Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day to everyone. I hope you're having a wonderful and relaxing day. I am having one of those wonderfully relaxing days too.

As I am waiting for the turkey to finish getting cooked, I happened upon a new blog that has my interest up. The blog is called, Confessions of a Small Church Pastor. In a funny post, the author gives his 4 Rules (minus 1) for Pastoring Small Churches. Here are his rules:

Rule #1: Realize a small church is not a miniature big church. Remember “Mini-Me” in Austin Powers – an exact clone of the big guy, only smaller? I learned quickly that small churches aren’t “MiniMes.” Worship, decision-making, pastoral care, and just about everything else in a small church is different from large church ministry.

Rule #2: Assume all your members are related. I discovered this rule one day after venting my frustration with one member to another. His four word reply is still ringing in my head — “Yeah, she’s my cousin.”

Rule #3. Don’t underestimate your members. Small church members can be just as gifted, committed, and excited as large-church members — sometimes more so. Many people actually prefer a small church because they can find a place of service and get to know people more quickly.

Rule #4. Don’t overestimate the pastor’s importance. Lyle Schaller says small churches are member-driven. Pastors may come-and-go, but members keep the church running. Plug-in rather than charge-in is my approach now.

Go here to read the entire post.

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I especially like rule number 2 because it fits our congregation to a "t". I am still surprised to learn of the family connections of all the members of the congregation.

I'll write more later. I need to go check on the turkey.