Small Church Essentials with Karl Vaters

Podcast Episode #425

Karl Vaters joins us once again to talk about how small churches should focus on growing healthier—not necessarily larger.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

With churches, bigger is not always equal to healthier, and we need to focus more on health than size.
Church health should be measured in three big buckets: fulfilling the Great Commission, fulfilling the Great Commandment, and equipping the saints to do the work of ministry.
Church health is not the means to an end. It is the goal itself.
Pastors of small churches are just as valuable in the Kingdom of God as those who pastor large churches.

About Karl Vaters:

Karl’s heart is to help pastors of small churches (up to 90% of churches) find the resources to pastor their current church well, and to capitalize on the unique advantages that come with pastoring a small church – something virtually every pastor will spend at least some of their ministry years doing. He also believes that big and small churches can and should work together more often – to the benefit of each. Karl has been in pastoral ministry for over 30 years. He is the teaching pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, a healthy small church in Orange County, California, where he has ministered for over 25 years.

About Small Church Essentials:

Big churches get all the love. Articles, books, conferences—they mostly feature leaders of large congregations. Yet big churches are a small part of the ecclesial landscape. In fact, more than 90 percent of churches have fewer than 200 people. That means small churches play a big part in what God is doing in America.Small Church Essentials is for leaders of these smaller congregations. It encourages them to steward their role well, debunking myths about small churches while offering principles for leading a dynamic, healthy small church.

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