Making the Small Church Effective

內容簡介

1. Perspectives on the small church -- Part one: Caring -- Exercise: the choreography of worship -- 2. The caring cell -- The primary group -- Primary groups in larger churches -- The single cell of people-in-place -- Absent and invisible members -- Social order and social place -- Miniature multicelled churches -- The implications of social place -- Summary of a caring cell -- For further reading -- Exercise: Gatekeepers and patriarchs/matriarchs -- 3. Growth by adoption -- The small church has grown -- The small church can't grow -- The small church can change into a larger congregation -- New members without growth pains -- Gatekeepers and patriarchs/matriarchs -- Reservations and possibilities -- For further reading -- Exercise: The pastor's study and professional feelings -- 4. Pastor/people tensions -- Finances -- Program -- The self-image of the pastor -- Power in the small church -- The lover -- For further reading -- Part two: Conserving -- Exercise: a church shield or coat of arms -- 5. Memory and ministry -- Belonging is a feeling -- Exceptions to history -- Biblical memory -- Abuses of memory -- Uses of memory -- From memory to ministry -- Church shield and coat of arms -- For further reading -- Exercise: The silent history of the church -- 6. Places of ministry -- Biblical affirmations -- Place of healing -- Healing ministries -- This is love: pass it on -- Silent history -- Exorcising places -- To make a memorial -- For further reading -- Exercise: a calendar of annual church events -- 7. Events worth remembering-Passages of time -- Personal transitions -- Congregational identity -- Expanding ministries -- Caring rhythm -- Turf stewardship -- A healthy church -- For further reading -- Part three: Coping -- Exercise: church groups, goals, and purposes. 8. The ministry of goals and purposes -- Printing the unspeakable -- Levels of leadership -- Conflict over goals -- Goals and purposes -- For further reading -- Exercise: church fellowship circles -- 9. Turf types of churches -- Heredity and environment -- Turf types: regional and local -- Regional: old first and holy trinity -- Regional ethnic family church -- Regional: the high-commitment church -- Local: the stable parish church -- Local: the growing neighborhood church -- Local: the declining neighborhood church -- Fellowship circles and membership doors -- For further reading -- Exercise: tensions between denominations and small churches -- 10. Are denominations "visible" -- Mutual distrust -- Denominational perspectives -- Denominational resources -- The viable church -- The problems of money -- Tentmaking ministries -- Clustering churches -- Local independence -- A summary -- Small-church perspectives -- Small-church challenges -- Small-church resources -- For further reading.