Ridgell's Originals

 I just finished up another period of time preaching for the Winters church of Christ.  Winters is a small town and so the church is small.  Probably 70 on a good Sunday.  Sometimes as low as 40.  Everyone wants to go to a larger church.  Preachers do.  Families do.  And I am not saying they are wrong.  

But there are some spiritual experiences you only get in small churches.  Things larger churches don't have.  Or at least not in obvious ways.

Everyone has to get involved.  You can't sit in little churches.  Meals, Bible classes, and serving.  No hiding as an interested observer in small churches.

Your contribution matters.  You know it and so do the leaders.

You know everyone.  For better or worse.  You can't hide in small churches.  They miss you when you are not there.

So they know when you need help and they step up.  And you know when someone needs help and you step up.  

Small churches are like the life groups many big churches try to cultivate.  By nature, that is how they function.  Deeper relationships, more accountablility, more responsibility.

But if you don't want those things, do not go to a small church.  Find somewhere to go be anonymous.  Where no one realizes you are gone, much less misses you.  Where it is no big deal if you skip your contribution one week.

So thanks Winters for showing me a glimpse of why real community matters and why it is easier to find in small churches.  So yes, I hope you grow the Kingdom in Winters.  But keep that small church feel.  After all, that may be what church is really all about.  

# posted by Steve @ 5:00 AM