Small Church Essentials Quotes

“Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God.”1”
― Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250

“from the outside in. We’ll begin with the first-time guest, move to discipleship and leadership, and then close the loop with outreach.”
― Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250

“Jesus’ model of leadership was shockingly collaborative. In fact, it would be easy to argue that Jesus’ entire ministry was about team-building. From gathering the Twelve, to sending out the 72, to the “go and do” mandates in His teaching, to His command to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, everything Jesus did was collaborative—making disciples who would work together to change the world.”
― Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250

“This is a great way for churches to start new ministries or programs—try it for a season. If it doesn’t work well, the program didn’t fail, it finished.”
― Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250

“we’re always working on at least two improvement projects at all times:”
― Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250

“Rather than feature our best ministry, we often let it get lost in the clutter of tired events, high-maintenance buildings, irrelevant programs, and arcane language.”
― Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250

“Being small does not mean that something is broken. If something is broken, you can’t fix it by making it bigger.”
― Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250

“Many of us are convinced we’re great speakers and leaders. We have revolutionary ideas no one has ever heard of before. We have faith to move mountains. But what if …? What if God’s plans for our ministry are different than our plans? What if He wants to use us in the service of a smaller congregation? Can we be okay accepting God’s will, if that’s what His will is? And if a lifetime of small church ministry is possible, even likely, shouldn’t we spend time preparing for it?”
― Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250

“Through these new lenses, we can start seeing church health not as a means to growth, but as a means to effectiveness.”
― Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250

“What if Jesus’ idea was for churches of all sizes to work together, with mega, big, small, and house churches each contributing something special to the whole? What if by trying to fix a problem that isn’t a problem, we’re actually working against a strategy that God wants us to enact?”
― Karl Vaters, Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250