Bearings: Navigating Life-as-Ministry
February 2018

Small Is the New Big

A Guide for Reflection & Conversation

Pamela Shellberg (, ). Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyMission, 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality, Small Church Vitality.

The articles in this month’s Bearings magazine, “Small Is the New Big,” illuminate questions raised by the realities of small church ministry. In them we read eyewitness accounts of the spiritual energy in churches described as “small”—small that is, when the metric applied is a numerical count of members or weekly worship attendance. The articles invite us to... Read more

Small, But Not Alone

Collaborative Parishes Offer Hope and New Life for Small Churches

Diane Bowers (). Posted in 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality, Small Church Vitality.

With few exceptions, Christian churches in America are in trouble. Membership has been trending slowly downward for decades with the most pronounced declines occurring in churches in the mainline Protestant tradition. I am not writing, however, to sound the alarm about the shrinking numbers of the faithful. I would guess that none of it is new to you. Nor am... Read more

Small Church Magic

Jordan Shaw (). Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality, Small Church Vitality.

A number of years ago I found myself sitting in an auditorium, surrounded by colleagues, listening to a speaker talk about church growth. It was not the first time I had found myself in this situation: A speaker from an urban center telling people in a judicatory that is predominantly rural and low-income what they need to do to grow their congregations. Good... Read more

How Many Crockpots Does It Take to Keep a Small Church Afloat?

Small Is the New Big Issue

Jodi Houge (). Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyMinistry, Small Church Vitality.

We sit quietly in a 125-year-old, former Methodist church sanctuary (now a space used for art events). A cello, violin, and guitar lead us with instrument and voice. We sing one line of one psalm 108 times. We sing the line 108 times because the musician who leads us is also a yogi, and that number is significant in his practice. The sung line circles above us... Read more

Making Peace with Peacemaking

Pamela Shellberg (, ). Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyMission, 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality, Peacemaking.

Nick Nagy, “Peacemaking in the Middle” Over the winter break, our editorial assistant, Nick Nagy, took a close look at people of his home state, Indiana, and by association the rest of the Midwest, who, especially since the 2016 election, have been characterized as “hopelessly isolationist and dismally Trumpian.” Nick’s lead-off article in our January issue... Read more

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