort to cross this number successfully—take courses like my “Breaking the 200 Barrier” or similar classes like my friend Carey Nieuwhof’s class. But in talking about this course and why churches even have such a barrier, I get a lot of questions from people like “Why does 200 matter?” or “What does the Bible say about numbers?”

I’m going to address these questions.

Now of course it’s important to remember that 200 is not some magical number. What it represents is a sociological shift and a cultural challenge. A church has to lead well (and differently) in order to function well once they pass 200 in attendance. The point is not that the number 200 has some sort of scriptural significance, but that there really is a substantive change when a church arrives at a congregation that large.

Put simply, the church size changes the nature of the relationship between those who attend. How you lead a church of 75 is, in many important ways, different from how you lead a church of 250.

For churches looking to grow, it’s important to note that without a shift in the way that you do ministry in a church of 100, you can’t properly manage a church of 300; the congregation simply wouldn’t get the appropriate shepherding and pastoral care.

Of course, you could just choose to not grow over 100 and that settles the issue. However, since many churches desire to grow, it is best to do so in discerning ways that provide pastoral care, effective systems and fruitful ministry as the church does grow larger than 200.

As always, success will require some advanced preparation and careful forethought. Let me share three pieces of advice that come to mind.

First, don’t underestimate interpersonal challenges.

The interpersonal challenge here is that when you’re in a long-established church of 100 people or so, everybody knows each other. And more than that, if you’re the pastor, everybody also knows you. You’re like the middle of the wheel where all the spokes attach.

Now, nothing about that is wrong—commonality can be a beautiful thing. Often, people who attend these close-knit smaller churches will say: “Man, I love the relationships we have in our church.”

But here’s the challenge you’re going to have to meet: When your church goes from 100 to 220 attendees, people aren’t going to so easily say, “I love the relationships in the church” anymore, unless you have a plan and a system to help them stay connected through smaller groups.

The relationships will be different for both church leaders and congregants as a church grows. I recall the challenges I faced leading a growing church when it was no longer possible for people to come to me with every decision, every discussion and every issue that I used to have my hands in.

Sometimes church growth is hard on congregations and church staff because they feel they’ve lost their close relationship with their leader.

For churches to succeed and make it through these interpersonal challenges, the creation of a baton-like handoff system to keep people connected and delegate tasks is really crucial.

Second, develop leadership skills.

It’s going to take a new level of leadership to structure a church of 200+ people, and if you, the pastor, are not developing your skills as a leader, the transition will prove all the more challenging.

Pastors leading growing churches need to ask themselves, “What are some skills that I’ll need to develop?” Well, there are many, but they include delegation, leadership development, knowing how to create systems and more.

I would say that reading some basic leadership books is always a good place to start. To this some pastors might comment, “Well, I don’t want to just read some secular leadership book.”

To start, I’d focus on books that explain how to delegate well, and how to work on developing new leaders.

Third, don’t underestimate the power of the pulpit.

One of the other things that does change between smaller churches and larger churches is that leadership from the pulpit becomes more and more essential. Part of that is excellent preaching—sharing the word of God with clarity and power.

However, your communication at other times from the pulpit can also matter. How you cast vision, explain transitions and handle missteps are all essential.

Sometimes that will be in a sermon when it is appropriate for the text, but don’t be afraid to, at the beginning of the message or during announcement times, cast a vision for these things as well.

GOING FORWARD

Talking about breaking the 200 barrier seems to trigger some people. Why should we care? What’s wrong with 199? Can’t churches just be small?

Well, in answer to the last question, yes. It’s fine for a church to be small, for the right reasons. It’s also fine for a church to aspire to grow. As the title of a recent Karl Vaters article aptly expresses, “Breaking The 200 Barrier Is Good—Feeling Guilty If You Don’t Break It, Isn’t.” He’s right.

However, if you feel God calling you to lead your church to grow, and moving through the 200 barrier is part of that, you need to know that it’s not just more growth of the same kind—it’s a different way of leading and a new way of growing.

Know that mistakes will be made along the way; even the best and brightest of leaders struggle getting everything right. Along the journey toward growth, trust in God’s sovereignty and care for your whole congregation—no matter its size.

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This article originally appeared on The Exchange.

From the Editor | Ed Stetzer

Each year, we at Outreach magazine celebrate the largest and fastest-growing churches in the country with our upcoming Outreach 100 issue. And we do love healthy large and fast-growing churches and the role they play in the kingdom. But if you follow me on X (Twitter), you know we also love small churches.

As I travel, I regularly tweet, “If you are pastor of a small church, I’d love to fill in for you this Sunday.” I’ve done it in Amsterdam, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and more. And I’ve loved seeing how God is working through small churches throughout the country and around the world.

Christians and leaders who are a part of small churches can sometimes feel like they are on the sideline of the mission, that larger churches are the ones that are really in the game. This feeling, however, doesn’t align with the reality of mission and ministry. According to one study, the median number for Sunday morning church attendance in the United States is 65 people. Seventy percent of churches average fewer than 100 attendees.

The truth is, small churches have been the norm for most of Christian history. The megachurch is the outlier, a unique feature of late 20th-century Christianity in America. The bottom line is small churches have always mattered for the mission and God’s kingdom. And they still do.

Here are five reasons—among many others I could list—why small churches matter.

1. The Place of Commission

Jesus gave the Great Commission to the local church—to a group of disciples who would lead small house churches, and as I’ve already mentioned, the vast majority of churches globally and historically would be considered “small.” Additionally, in the language of the Great Commission we see the local church’s functions of discipleship in baptizing and teaching: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” So Jesus calls every church—and in fact every Christian—to participate in the work of making disciples. That includes small churches.

Here’s the through line: First, Jesus calls every local church to be the place where the Great Commission is fulfilled. Second, most churches are small. This means, third, that small churches must be a big part of Jesus’ plan for his mission. Jesus doesn’t look at the church growing throughout history and throughout the world and think, If only these churches were bigger, then I could really do something. Instead, he sees thousands—millions—of churches, and he sees them all as a big part of his design to reach the least and the lost. 

2. The Opportunity for Community

A church that has dozens of people who attend every week rather than hundreds or thousands provides opportunities for those people to connect and grow in fellowship with one another. When people see the same people in weekly worship and at church events, they can develop friendships and deep relationships. Likewise, small churches rely on people actively participating in all areas of the church’s life, creating a sense of belonging. In a small church people can have a harder time thinking that they don’t need to serve, because they aren’t surrounded by a massive crowd. Then when someone does step into a role, they can feel like their contribution in the church really matters.

In some ways, small churches can function as extended families. Now, the words “extended family” can bring to mind the image of a weird uncle at Thanksgiving. But anyone who has an extended family network also knows how much it can provide a basis of support. In a small church, news about people’s needs “gets around,” and rather than devolving into gossip, such knowledge can lead members to care for one another. By virtue of the dynamics of their size, small churches present opportunities for community and care that larger churches must work harder to cultivate.

3. The Possibility of Change

I mean this in two ways. First, small churches can adapt and pivot more quickly than a much larger church with more institutional infrastructure. Second, small churches tend to see people’s lives change in a greater proportion than larger churches do.

In terms of adaptability, small churches can respond to the needs of their community with speed and agility. Often larger organizations have bureaucratic processes that small churches have never accumulated. So small churches can pivot, launching new ministries to address emerging challenges. They can nimbly respond to specific needs in their neighborhoods in light of changing circumstances, addressing issues that larger churches might overlook. 

Such flexibility for ministry and mission allows small churches to reach people with the gospel, serving them physically and spiritually. Research has shown that God usually uses smaller social contexts to bring about life change. Small churches have an opportunity here, because they can connect deeply with people in their community. For example, a few years ago I was a part of a research study on small churches that discovered something that might surprise many people: Small churches tend to experience conversion growth at a higher per capita ratio than larger churches. In many small churches, leaders are accessible and approachable, actively engaging with congregants regularly. This accessibility creates a sense of trust, as members feel comfortable sharing their concerns and prayer needs with pastors and other leaders. In small churches, pastors and other leaders can invest deeply in the spiritual growth of members because there are fewer layers of hierarchy. And members can invest deeply in one another. Such close connections between leaders and members can help build transformative relationships.

4. The Power of Cooperation

Too often we measure success by our cultural values. In the United States, we tend to value “bigger” and “more.” So American Christians tend to see big churches doing big things, and they value and celebrate them for that bigness. For example, megachurches can accomplish big things for the mission, sending staff overseas, resourcing tens of thousands, and more. We can celebrate these things while we also assess our cultural values in light of the full scope of reality. And here is the reality: most overseas mission work is done by groups and networks of small churches working together. 

I work in a lot of large churches. Sometimes I tell them that the best thing that they can do is to stop doing mission on their own and start partnering with others. Most missional work is accomplished in “slices”—a small church takes ownership of one slice, another small church focuses on another, a mission board yet another, and so on. Such collaboration ends up accomplishing more than any individual large church can accomplish by itself. 

Small churches that are currently independent might consider partnership with a theologically and missionally aligned network or denomination as a form of collaboration. For example, City to City—a network of churches started by Redeemer Church and Timothy Keller—is finding ways for churches to collaborate, as churches have done for centuries. In organizations like Cru, Wycliffe, the Evangelical Free Church’s global mission arm, or the Southern Baptist Convention, most missionaries are supported by collaborations of smaller churches. Such collective effort makes much more of an impact than any single large church.

5. The Future of Collaboration

Small churches are essential patches in the tapestry of God’s kingdom and his purposes in the world. Each small church has a unique story and many unique ways of worship, fellowship, ministry and mission. As the global church grows and connects across cultural and geographical differences, small churches will become increasingly important. Small churches have the opportunity to model contextualized ministry and mission. They can develop and empower leaders from diverse backgrounds and situations.

Many Christians are keying in on this next decade because 2033 will mark the 2,000-year anniversary of the Great Commission. (Now, even if the actual anniversary is not 2033, I don’t need to be that “well, actually …” guy who wants to correct everyone on the Julian calendar, and neither do you.) Many are forming 10-year plans aimed at finishing the work God has given us. Granted, some will focus on different aspects. For example, I was recently with Pentecostals who emphasize the 2,000-year anniversary of Pentecost. Whatever the specific focus, many anticipate this monumental anniversary with large goals. IllumiNations is an alliance of Bible translation agencies, for example, working to finish translating the Bible into all the languages—something that could happen in our lifetime. We can finish the task if we cooperate and collaborate, and small churches must participate for such cooperation and collaboration to succeed. 

Small But Strategic

Members and leaders of small churches must embrace both a smaller and larger vision of their calling for the Great Commission. A small church can acknowledge that by itself with its dozens of members it will not accomplish the task (something true of any megachurch, too). No single church can “make disciples of all nations” alone. But this reality should not discourage the smaller church. Instead, this reality should encourage those in smaller churches toward ministry and mission. 

Small churches are a big part of Jesus’ plan. They present opportunities for community and tremendous opportunity for change. In cooperation and collaboration with other churches and mission organizations, small churches can accomplish big things. However they proceed, members and leaders of smaller churches should realize how much they matter for the mission and how much they matter to Jesus himself.

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