The problem with the small church, as I have said before, is that it is small. Pretty clever insight, but it’s true. Our obsession with numbers in church life always puts the small church at the bottom of the heap. Not counting is not the answer, because most of us have to report to our church board, denomination, or fellow-pastors, “how many” we had in worship or Bible study or both. But there is a better measure of small church faithfulness — counting people in ministry and those touched by ministry.
It’s what I call counting people being the church, rather than counting people in church. Read my post on this idea at my other blog, Amicus Dei. I’ve also posted some numbers of the people we are touching in our ministries here on About Chuck Warnock. The whole idea of counting people being the church is part of my concept of the church-as-abbey. Amicus Dei has a category where you can read all my posts on this ancient model for the missional church. Let me know what you think.
Tomorrow: Advice from the greatest catcher of all time — Johnny Bench! Stay tuned.
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