Developing a Discipleship Plan
Revisiting an Old Vision
by Ralph E. Bauserman, Evangelism Consultant, General Board of Discipleship

Although it was my privilege as a pastor to serve two long appointments in large, fast-growing churches, I have never forgotten that I am a product of the small church. As a young man, I joined a Methodist Church (before 1968) that was a part of a four-point circuit. Our pastor came every other week for "preaching," and we had Sunday school each Sunday. On an average Sunday, about thirty-five of us gathered to share fellowship and faith. It was this church that gave me a wonderful wife; it was here that our first son was baptized; and it was from this little country church that we received the call to ministry. My first appointment as a student minister was to a three-point circuit, and my second appointment — during my seminary years — was to a small country church. In both appointments, it was our privilege to live and serve among wonderful people. There will always be a special place in my heart for the small church.

As I look back on my years in the small church, I see that those churches shared one thing in common: they all lacked vision. The people, without a doubt, were loving and caring folk, but there was no sense of urgency about reaching the unchurched. The general attitude was, "If they want to come to church, the door is open." Without vision, there was no strategy for sharing Christ and making disciples, and there was no strategy for transforming the community. Therefore, each of these churches over the years has grown older and much smaller. In fact, one has closed its doors. It is painfully ironic that this decline has occurred in the midst of substantial growth in the communities.

Sometimes I think of the young student pastor who was appointed to our charge back home. After serving among us for several months, it was clear that he had a vision. He wanted our churches to be more than family chapels; he wanted us to be in mission to our communities. He had this vision that God had placed us in these communities to reach people and make disciples. No one had ever had such high expectations of us, and we were not sure we liked it!

I remember the evening he gathered the most influential leaders of the four churches together, and he cast his vision. He challenged our four churches to unite as one church and to get serious about being in mission in the community. One of our farm families had agreed to give us six acres along a main highway on which to construct a new building. Our young pastor laid out his vision of a building that would not only serve as a worship and spiritual formation center for our people but as a center to serve the youth and other needs of the community. If his vision were accepted, we would become one church, meeting in a high visibility location, serving Christ in new and exiting ways.

Unfortunately, the leaders of our four churches were not impressed with our young pastor's vision. Most of them thought him to be a young dreamer whose head had been contaminated with weird ideas by the seminary, so they ignored his grand vision. After all, he could hardly be blamed for not knowing any better. In their minds, they were satisfied in their own little church buildings, doing church as they had for years.

A lot has happened since that night our pastor cast his vision among us. The population in the communities around the four churches has increased dramatically. In the midst of this growth, the churches, devoid of any sense of mission, have grown older and smaller. One church has closed; two of them have an attendance of fewer than ten on Sunday; and the other has fewer than twenty. In five years, the remaining three will have closed their doors.

There are times when I think back to that evening our young pastor cast his vision among us. We were so set on preserving our little church buildings that we missed a wonderful opportunity to be the church of Jesus Christ in mission.

Yes, there will always be a special place in my heart for the small church, but it hurts me deeply to see so many churches growing older and smaller. Are you in one of those churches that is in decline? Has the time come for your church to consider uniting with one or more other churches in order to live out God's vision in your community? Would you dare talk about this at your next leadership meeting?

posted 6-19-03