Small Membership Church

16. Organizing for Ministry

by Julia Kuhn Wallace

Welcome to the sixteenth article in a series designed to enhance the use of the Small Membership Church Guideline. Ideally, this Guideline will be shared among your church leaders, read, discussed together, and utilized to strengthen ministry.

Remember that in the small membership church, relationships and not rigorous tasks or complex structures drive ministry. This does not mean, however that a small church should be disorganized. It does mean that size appropriate methods must be used.

Here are some added suggestions for organizing ministry to get the most out of this resource in your small membership church.

1. Select a Planning Style Appropriate To Your Size* (*Avg. in Worship)

Click on the image to download a full-size printer-friendly version of this chart.

2. Use a Basic Planning Worksheet

Click on the image to download a full size printer-friendly version of this worksheet.

3. Evaluate Ministries
These are different ideas to evaluate ministry activities, or events.

Roundtable. Simply go around the table and give each individual an opportunity to share one thing memorable about the event. Next go around again and invite people to share one thing to be improved.
Sides of a Coin. Pass a coin around the group. The person holding the coin states, What went well? and What could be improved? then passes the coin to the next person.
Select Different Points of View. Invite people to imagine they were a specific group participating in the activity and comment on their experience from that point of view, such as a visitor, member, child, or the pastor.
Accomplishment Awards. On newsprint, list what people thought was accomplished by the event. Invite people to remark on how we know we did and how we know we didn’t meet the list.

Editorial Note: Congratulations! You have now worked through the Small Membership Church Guideline booklet and web articles. It is our hope that you join with others in your congregation and community to offer an effective ministry. Build on your strengths and develop ministries that nurture, reach out to those in need, and witness to the grace and love of Jesus Christ. Be about the vital task of making disciples. Make a difference!