Book cover for Small Congregation, Big Potential: Ministry in the Small Membership Church by Lyle E. Schaller

Small Congregation, Big Potential

Ministry in the Small Membership Church

2010 Released
3-4 Hours
Audiobook Unavailable
Paperback Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
Abingdon PressISBN 9781426731860

Kindle Edition

There are many questions that leaders of small-membership congregations ask themselves about their church's future. Lyle Schaller suggests that two in particular should rise to the top of the list. First, what's the right size of for a church? Is the small congregation averaging two or three dozen people at worship a legitimate order of God's creation? You bet it is, says Schaller. Second, should these congregations make their plans on the basis of few resources and fewer options, or should they see themselves as possessed of pools of talent and expanding possibilities? If you are convinced that the former is true, then this book is not for you.

If, however, you are among those who believe that small-membership churches are distinctive places of Christian witness and service, spreading the gospel and living in service to the world in ways that other, larger churches are not, then this book is for you. In it you will find the right questions to ask as you seek to lead a small-membership congregation, and solid, practical guidance for doing so.

Lyle E. Schaller

Lyle E. Schaller was the country's leading interpreter of congregational systems and their vitality. He was the author of dozens of books, including From Geography to Affinity, also published by Abingdon Press. He lived in Naperville, Illinois.

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