The informality of the small church can make congregational singing something truly special. Consider forming a worship team to share in leading worship. Encourage broad participation in all parts of the worship service, such as Scripture reading, praying and taking the offering. Young people especially should be encouraged to take part. This is excellent training for future ministry.
Small churches can easily include testimonies and sharing times in their services.
In our impersonal world, people feel a deep need to have a place to share their experiences, yet such sharing is almost impossible in a large-church worship service. In the small church, personal sharing in the service can lead to powerful ministry. In a world where most people feel like faces in the crowd, many are longing for intimacy more than polished performance, for involvement more than spectator status, for small rather than big. By focusing on what it does best, the small church can be there for people who are hungering for a personal touch in an impersonal age. After many years of pastoring small-town churches, Ron is now general director of the Rural Home Missionary Association in Morton, Ill., and John is assistant professor of pastoral studies at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.