Small-church ministry:
The backbone of the UM connection

'They're not just little versions of big churches'

By Maria Rocco

Each month in the Hoosier UM News, the Country Church column highlights one of the many small-church congregations throughout Indiana. Most thrive, while others struggle to survive. At times it may seem that large-membership congregations are reaping most of the rewards. Both the North and South Indiana Conferences are keenly aware of the importance of small-church ministry and offer an excess of support and growth opportunities.

According to Ed Fenstermacher, who works with small-church congregations in the North Indiana Conference, the definition of "small church" varies. "A third of our churches average 50 or fewer in worship. In the past, we've had churches with as few as two or three people on a Sunday morning," he said.

Fenstermacher's counterpart in the South Indiana Conference, the Rev. Deborah Cronin, says the "small church" definition has varied over the history of the UMC. It was once defined as less than 200 members, "but today, we're more apt to go by worship attendance figures, saying anything less than 110-120 is a small membership church." Small membership churches are found almost anywhere, from the inner city to country crossroads.

Both Fenstermacher and Cronin work with smaller churches to help meet the congregation's needs, foster leadership and help the leaders in the churches realize they are no less gifted and no less called to spread the Gospel than large membership churches.

Probably the biggest way the NIC supports the small church is through the appointment of pastors, particularly by locating local pastors. "Usually they (local pastors) are someone who has a full-time job and they do (pastoral) work on the side," explained Fenstermacher.

Fenstermacher provides consultation with small churches. His work includes retreats with staff members. He says ministry network groups sometimes form, providing peer support groups of pastors in a common ministry context, to create forums for ministry ideas and advice. Some of those groups are organized by worship membership size.

In her 12 years of service with small-church congregations, Dr. Cronin has done extensive work as a writer and speaker. Over 400 small-membership churches are under her watchful eye.

Included in the SIC's monthly coordinated mailing, Cronin contributes "Even the Snail," a pastoral newsletter that encourages small-church leaders to keep in mind that their roles are not nearly as small in the UMC as they may often think. The newsletter has featured columns covering topics from the attitude of pastors toward discipleship to rethinking ways of equipping and nurturing members for ministry.

Fashioned on the NOW (Nurture-Outreach-Witness) model for structuring a local church, Cronin's workshops are "trying to emphasize 'program' ministries as opposed to just 'survival' ministries that worry about paying the bills," she said. Workshop topics also focus on conflict management and even prayer evangelism.

Part of Cronin's job is to help small churches take care of their financial concerns through grants and loans. "Quite often it tends to be that the larger-church pastors are a little bit more 'type-A', more proactive to find out about that kind of thing," she said. Cronin also pushes more grant information to small membership churches so they know they can apply for dollars.

One small church profiting from grant writing is Baker's Chapel UMC in the Evansville District. "They received a $25,000 grant to hire additional staff and they've done wonders with that," she said. Baker's Chapel went from a single pastor to a team ministry and features both contemporary and traditional worship services.

Cronin finds herself urging district superintendents to listen more to small membership churches. "I was a superintendent myself before I came to this conference. I wrote a resource for the General Board of Discipleship, (explaining) how superintendents can help smaller churches by realizing that they're not just little versions of big churches and have their own concerns, their own needs."

Cronin's experience formed her work on behalf of small churches, coming from a church with a membership of slightly less than 100 on a Sunday morning. But don't get the idea that she wants every small church to remain small. "I think many small churches have the potential to become medium-sized churches, if not larger. It's a matter of resourcing them and helping them get organized for that."

Last updated on 01/14/2004

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Small-church ministry: The backbone of the UM connection

Small-church ministry:
The backbone of the UM connection