When you read a book and it frees you from 40 years of guilt--that has to be a revolutionary book! That's how long I've been pastoring churches, 40 years. And from my first church to my current pastorate I've had a little voice in the back of my head that said, "You just haven't made it yet."
Of course that guilt and voice was man made. You see I am a `small church' pastor. And Vaters book is `liberating' for pastors of small churches. Why? Because most of us have bought into the `church growth' idea that if your church is not growing, something must be the matter with it and you. Part of the problem according to Vaters is how we measure growth.
He says, "We've discovered the benefits of thinking small. And it's got nothing to do with small thinking. ...Our small size is not something to be fixed, but a strategic advantage God wants to use."
Vaters shares his own story of pastoring a small church and attempting to grow a big church using `church growth' strategies. It's a refreshingly honest and often heart wrenching story that many pastors and church leaders will relate to.
Vaters says there is a need for all sizes of churches. But, "For the last several decades, the church leadership culture as a whole has despised small churches." The truth is that most "people want to be `pastored' not spiritually managed," says Vaters.
Vaters has a lot to say about numbers. "Sometimes what we call a plateau is simply a church reaching its optimal size, then using that size to grow healthful fruit. One of the worst things a church can do, once it has reached optimum, is to keep pushing for maximum."
Many small churches are `senders' not `attracters.' "They may not be growing numerically...but the people who are eating of their fruit are growing personally and dropping seeds everywhere they go."
No matter what size church you lead--this book will be challenging and inspiring. As Vaters puts it, "There is more to church than butts in the pews and bucks in the plate."
The title of the book is based on Numbers 13:32-33, "All the people we saw there are of great size, ...We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." The truth is that 80% of all U.S. churches are small (under 200). There are vastly more people attending a small church than a large or mega church.
Small church pastors need to be liberated from the Grasshopper Myth. Read this book and you will. I was.
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2013
- Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2024
- Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2015
- Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2014
Top reviews from other countries
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- SarahReviewed in Canada on September 12, 2016
A wonderful book I encourage every small church pastor to read.
- David MatthewReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2014
At last - small churches celebrated!
