PC007-812 - Leading the Small Church

  • 2,802 Standard Tuition Fee
  • 12
    Credit Points
  • 0.125 EFT 
  • 8
    AQF level
  • Category developing unit
    B
  • pastoral churchUnit Discipline

Exclusions

Prior to 2020, this unit content was delivered under the unit code PC607.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will

A. Know and understand

Demonstrate Advanced knowledge and understanding of, and the research underlying, the principles and practice of leading a small church, including the methods and standards of professional, safe and ethical practice.

B. Be able to

1. Examine theological perspectives on leading the small church

2. Review the impact of societal trends affecting small churches

3. Develop strategies for leading a small church

4. Present Research-Aware evidence-based perspectives on leading and managing the small church

C. Be in a position to

1. Applying Advanced perspectives from ‘Leadership in Christian Ministry’ to ministry practice as a reflective practitioner.

Content

A Theology of the Small Church

  • The congruence of the small church with evangelical ecclesiology (e.g. worship, evangelism, edification and fellowship)
  • The early house churches as a model for small church

The Characteristics of the Small Church

  • Distinctives
  • The findings of the NCLS
  • Types of small churches
  • The Rural Church
  • Trends affecting the small church
  • Organisational distinctives of small churches

The Context of the Small Church

  • Societal trends affecting the small church
  • The rural context
  • The urban context

Strategies for the Small Church

  • Authenticity
  • Deprogramming
  • Inter-generational worship
  • Bi-vocational ministry
  • Evangelism
  • Changing the Scorecard of the Church

Set Readings

This unit's indicative bibliography is currently being revised. Students should contact their home college for further details at the time of taking this unit.


Prescribed Resources:

Atkinson, Harley T, and Joel Comiskey. 2014. "Lessons from the Early House Church for Today's Cell Groups." Christian Education Journal no. 11 (1):75-87.

McNeal, Reggie. 2009. Missional Renaissance: Changing the scorecard for the Church. San Francisco: Wiley.*

Vaters, Karl. 2012. The Grasshopper Myth: Big churches, small churches and the small thinking that divides us. Fountain Valley: New Small Church.

Willis, Steve. 2012. Imagining the Small Church: Celebrating a simpler path. Herndon: Alban Institute.*

* These resources are available as e-Books through the Malyon College library

 

Recommended Resources:

Barth, Al. 2010. Inside the City Limits: Distinctives of Urban Center Church Planting. www.christianitytoday.com/assets/10195.doc.

Bickers, Dennis W. 2009. Intentional Ministry in a Not-so-mega Church: Becoming a Missional Community. Kansas City: Nazarene Publishing House.

Bush, Peter, and Christine O'Reilly. 2006. Where 20 or 30 Are Gathered : Leading Worship in the Small Church, Vital Worship Healthy Congregations. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Byassee, Jason. 2010. The Gifts of the Small Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press.

Clark, Paul. 1998. Evangelism and the Small Church: A Personal Reflection on One Church's Desire to Share Jesus. Leaven 6 (4): Article 11, http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol6/iss4/11.

Daman, Glenn C. 2007. Shepherding the Small Church: A Leadership Guide for the Majority of Today's Churches: Kregel Academic.

Dudley, Carl S. 2003. Effective Small Churches in the Twenty-first Century. Nashville: Abingdon Press.

Eleanor Scott Meyers (ed.). 1992. Envisioning the New City: A reader on urban ministry. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press.

Epperly, Bruce Gordon, and Daryl Hollinger. 2010. From a Mustard Seed : Enlivening Worship and Music in the Small Church. Herndon: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

McRay, Rob. 1998. Theology of the Small Church. Leaven 6 (4): Article 9, http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol6/iss4/9.

Norcross, Stephen. 2002. "The Bivocational Option." In Inside the Small Church, edited by Anthony Pappas, 65-72. Bethesda: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

O'Brien, Brandon J. 2010. The Strategically Small Church: Intimate, nimble, authentic, effective. Minneapolis: Bethany House.

Osborne, David. 2004. The Country Vicar: Reshaping rural ministry. London: Darton Longman & Todd.

Pappas, Anthony. 2002a. "Four Myths About Bivocational Pastoring." In Inside the Small Church, edited by Anthony Pappas, 73-77. Bethesda: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Pappas, Anthony (ed.). 2002b. Inside the Small Church. Bethesda: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Pepper, M., S.  Sterland, and R. Powell. 2015. Relationships between church size and church vitality for Baptist churches (NCLS Commissioned Report). Sydney: NCLS Research, Australian Catholic University.

Phillip Hughes, Ruth Powell, and Sam Sterland. 2007. The Christian Faith in Rural Australia. Vol. NCLS Occasional Paper 9: Christian Research Association and NCLS Research.

Powell, Ruth, Michael Brady, Michael Pippett, and Sam Sterland. 2010. Rural Churches: A snapshot. http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?sitemapid=6561.

Ray, David R. 1992. The Big Small Church Book. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press.

Schaller, Lyle E. 1982. The Small Church is Different!: Abingdon.

Speidel, Royal. 2007. Evangelism in the Small Membership Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press.

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