January 1, 2026
Succession and the Church
Few churches handle lead minister succession well, but there are four steps for an effective succession PLAN (Prepare, Look Ahead, Assess, Navigate).
Articles for tag: Small Churches
Statistics from Christian Standard Church Report for 2024
Statistics from Christian Standard Church Report for 2024.
Small Churches, Great Impact
Smaller churches are everywhere, from densely populated urban areas to the suburbs, to tiny communities at rural crossroads. With smaller churches distributed so widely across the country, they are positioned for greater influence than their size might suggest.
July 1, 2024
A Financial Deep Dive
In 2023, 57 percent of churches reported that giving exceeded their budget, with 21 percent saying giving met their budgeted needs. . . .
May 14, 2024
Big Little Churches
"A church with only 12 members is barely a church, but almost every weekend I preach in small Missouri churches whose attendances range from 12 to 112," Daniel Schantz writes. "When people hear that I am preaching at such small churches they often shake their heads and say, 'That’s a shame. Why don’t they just close the doors and go to a bigger church that has more to offer them?'” . . .
January 4, 2024
THROWBACK THURSDAY: ‘Small Is Beautiful’ (1981)
"Someone ought to say a good word for the small church," Joseph H. Dampier wrote in 1981. "The reported observation of Abraham Lincoln that the Lord must love the common people because He made so many of them could be applied to small churches because there are so many of them." . . .
July 25, 2023
Start-up AI Platform Aims to Help Pastors Make the Most of Their Sunday Sermons
Some laud the potential of artificial intelligence to make life easier for everyone. Some fear how AI could be misused. But like it or not, it’s here—and one company is looking to bring it to the church. Michael Whittle, a California entrepreneur and lay pastor, is the founder of Pulpit AI, a soon-to-be-released platform designed to help pastors make the most of their weekly sermons. . . .
May 31, 2023
SPOTLIGHT: Ocala Christian Church’s New Building, Baptistery Paying Dividends
A baptistery can make a world of difference. Ocala Christian Church discovered this during 2022 when the small church in central Florida baptized 31 people. That translated into a 27.9 percent baptism ratio (baptisms per 100 in average attendance). . . .
May 1, 2023
2022 Annual Survey Fast Facts
AVERAGE WEEKLY IN-PERSON WORSHIP ATTENDANCE Megachurches: 5,136 (22 churches) Emerging Megachurches: 1,367 (37 churches) Large Churches: 714 (49 churches) Medium Churches: 361 (61 churches) Small Churches: 159 (83 churches) Very Small Churches: 51 (118 churches) _ _ _ AVERAGE WEEKLY IN-PERSON + ONLINE WORSHIP ATTENDANCE Megachurches: 6,375 (36 churches) Emerging Megachurches: 1,393 (45 churches) Large Churches: 705 (44 churches) Medium Churches: 363 (57 churches) Small Churches: 161 (87 churches) Very Small Churches: 53 (101 churches) _ _ _ TOP 3 FASTEST-GROWING CHURCHES (2021-22)* Megachurches: 67.4%: Southbrook Christian Church, Miamisburg, OH 53.8%: Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY 53.7%: The Crossing, Quincy,
May 1, 2023
The Rise of the Nons and the Nearly Gones (and What We Can Do About It)
By Billy Strother Congregations need one another more than ever. They need a sense of unity for mission in community. As congregational leaders, pursuing a sense of unity in community will strengthen us all and increase our kingdom fruit. Jesus proclaimed, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand” (Matthew 12:25, New American Standard Bible). Ministering to the Nons Christianity is in retreat in our culture. We are familiar with the rise of the “nones” (30 percent of U.S. adults now claim no religious affiliation). But despite the challenges, strategic opportunities
September 1, 2022
Are Church Leaders Prepared for Quicksand and Lava?
By Megan Rawlings When I was a child, probably around the age of 10, I perceived a few natural phenomena as threats to me on my journey to adulthood. For example, I spent hours researching and watching videos on how to escape quicksand and run away from volcanic lava. I didn’t realize, though, that neither of those was a threat to me in my southern Ohio hometown! I have prepared for one natural disaster my whole life, knowing that living in southern Ohio it was possible (notice I did not say “probable”). I could experience a tornado. I knew that
August 10, 2022
Communion Survey Results: Prepackaged Cups Widely Used (and That’s Likely to Continue)
A little more than half of the respondents (54 percent) reported their church uses the prepackaged Communion cups (with juice and bread sealed in a single container, purchased from a vendor). Among those folks, 42 percent either “strongly agreed” or “agreed” they were easy to use, while 45 percent either “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” the prefilled cups were easy to use. . . .
Church Survey: Facts and Figures from a Funky Year
The year 2020 was, well . . . different! And, because of that, we knew it was super important to capture the stories and statistics from 2020 to gauge the true impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our churches and establish baselines to measure future growth and changes.
February 10, 2021
NewThing Planted Nearly 1,000 New Churches in 2020
By Chris Moon Even in a pandemic, the work of church planting continues. Chicago-based church-planting organization NewThing reports it planted 982 churches in 2020, an increase from 855 in 2019. Most of those church plants occurred outside the United States—many of them in Africa and Asia. “COVID hasn’t slowed it down,” said Patrick O’Connell, global director for NewThing. NewThing is the church-planting mission of Community Christian Church in Naperville, Ill., which was founded by Dave Ferguson and Jon Ferguson. The organization has been around for about 15 years and has planted a total of 6,373 churches in 26 countries so
September 22, 2020
The Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Christian Churches
By Kent E. Fillinger As I write this in late June, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to morph daily as it impacts the world, economy, and church in innumerable ways. During the week of June 7, I conducted a COVID-19 Church Impact Survey to take a “snapshot” of how churches fared during the initial three months of quarantine (March to May) and what they anticipated would be happening over the next three months (June to August) as many started to regather for in-person worship services. A total of 334 church leaders from 39 states responded, providing a balanced cross-section of all-sized
July 22, 2020
The Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Christian Churches
(This article is excerpted from a longer feature article written for our October print magazine. We post some of the more time-critical information now for the benefit of our churches. The longer version—available at the end of September—provides a more comprehensive report.) By Kent E. Fillinger During the week of June 7, I conducted a COVID-19 Church Impact Survey to take a “snapshot” of how churches fared during the initial three months of quarantine (March to May) and what they anticipated would be happening over the next three months (June to August) as many have started regathering for in-person worship
Sharon’s Vision
My wife, Sharon, always wanted to be a philanthropist and donate millions to visionary causes. Alas, she married a teacher, not a banker. Even so, she has found ways to practice philanthropy on a shoestring. Creator. Most mornings my redhead works at her sewing machine, making quilts in bright-colored patterns. She donates most of her creations to International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES), a Christian church organization that uses relief work to implement evangelism. They auction off her quilts, and the proceeds go to the relief efforts. Most of her quilts earn between $200 and $500, but some have gone for
June 17, 2020
Small Churches Find Unique Ways to Deal with COVID-19 Challenges
By Chris Moon Dave Richmond was standing in the parking lot of his church in rural Virginia. In one direction, he could hear chainsaws. Someone was cutting down a tree. In the other direction was a tobacco field. Asked whether living and ministering in a remote environment proved to be an advantage during the COVID-19 pandemic, the preaching minister at Cool Spring Christian Church near Keysville, Va., said he sensed that it was—for the most part. “We’re naturally spread out,” Richmond said. “There have not been a lot of cases in our area. We’ve had very little impact because of
Report: State of Discipleship
By Kent E. Fillinger Discipleship is a hot topic in church ministries and global missions today. Churches are placing a greater emphasis on disciple-making. And missionaries are more focused on trying to establish disciple-making movements around the world. As I prepared to write this article, I received an evite to attend a webinar about “discipling people online” in response to the COVID-19 lockdown. In our annual survey, we asked a series of questions about disciple-making processes in churches, and we also asked leaders to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. Would you describe your church today as a “disciple-making church”?
May 1, 2020
2019 Fast Facts from Our Annual Survey of Churches
These “fast facts” are gleaned from survey data collected by Kent Fillinger about churches ranging in average attendance from 10 to 34,444 during 2019. This information is also available in chart form as a download. The download also includes a complete listing of the 439 churches that participated in our survey, and spotlights the 10 fastest-growing churches in each category and those churches with the highest baptism ratios (most baptisms per 100 in average attendance). Go here to ACCESS THE DOWNLOAD. Also, be sure to read Fillinger’s article, “The Difference a Decade Makes.” _ _ _ AVERAGE ATTENDANCE Megachurches: 5,765
