People who come to a small church and stay, come for different reasons than people who join other sized churches. Relationships drive the small church. Everybody wants to know everybody and everything about everybody. People know how to take care of people in small churches. In small churches, people don't join the church as much as they become family.
Small churches hire pastors to do what the family needs done.
The pastor is hired to be a friend of the family. He is a friend who is a professional prayer. He conducts weddings and funerals, and dedicates babies. He is expected to preach the Word for the family. The pastor gains leadership by forming an alliance with the matriarch or patriarch.