Seeing the Beauty in Small Congregations
Serving threshold congregations is my subject today. By this, I mean small congregations on the cusp of change amid a wider period of ecclesial change in our country. Ecclesial change is just one facet of transition in a time when almost every aspect of our country is in upheaval—cultural, technological, political, environmental. By this point, those of us affiliated with religion are familiar with declining interest in organized religion. Most of us who attend religious services likely notice declining numbers. We are well past earlier stages when churches plotted strategies to reverse the tide and bring people through the doors. The cultural tide is much larger than us. It just is.
Presently, the church leaders I know and read recognize that the tide we are a part of is vast and epochal, and the arc that will turn the tide back to a time when people desire church attendance is wide. I strongly believe this tide-turning will come. But my hunch is that it won’t be in my lifetime…. {Read remainder of article on Patheos HERE.}