September is a new season for small churches

Congregations with fewer than 100 members reimagine Christian Formation Week

by Beth Waltemath | Presbyterian News Service

Sandy Safford (Contributed photo)

September is a month where “we begin new things, restart or reconnect in our small churches,” said Sandy Safford, a Christian educator and commissioned lay pastor who recently served a small church for 10 years.

At the invitation of the PC(USA)’s Office of Christian Formation, Safford facilitates a community circle for leaders of small churches. Educators, volunteers, pastors and commissioned pastors serving congregations with fewer than 100 members meet regularly to discuss the particular triumphs and trials of small church ministry. The community circles are held as open office hours, so anyone who registers can attend, whether or not they’ve attended in the past. The next meetups are in October and November. Register for Small Church Community Circles to receive a link.

At the August meetup, the launch of the Christian Formation year — known as Christian Formation Week — was on the minds of many. “While it may not be an official kickoff, or what larger churches might call a ‘Rally Sunday,’ I think for most churches, even small ones, it is a beginning of a new season,” said Safford, who called it a time to “put something new forward.”

A leader in a church with membership under 30 shared how her church approaches a new season through a gradual celebration of the theme. With only a few school-age children, the church doesn’t hold Sunday school but offers a coloring table during worship, and the worship leader engages those who sit at the table in a special dialogue on the Scripture during the service once a month. In September, her church will use the resources for a Season of Peace. As the peace-themed coloring sheets are completed, they will hang them around the sanctuary like banners until the church is clothed in peace-inspired art culminating on Oct. 6, World Communion Sunday.

Some churches with children who are outgrowing earlier ways of engagement are using resources for youth-led services to celebrate the new school year or inviting tweens to serve in specific roles like greeter and usher. Laura Peiper, who serves as a small church coordinator for Flint River Presbytery, said, “I have 13 churches with membership from five to 44 in worship. Only one of those congregations has a children’s program.” She tailors Christian Formation ideas for all ages to these contexts. Recognizing that vitality is contextual for small churches, this model of ministry with a part-time resource consultant has been embraced by other presbyteries as well.

“So often in a small church you feel like resources for Rally Day don’t fit because you feel you aren’t kicking off something,” said Safford. In her work as a consultant and coach in Denver Presbytery, Safford encourages leaders to adapt resources to scale and to take their time with launches. Another leader in a church with fewer than 75 members shared that in her church, they don’t try to bless the backpacks, commission the new teachers and throw a launch party all on the same Sunday. Instead, they space each of these special celebrations out over August and September.

Safford said that small churches tend to be “community-oriented” when it comes to the back-to-school season. “If you don’t have children or youth, then they think we could offer a picnic in the park on a Sunday afternoon,” said Safford, who also said she has seen smaller congregations in the same area partner together to put together such an event. The result is an approach to the celebration of Christian Formation that goes out into the streets, parks and neighborhood rather than limits itself to a weekly classroom and program year model. These types of ideas are good for churches of any size, especially when planning for Evangelism Sunday on Sept. 15.

“Small church ministry can look so different than what we hear about,” said Safford, who also pointed out that many of the curricula and resources assume medium- to large-size contexts. Safford celebrates that in the past five years, there has been an increase in conversations and spaces to share.

Miatta Wilson, associate in the Office of Christian Formation, agrees and has seen the added value of the office’s small church community circles, which have had over 100 registrants. “They’re making connections with other people who can be supportive to them in smaller contexts,” said Wilson, who also shared the good news that the 226th General Assembly approved a resolution to research and develop curriculum and more resources for use in the small church context. The Office of Christian Formation has already compiled existing small church resources and looks forward to adding more.

Wilson has been thrilled by the response of small church leaders to these community circles and shared upcoming events like the Evangelism Conference on Oct. 3–5 or current resources that cover topics such as children’s ministry beyond the church walls, guides for sharing stories with children and helping congregations rent their facilities.

Leaders of small churches can face challenges connecting to resources and each other because they are part-time, volunteer or a commissioned ruling elder also leading worship every week. “How do we make sure that folks who are in smaller contexts even know that there are things that exist that could be helpful or adapted to their use?” Small church community circles are one way to get the word out. As the circle of attendees widens and the resources for small churches are shared by attendees to their own connections, the circle of resourced small churches gets wider and wider.