Home Pastors Pastor How To's How Any Church Can Be a Great Church—Regardless of Size

How Any Church Can Be a Great Church—Regardless of Size

No church can do everything. Not if we want to do any of it well.

But every church can do something really well. Maybe a couple things. That’s what makes a church great. Knowing what we’re called to do and doing it really well.

Especially in a Small Church.

But too many churches waste unnecessary time and energy trying to copy other great churches instead of doing what they’re called to do. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it’s no way to build a great church.

So how do we build a great church? Find out what you’re called to do, then do it really well.

And make sure that the thing you do well isn’t buried beneath things you don’t do as well. In publishing, that’s called burying the lead.

Churches bury the lead all the time. We hide our best stuff beneath layers of things we don’t do well at all.

Why? Because we have a template in our head of what a church is supposed to look and act like. But more often than not, that template is based on churches we look up to, or churches we were raised in, instead of what God is calling our church to be and do.

We all need to figure out what our church is supposed to be about, then feature what we do well.

Here are a few ideas. 

Feature What You Do Well

Are children and families your emphasis? You should have “kid-friendly” written all over everything you do. Literally. Hang banners and balloons in front of the church. Feature your kids’ artwork all over the walls—and not just the Sunday School walls, the main lobby walls, too.

Do you want to be known for your friendliness? Have smiling greeters waving people into the parking lot. Assign people in each seating section to say “hi” to guests and introduce them to others before and after the service. But don’t have guests stand and introduce themselves during the service—that’s not friendly, that’s just awkward.

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Karl is the author of four books and has been in pastoral ministry for almost 40 years. He is the teaching pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, a healthy small church in Orange County, California, where he has ministered for over 27 years with his wife, Shelley. Karl’s heart is to help pastors of small churches find the resources to lead well and to capitalize on the unique advantages that come with pastoring a small church. Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com, and has created S.P.A.R.K. Online (Small-Church Pastors Adapt & Recover Kit), which is updated regularly with new resources to help small churches deal with issues related to the COVID-19 crisis and aftermath.