A Call for Greater Consideration of Small and Rural Churches

In August 2024, the Church Research Council (CRC) began a survey of Church of Christ congregations. By January 2026, over 2,500 congregations had participated.[1] President of the Church Research Council, Dr. Stanley E. Granberg, reports that the Churches of Christ are primarily a small-church fellowship. Seventy-five percent of congregations have an attendance below 125 on Sunday.[2] Forty-five percent of them are classified as a house or family church with less than fifty attendees. Churches of Christ participating in the survey had a median size of 55, with a membership of 53.[3] Dr. Granberg suggests “Our smallest churches can be thought of as anchoring our fellowship.”[4]

In spite of the fact that small churches make up the majority of our fellowship, finding small church resources can be challenging.  Yet, addressing their needs is vital. Ed Stetzer states that the Great Commission was given in language that referenced the functions of house churches; yet, ironically, he points out how leaders and members of small churches sometimes feel sidelined. He astutely notes, “The truth is, small churches have been the norm for most of Christian history.”[5] Stetzer goes on to say, “Members and leaders of smaller churches should realize how much they matter for the mission and how much they matter to Jesus himself.”[6] Given this reality, it is interesting to note how little focus, comparatively, we have paid to the health and well-being of these congregations.

In the United States we have a tendency to think “bigger is better.” All too often, the needs of these congregations are overlooked, whether by lack of planning or by not realizing that one size does not fit all: what works for larger churches does not always work for smaller ones. Educational efforts, conferences, and church research have a tendency to focus on larger congregations. Given the high percentage of smaller churches in the Churches of Christ, we should give their needs a higher priority.

Cultural anthropology discusses the hidden cost of losing a small-scale culture. John H. Bodley says that “culture is socially transmitted and shared, symbolic and patterned.”[7] Each culture has knowledge of their environment, resources, and cultural practices woven into it and into their language. When one of these cultures is lost, this knowledge is lost with it. Small churches are intricately woven into the fabric of the communities they serve, both influencing and supporting the culture and values of their context. They provide a rhythm that provides stability, and they model contextualization of the gospel message.

WBUR, Boston’s National Public Radio, posted a transcript on “What’s Lost When Churches Close.” This was a conversation between Meghna Chakrabarti, Mandy Olson, former pastor for the Grace Covenant Church in Chicago which closed in 2022, and Ryan Burge, professor of practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. Olson says, “Church is so much more than just a religious home for worship services. It’s part of the fabric of people's lives.”[8] It is a place where community values are shared. Olson points towards ways a closed church in her neighborhood provided community support and hosted gatherings. She says, “Those kinds of things build community and build connection and introduce people to one another, that they make a community a little more known.”[9] To better prepare people for service in smaller and rural churches, the reality that such churches often cannot support a full-time minister merits serious consideration. Christian universities and colleges should take note. Traditional Bible degrees which solely prepare people for service in ministry as a profession often will not always work in these contexts. This is a “both/and” situation where students will likely need to be engaged in a secular profession and also be prepared to volunteer or work part-time as ministers. Double and second majors may be the best educational course to prepare students to serve in these contexts. Given that many students are already leaning this direction, perhaps educators can suggest that God may be preparing them to serve in new ways in these smaller and rural congregations—to both sustain and expand the Kingdom of God. Careful consideration should be given to the courses required for these majors, with particular emphasis on those that prepare students for vocational ministry, especially within smaller congregations.

As we prayerfully consider the needs of our congregations, we should make sure our teaching and training is not only inclusive of these smaller and rural congregations, but actually forms a partnership with them. It is important to adopt a Kingdom-oriented perspective, attending to the broader context rather than individual pieces. While smaller churches certainly face challenges that larger congregations may not—such as aging memberships, declining community populations, financial limitations, and fewer young people—it is important for them to develop partnerships with others. As we think about the needs of small and rural congregations, we also need to recognize their value and what they bring to the table.