Dear Small Church Pastor,
Well, here you are. You’re reading a letter written to small church pastors and their congregations by a small church pastor. So you’ll know why I’m writing to you, allow me to introduce myself. Who I am impacts this first letter and all that will follow.
I live in a rural community of fewer than one hundred people. The closest town has fewer than one thousand. My last pastorate, which was a thirty minute drive from where I live, was in a town of about six hundred. I understand the concept of small when it comes to population.
My ministry journey began fifty-five years ago as an eighteen-year-old lay speaker who filled in when pastors needed a day off or couldn’t fill their pulpit for some reason. Fast forward to an Easter Sunday delivering a sunrise message in the front yard of a neighborhood outside a large city in central Florida. One of my friends’ sons was wonderfully saved that morning, and I knew God was calling me to do something for Him.
That call from God has taken me to many forms of service for His kingdom. As a “young adult,” I was called on to teach a Sunday School class. Then came the Sunday School Superintendent title and responsibilities. As I matured, service as a deacon/trustee/board member was brought into my life.
I had taken piano lessons while growing up and had taught myself how to play rhythm guitar. Those skills put me in the position to be a church musician on the platform. My wife and I, along with another couple, became the leaders for a youth choir that traveled around our area singing for a few years.
All this time of service for Christ’s kingdom did not fulfill the call I felt God had placed on my life. There was a missing element. After much prayer and seeking God’s guidance, I decided to further my biblical training and understanding of ministry by taking courses of study through a Bible School connected to a university. The culmination of those courses resulted in my becoming an Ordained Minister of the gospel.
It was during this period of study and preparation for my ordination that I began to serve as a pastor to small churches. Over the next twenty years or so, I served four congregations. My tenures at those congregations were as follows: two years; 4 1/2 years; 5 1/2 years; 8 years and 4 months. The congregational sizes at the beginning of these pastorates ranged from 2 (that’s right—two) to fifteen. If memory serves me correctly, all the congregations were blessed by God and increased in number, up to 45 in regular attendance. I understand what being the pastor of a very small congregation involves.
Each small church pastoral opportunity helped me learn important aspects of being a pastor that are never covered in ministerial studies. But each opportunity also helped me understand the tremendous blessings that go along with being the pastor of a small congregation.
I cannot speak to all the trials and opportunities that present themselves to pastors of churches that have hundreds, or even thousands, of members. But I can speak to the small church pastor. I can speak to the pastor who wonders if his or her ministry actually is accomplishing anything for the cause of God’s Kingdom. I can speak to the pastor who doesn’t have an Associate Pastor or a Ministry Team or a Children’s Church Leader or a Nursery Supervisor or a Small Group Director/Sunday School Superintendent. I can speak to the pastor of a congregation in which the average age is 60+ years. I can speak to the pastor of the small church that has gone through a destructive split that resulted in loss of critical leadership. I can speak to the pastor who is questioning why God sent him to a place that had not seen a new salvation in years.
I know I don’t have all the answers. I know I can’t give you a “one size fits all” solution. I know my experiences have not been every experience you have faced or will face. But I do know the one who can help me help you.
This is who I am, and this is why I’m writing you these letters.
Sincerely,
A Small Church Pastor