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BOOK REVIEWS
Curtis, Heath R. The Small Town Church and Pastor: A Concise Pastoral Theology for Pastors and Elders. Middletown, Delaware: Self Published, 2024.
In 1985, John Mellencamp released the now classic hit, “Small Town,” which reflected upon his upbringing in rural Indiana. Here are two of its verses….
All my friends are so small town
My parents live in the same small town
My job is so small town
Provides little opportunity
Educated in a small town
Taught to fear Jesus in a small town
Used to daydream in that small town
Another boring romantic, that's me1
In this song, Mellencamp describes the joys and struggles of living in a rural town, a place where faith is a way of life, family roots run deep, deep friendships are made, but also where opportunities to achieve dreams are often few and far between.
Heath Curtis, a Lutheran pastor and currently president of the Southern Illinois District of the LCMS, reflects upon his ministry serving in small towns that are very similar to the one Mellencamp sings about. In this terse volume, Curtis shares his love for rural America and the joy of raising children in a small town, and then he provides useful strategies for building a successful small and/or rural church.
He starts with the statistics: over two-thirds of the congregations in the LCMS are under 100 in weekly worship attendance. That means that most pastors will spend at least some of their ministry in a small church. And according to Curtis, those churches often suffer from four main problems: declining and older membership, strained finances, the lack of volunteers, and inactive members.
What your people need most is a pep talk.
How does one tackle these formidable issues? Let’s start with declining and older membership. Curtis writes, “What your people need most is a pep talk: This is happening to everybody! It’s not a problem unique to our congregation or Synod. It’s all over America (and the world). We’re not a bad church or a bad people or a bad pastor. This is bigger than us, but we can get through it together under God’s grace” (p. 7).
But what to do next? Curtis finds that denominations that have the greatest identity in the minds of their members have the best ability to retain those members. So, he suggests building discipleship grounded in our Lutheran identity, and this means celebrating days of Christian formation: such as baptisms, the first day of Sunday school or confirmation class, etc. He has also created a family devotion booklet which he hands out at “Back to School Sunday” which he feels has been crucial in building Lutheran identity in his parish (he will even email you the digital file of the devotion book for free).
What about finances? This is a difficult subject, but Curtis believes that we can’t ignore what the Bible has said about giving, and this subject is also in the Table of Duties in Luther’s Small Catechism. So, it is our responsibility to share God’s Word concerning stewardship with our parish members. Curtis has authored a book entitled Stewardship Under the Cross2 and coauthored another book entitled Stewardship for the Care of Souls.3 In both these resources, he describes how he learned to preach stewardship through the lectionary readings. He also believes that transparency is vital, because when a congregation learns that there is a genuine financial need, they will step up to the challenge. Another suggestion is sharing resources with other congregations, such as secretaries, pastors, or facilities to save money.
How about the challenge of finding enough volunteers? Curtis notes that previous generations volunteered naturally, in groups like the Lutheran Layman’s League, the YMCA, and the bowling team. But church members today (for whatever reason) are reticent to make a long-term volunteer commitment. But perhaps these roles can be shared? For instance, Curtis suggests holding a Sunday School training, and then allowing volunteers to sign up online for the Sundays they can serve as teachers.
What about inactive members? This is a tough one. Curtis estimates that most people on the rolls of a rural church rarely attend. To make matters worse, there is no easy way to get them back. But according to Curtis, removing them from the member rolls isn’t the answer since it cuts them off forever. He suggests communicating with inactive members regularly to keep a connection, inviting them to events often, and being ready to minister to them should they seek to reengage.
But perhaps the most interesting part of this book concerns simply how to be a pastor in a small/rural environment. One of the things country people do best is wear different hats. The local business owner may also be the mayor and a member of the volunteer fire department. So, a pastor needs to have responsibilities and even hobbies outside the church if he/she wants to be recognized as competent. Curtis warns, “for the love of all things holy: don’t just tell your elders that your only hobbies are reading and studying theology!” (p.17). It is also important to be recognized as hard-working by your church members. Pastors should maximize the time that they interact with members during the week.
For the love of all things holy: don’t just tell your elders that your only hobbies are reading and studying theology!
Curtis also stresses outreach in the community. He writes, “It’s good for the small-town pastor to get to know his community leadership: the mayor, the city council or town board, the banker, the fire chief, the cop or sheriff’s deputy that patrols town, etc.” He also suggests finding out where the “elders in the gates” meet. This is the group of retired guys that meet in just about every small town and can be a source of invaluable knowledge of the history of the town as well as what is currently happening in the community (p. 26).
Overall, Curtis has provided a very practical resource for maximizing success in the small and rural parish. One of the best things Curtis has done pastorally is add a Wednesday divine service. This worship opportunity has allowed so many families who have sports commitments on the weekend to hear the Word preached and receive the sacrament. An added bonus in the book is the “Frau Pastor” section written by Heath’s wife Rebekah. She advises pastors’ wives to stay off the church council, and to “keep your hobby horse in your own playroom,” that is – don’t get involved in the minutia of church business, just stay in your lane.
Vaters, Karl. Small Church Essentials. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2018.
In 1954, Dr. Seuss published his classic children’s book, Horton Hears a Who, the story of an elephant who hears a very soft voice. The voice belongs to the mayor of a tiny city that resides on a small speck of dust. Understanding that hundreds of lives are at risk in this vulnerable situation, Horton is determined to protect them. “After all, a person’s a person no matter how small.”4 So the elephant places the dust speck on a clover, and spends the rest of the book defending the tiny town from other jungle animals who think Horton’s Whoville is all in his head. They want to throw that clover into a pot of beezle-nut stew!
To convince the other animals of the town’s existence, Horton orders the entire community to make some noise. And so they “rattled tin kettles! They beat on brass pans,/On garbage pail tops and old cranberry cans!/ They blew on bazookas and blasted great toots/On clarinets, oompahs and boom-pahs and flutes.”5
And yet, it still wasn’t loud enough for the other animals to hear them! But then they found the one little shirker in town who wasn’t doing anything. So the mayor put him on the top of the “Eiffelberg Tower,” and there he screamed a single “yopp.” “And that Yopp…That one small extra Yopp put it over/Finally at last! From that speck on that clover/Their voices were heard! They rang out clear and clean./And the elephant smiled, ‘Do you see what I mean?.../They’ve proved they ARE persons, no matter how small/And their whole world was saved by the Smallest of All!’”6
Now I don’t know about you, but as a small and rural church pastor I sometimes feel like the mayor of a dust speck who is derided by others. Every time I am asked how many people are in my church, I cringe. Because this is the question that people in large churches ask to quickly demonstrate that their church is a lot bigger, and therefore a lot better, than yours. But is that true? Are small churches just failed projects that should be thrown into a pot of beezle-nut stew? Or is a church a church, no matter how small? This is the question that Karl Vater attempts to answer in his game-changing book.
Vaters begins with some statistics. Almost every pastor will lead a small church at least once in his/her career, and most pastors will never lead a congregation with an average attendance larger than 250 people. If that is the case, then nearly every pastor can benefit by understanding the dynamics of small church life.
Furthermore, small churches accomplish more for the kingdom of God. Quoting church planter Neil Cole, Vaters notes that “ten smaller churches of 100 people will accomplish much more than one church of 1000” (p. 90).
One of the first things to understand is that the priorities of large and small churches are different. “Big churches need to prioritize vision, process, and programs, while small churches need to prioritize relationships, culture and history” (p.61). This is because large and small churches act differently. Vaters writes, “the constant restating of a vision, while essential and empowering in a big church, can feel patronizing and manipulative in a small church” (p. 63). And that means building personal relationships, creating a unique culture (guiding principles), and emphasizing the history of the church (think Luther and the reformers) are all crucial components for success in a small congregation.
Every time I am asked how many people are in my church, I cringe. Because this is the question that people in large churches ask to quickly demonstrate that their church is a lot bigger, and therefore a lot better, than yours.
One of the most eye-opening parts of this book is his “Ingredients for a Big Church.” These ingredients include: the gift of raising funds, years of relentless work to find land and buildings, highly complex administrative and delegation skills, and supervising architects, designers and contractors. His point is that most pastors don’t have these skills, or if they do, they have no interest in doing these things. Maybe a smaller church fits the skills sets of those called to ministry better?
Perhaps pastors would be better served by concentrating on the basics: leading by example and with integrity, listening, thanking those who serve, building a culture of change, etc. In Vater’s Acts 2 model, the pastor’s role is to be the spokesperson to a congregation that already has received the Holy Spirit. So the pastor’s job isn’t to push his vision on the people, rather his job is to speak for the people who have already been filled by the spirit. Vaters writes, “A careful reading of Acts 2:4247 shows the early church didn’t make bigger and better their business. Instead, they focused on five priorities: worship, prayer, evangelism, learning and loving” (p. 81). So, it ain’t rocket science – the ingredients for a healthy church include loving and worshipping Jesus; and then loving, serving, and making disciples of others (p. 86). Keeping these things as the main things is vital. A small church can be a healthy church, but that doesn’t mean they all are - many are just stuck and unable to grow. This might be because the church is inefficient (no website, poor floor plan), exclusive, frozen in time, or out of any connection with the surrounding community.
'Ingredients for a Big Church' include: the gift of raising funds, years of relentless work to find land and buildings, highly complex administrative and delegation skills, and supervising architects, designers and contractors.
Another problem is that small churches attract control freaks. Vater suggests dealing with problems before the controlling person does. But ultimately, dysfunctional churches need a lot of pastoral attention and a lot of love.
Another must is outreach, what Vaters calls “emptying out.” He thinks we do a lot of “filling up,” worship, fellowship and discipleship,” but we aren’t as good with “emptying out,” which includes discipleship also, but also ministry and evangelism. Perhaps asking what your church does well and then emphasizing that is the ticket. Or finding a need in the community and filling it?
Vaters also advocates the “Closet Rule,” which is “don’t add a new ministry until you’ve dropped an old ministry. Or until your closet grows” (p. 120). That means making hard decisions about what ministries to keep. But adding an endless list of new ones isn’t the answer. When thinking about existing ministries, Vaters suggests three options: renew it, replace it, or say goodbye to it.
Another revelation from this book comes in the area of small groups. Think you need small groups to grow? Well, if you have a small church, it already is a small group. Small groups are for big churches that need to build relationships, but small churches already have those strong relationships. So why not skip the small group and instead start ministry teams that can give your members a sense of purpose, like maybe mentoring new members?
I had to laugh when Vaters wrote this about mission statements, “If your church doesn’t have a mission/vision statement or you have one but no one has thought about it since it was filed away in 1977, you don’t need to call an emergency vision-casting meeting to remind everyone that they need to Know, Grow and Go, Love, Learn & Live or Become fully devoted followers of Jesus” (p.184). Vater writes, “Great mission statements don’t make great churches or fix broken ones; we have to do the mission first. We shouldn’t put anything into words until we’re already putting it into action, because the only real hope that a church will follow through on it is if it’s based on what the church is already doing” (p.184-185).
So, if you’ve felt frustrated doing ministry on a dust speck, stop worrying about what the other animals in the jungle are thinking. Perhaps it’s time to stop asking yourself how you can become a big church and instead ask how you might serve God best with the resources you have right now!
You don’t need to call an emergency vision-casting meeting to remind everyone that they need to Know, Grow and Go, Love, Learn & Live or Become fully devoted followers of Jesus.”
Endnotes:
1John Mellencamp, “Small Town,” Lyric Genius, Nov. 2, 1985, https://genius.com/Johnmellencamp-small-town-lyrics
2Heath R. Curtis. Stewardship Under the Cross: Stewardship for the Confessional Lutheran Parish (Self Published, 2011). A pdf of this resource is available for free at lcms.org/stewardship.
3Nathan Meador and Heath R. Curtis, Stewardship for the Care of Souls, Lexham Ministry Guides, ed. Harold L. Senkbeil (Bellingham, Washington: Lexham Press, 2021).
4Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who (New York: Random House, 1954), 7.
5Ibid., 50.
5Ibid., 59.
