Well, I am going to give this another shot. I know I have been away for over a year. The past year has been one of the most exhausting, challenging, rewarding, and fulfilling years in 26 years of ministry in our church. Needless to say – this website had to take a back seat to the numerous activities of the past year. I hope to take some time and explain later, but I wanted to try and post for the next 3 days.
I am attending the RHMA Small Church Conference in Morton, Illinois. This is the 25th year for the conference and I have attended about 3 or 4 in the past 10 years. It is encouraging to see more conferences that are addressing the needs of the small church. On the west coast, BigLittleChurch.com has one in Camas, Washington on May 21st-23rd, 2018. I encourage Pastors to attend whenever possible for the fellowship and encouragement.
I thought I would submit a post from each day of the conference with some thoughts God impressed upon me. I hope these might be an encouragement or a challenge to you as well.
RHMA – Monday Night – Takeaway
We need churches of all sizes. Big churches will reach people that only big churches can reach. Small churches reach people only small churches can reach.
I was reminded of this on Sunday. We have a new family that started coming within the past year. That family has now been influential in bringing 2 other families and is working on a third. None of these people have been involved in any ministry a year ago and some did not even know Christ. I realize these people would never be comfortable in a large church ministry. In fact, they would never set foot in the door. It is not who they are or how they are wired. It is only a small church ministry that could impact them. I am thankful that our church has been able to acknowledge who we are as a church and not try to be something we are not.
Links – RHMA Conferences – http://www.rhma.org/conferences/
Big Little Church Conference – http://www.biglittlechurch.com/
Small Church.com 