One Reason to Stay Small

I have attended a number of churches in my lifetime, most of them large.

There a number of considerations for either going big or going small in the church you choose to attend. Big churches have incredible resources at their fingertips. They can rotate pastors, set up intricate youth and young adult ministries, maintain counseling departments, and devote an incredible amount of money to missionaries, outreach activities, mercy ministries, and retreats.

Smaller churches, as I learned through my internships in seminary, offer their own array of advantages. You are not anonymous, but known by most of the body. The pastors know who you are, people warmly greet you every Sunday and during weekly activities, and hospitality and accountability are much richer with those more intimate bonds.

The one feature that I think sets smaller churches apart from larger ones is the matter of shepherding. The elders not only have a responsibility to feed the sheep, but to know the sheep. In fact, feeding is really only possible when the people are known. Ever feel like the pastor was preaching to the wall behind you? That could be a sermon mechanics issue. It could also very likely be a shepherding issue, in that the pastor may not know you and your unique need for the Gospel.

It is the responsibility of the elders to visit their people in their homes, counsel them, mentor them, and attend to them at proper occasions--as well as preach and teach. This private ministry supplements the public ministry in that the preaching and teaching are reinforced in the homes and made a greater source of unity amongst the people. Of course, the people generally feel less like an object of instruction and more like beloved family members as well.

This year at Sterling Presbyterian Church, our session has the aim of making sure that each person in our church receives at least two visits from an elder. I look forward to revisiting this issue on the blog in a year and seeing how God in His grace may have used this greater advance in shepherding His flock for His glory!