WHEN PEWS ARE FEW
Wrestling With the Sumo-sized Church (the unique challenges of pastoring in the shadow of the larger church)
For most of the 2 decades I was a pastor, I preached in churches whose pews were few. |
Perhaps you are not the pastor of a mega-church. But you may be ministering in the shadow of one. The landscape of American Christianity is dotted with a category of churches that was unheard of 30 years ago.
While there are many churches that have more than 500 believers in attendance on an average Sunday morning, the majority of churches have fewer than 100 people sitting in their pews on the Lord’s Day. If you pastor a less-than-mega-church, you’re in good company.
For most of the 2 decades I was a pastor, I preached in churches whose pews were few. I know the familiar sour breath of the green-eyed monster of envy. On numerous occasions he accompanied me to community ministers’ gatherings where those with large congregations and large staffs trumpeted God’s blessings. As colleagues from other churches shared their victories, my monster companion dared me to rejoice with them. Most of the time I couldn’t. How I wished I had a staff with which to eat lunch each day (let alone pray together and plan worship services). For years I complained about having only a part-time secretary.
The majority of churches have fewer than 100 people sitting in their pews on the Lord’s Day. |
Fortunately, the sweet breath of the Holy Spirit warmed my heart. While I was attending a gathering of evangelical pastors, the Lord showed me that smaller and larger churches in a community are subsets of the same church. My church was like an adult Sunday school class; so was the church down the street and the huge church across town. As pastors, we were staff members of Christ’s church in our city. Seeing myself as part of the same staff was a breakthrough. In the same way we expect differences in the size of our adult classes without becoming distressed, so are we free to celebrate the unique size of our church when compared to other expressions of local churches.
Here are several practical ways to give that green monster of envy an eviction notice:
1. Acknowledge your tendency to be envious and confess it to the Lord. Why pretend with God? He knows what’s in our hearts. His love for us is not diminished by what we harbor in our hearts. Yet we find it hard to admit that we’re being held hostage by a beast the color of Kermit the Frog.
When Jack Hayford began his ministry at Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California, in the ’60s, there were barely 100 people on the rolls. When he drove by Van Nuys First Baptist (a huge congregation down the street), he couldn’t even look at the building. He was so intimidated by the competition, his energy and joy were being undermined. One day while he was waiting for the light to change at the intersection where the large Baptist church was located, the Lord prompted him to look at the church. He reluctantly obeyed. As he openly admitted his envy to himself and to the Lord, he began to pray for the pastor and congregation. From that moment on, when he passed that church, he asked the Lord to bless them. Hayford recalls a liberation of his spirit that was akin to being set free from an emotional prison.
2. Admit your envy to others. Confess it to those whose ministries of which you are jealous. If they are part of a fellowship group with whom you meet on a regular basis, ask the Lord to give you the courage to be vulnerable in the group setting. Ask the group, "Have you ever thought of us as being staff associates of the Church that Jesus has planted in this community?" Chances are, those you’ve been intimidated by will be surprised by your estimation of them. They may applaud your suggestion calling for a vision of mutual public ministry. If the individuals whose churches you covet are not part of a pastors’ group you frequent, invite them for lunch. Share what’s on your heart. They may be willing to accept your invitation, and they may also admit that the green monster has on occasion stolen their joy.
3. Just because you are the only pastor in your church, it doesn’t mean you can’t surround yourself with a pastoral staff. In addition to whatever local ministerial fellowship to which you may belong, become part of a support group. Larry, Brent, Karl, and I met weekly. We were pastors of small congregations. The thought of staff was a dream. Through candid confession and honest dialogue we became like family. What is more, we became a staff to each other.
This group can become a place where–assured of confidentiality–you can share prayer requests and struggles, as well as bounce preaching and program ideas off each other. If you know of such a group, ask if you can join. If you don’t, invite two or three other pastors you respect and enjoy being with to meet with you for 2 hours each week. The accountability, collegiality, personal support, and brain-tank times that pastors of multiple-staff churches enjoy with their associates are just a phone call away.
4. Appreciate what God has given you in the church. I escaped the hold of the green-eyed monster when I started to appreciate what God had given me. I didn’t have a staff of paid associates, but I did have gifted laypersons willing to spend time with me. One in particular was a retired Navy captain who was chairman of the congregation.
Steve was 10 years my senior. Experienced in administration, business, and construction (as well as in the things of the Lord), he was more capable than most Bible school or seminary graduates. Had our church been able to afford an additional staff person, we couldn’t have matched the expertise Steve offered for free. Steve and I met for coffee every Tuesday morning. Even though he had spent his military service barking orders to career officers, he honored the office of pastor by deferring to my leadership.
Without doubt, there are individuals in your church whose experience and discretionary time are available for the asking. Inviting an official leader in the congregation (or one without a title in whom you see ministry resources) to come alongside you is worth considering. Not only will your ministry be multiplied in its effectiveness, your sense of isolation will begin to evaporate.
5. Thank God for each individual in your church. In the last century, Johnson Oatman, a small church pastor, postulated a common denominator for contentment. He taught his congregation to count their many blessings and name them one by one. You’ve probably sung his advice in church. How about acting on it in your study? If you have a pictorial directory, spend a leisurely morning contemplating and praying over each individual or family. Thank the Lord for who they are and who (by His grace) they are becoming. Ask the Lord to use you in their lives. Pray for whatever needs they have. Write a word or two beside their pictures that suggests the unique contribution they offer your church. After you’ve reached the end, take out a sheet of paper and total the words and phrases you’ve scrawled beside the faces. This exercise will reduce the amount of envy with which you started.
As I think of the unique challenges of the pastor whose pews are few, I recall a story about an immigrant sailing to America. This middle-aged Norwegian had emptied his bank account to purchase his passage. Because he had no extra money to buy food on board ship, he packed 10 days’ worth of cheese sandwiches and apples. Each day as the dinner bell sounded, he sat in his stateroom eating stale bread and moldy cheese. Only at the end of the voyage did he make the humbling discovery that five-star meals three times a day had been included in the price of his ticket. Similarly, too many pastors whose pews are few sit in their studies starving for fellowship and eating jealousy sandwiches when they are invited to a feast of joy and contentment. Take advantage of the resources God and other people in your church and community are willing to make available to you.