Saturday, November 30th, 2024.
In an informal survey, church growth expert Thom Rainer, says that the Sunday after Thanksgiving (tomorrow) is one of the top ten lowest attended Sundays in church.
(Take the results with a grain of salt. Number 10 on his list is any Sunday in the summer. Just, wow.)
For perspective, a starting mid-Acts group with no attendance might love to have “low” attendance (especially what a Baptist considers low).
Nevertheless, when you are engaged in starting or growing a church it can be discouraging when you don’t have many people show up.
Don’t be. Faithful church ministry is not determined by the number of people who show up, but in your continued working out of the will of God with those around you.
The reason we have church meetings to begin with is because there are important aspects of the will of God that can only be performed with other likeminded believers. (See our Ministry of the Church seminar.)
Even if no one showed up to your like-minded believers’ meeting, then you can change your agenda and do the will of God in ministering salvation to unbelievers or persuading other believers in the need for sound doctrine.
Most churches today (and in history) are small. Thank God for small groups. They allow for more flexibility, more personal attention, more conversation, more individual participation, and as a result often faster growth. (This is why megachurch leaders explain that you cannot grow a church mega without small groups.)
I’ve had meetings with just my family showed up. If you can count your attendance on one hand, then it is larger than most families in America. We need more family sized ministry meetings (especially in the homes of those families).
I’ve had meetings of one. You can hold this meeting on a park bench, around a coffee table, or at your dinner table (been there done that). You can’t get any more personal of a meeting than just two people. This is why God made marriage. We need more marriage-sized ministry meetings (especially in marriages).
Faithfulness in church ministry requires only you show up. Church ministry can still be done…by you toward someone.
Don’t be discouraged by low attendance. Likewise, your source of encouragement ought not be a big turnout. Your hope should not be in the size of the crowd, but in the Lord working in other people.
For that, He must first work in you.
For your faithful continuance,
Justin “small church” Johnson