Welcome!
The first set of entries to this weekly blog (#1–#47) is entitled “Letters to a Small Church Pastor.” These are brief letters that are focused on topics I have found important in the life of a small church pastor. The second set of entries (Beginning with #48) is entitled “Letters to a Small Church Congregation” and is directed to the lay leaders and other members of small churches.
Although I often use examples from my own ministry, the bulk of the information in the letters comes from what the Holy Spirit has taught me through many years of ministry, reading insightful books or articles and listening to people who are much wiser than I am. It is my prayer that these letters will encourage and challenge you as a small church pastor or as someone who attends a small church.
Introductory Letter (Read First)
Letter #57 (The Body’s Members–4)
Letter #56 (The Body’s Members–3)
Letter #55 (The Body’s Members–2)
Letter #54 (The Body’s Members–1)
Letter #53 (The Body of Christ)
Letter #52 (It’s Jesus’s Church)
Letter #51 (Whose Church Is It?)
Letter #50 (Inevitability of Change)
Letter #49 (First Impressions–2)
Letter #48 (First Impressions)
Letter #29 (Dare to Be Different)
Letter #27 (Remember Your Source)
Letter #24 (Changing Others–2)
Letter #23 (Changing Others–1)
Letter #22 (Changing Yourself)
Letter #17 (My Wants vs God’s Will)
Letter #16 (The Greatest Obstacle)
Letter #11 (Expand the Family)
Letter #6 (You Failed at Something)
If you would like to be notified via email when new letters and other posts are placed on this site, please let us know via a comment after one of the letters and check the “Save My Name” box before you post your comment. Your email will not be shared with anyone, and we will not clog up your email with unnecessary links, posts, ads, promos, or other “junk mail.”
If you are a Small Church Pastor and would like to receive additional encouragement beyond these letters, send me a note via the contact info supplied. By the way, this site is not designed for debates about doctrine. It is designed for mutual encouragement as you lead your small church. (Be sure to read the Introductory Letter.)
God Bless, and I look forward to helping other small church pastors to achieve all God has planned for them and their congregations.
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Letter #57 (The Body’s Members–4)
Dear Small Church Congregation, Okay. You’ve repented of your sins, asked God to forgive you and placed your eternal future into the hands of Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You’ve decided to become a participating part of the Body of Christ. You’ve decided to seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit to determine…
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Letter #56 (The Body’s Members–3)
Dear Small Church Congregation, When you are born again, you become part of the overall body of Christ, the body which makes up the church Jesus is building. As part of that body, you have been chosen by God, called through the drawing of the Holy Spirit and given a new spiritual birth through…
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Letter #55 (The Body’s Members–2)
Dear Small Church Congregation, Once a disciple chooses to not be simply a worship spectator but to become an active participant in the worship, that disciple adds to the body’s ability to take on its intended functions, which are to fulfill the Great Commission and to live out the Great Commandment. Active disciples do…
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Letter #54 (The Body’s Members–1)
Dear Small Church Congregation If you are a disciple of Jesus, you belong to His church, His bride, His body of believers. As a member of that chosen group, you have been called to operate in much the same fashion as the various parts of a physical body operate. Paul compared the relationship that…
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Letter #53 (The Body of Christ)
Dear Small Church Congregation, I have one of those “duh” questions for you—Who makes up the body of Christ? Your first inclination might be to say—the church. And you would be correct. But who or what constitutes the church? Who or what is identifiable as belonging to the church? (Keep in mind that I…
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Letter #52 (It’s Jesus’s Church)
Dear Small Church Congregation, In the last letter I proposed that there are people who have forgotten who owns Christ’s church (assembly, disciples, body, bride). That forgetting has prompted them to think they own the church—not just the building, but the whole thing—the people included. They act as if they should be able to…
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Letter #51 (Whose Church Is It?)
Dear Small Church Congregation, I saw a t-shirt recently with the statement, “I Love My Church.” I thought, “how nice.” The person “loves” attending a worship service at that church facility. Or does the person “love” the people who worship there? Or does he/she “love” the activities or the youth group or the music…
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Letter #50 (Inevitability of Change)
Dear Small Church Congregation, In the letters on first impressions, I mentioned some things that may need to change in how you approach worship services and the overall state of your facilities. I hope you can realize that these changes will lead to better first impressions for visitors. Sometimes we just need to take…
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Letter #49 (First Impressions–2)
Dear Small Church, In Letter #48 I introduced the idea of creating a first impression based on the facility and general atmosphere we want to create for a first-time visitor. This letter goes into the actual worship service and how it can impact the first impression. We want visitors to return and become…
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Letter #48 (First Impressions)
Dear Small Church Congregation, Example #1: I recently walked into a church building foyer and looked up to see how high the ceiling was. (I’ve spent a good deal of my life involved in construction, and noticing wall height is just something I do out of habit.) There in that decorated space for an…