Steve R. Bierly, Help for the Small-Church Pastor: Unlocking the Potential of Your Congregation. Zondervan, 1995.
Referenced in: Small Church Leadership
LifeandLeadership.Com Summary
This is a realistic and hopeful guide to small church development. It is especially helpful for those who have read all the highly marketed volumes authored by church planters and leaders of mega-churches, only to find their frustration increasing because none of it works in their smaller settings. Bierly warns that small church leaders are not like church planters who as founders and the tribal leaders of their churches do not have to win over key personalities in their churches. Also, even large established churches are usually more goal-oriented than smaller churches. Based on this, he suggests that reading too many books by “successful pastors” serving in other fields of ministry may leave the small church minister feeling that God has passed them by. This is far from the truth, so he suggests “choosing books that help you find God in your ministry, not books that imply his best work elsewhere.” (116) This spirit of deep appreciation for unique dynamics of small churches, yet realistic advice on how they are revitalized, permeates this text. One should also expect an attitude adjustment with Bierly. He is sensitive, but also tough on small church leaders’ tendencies to be impatient and to force one’s personal agenda on a church. In this vein, he discusses the tribal and family nature of small churches, and how ministers must be perceived as “one of the gang” rather than a hostile outsider who breeds distrust and causes disruption. From there he describes ways for a leader to guide a church through the process of discovering their self-defeating tendencies (“termites”) and enter a more “pro-growth” posture. The appendices include a helpful bibliography and a complete description of the “Cobblestone Commission,” which is the actual growth plan constructed by a small church where Bierly was a leader.
From the Publisher
Churches of less than 150 remain the rule rather than the exception in American Christianity. However, seminaries don’t equip their students in every way that’s necessary to effectively lead smaller congregations — despite the fact that most seminary graduates will becomes small-church pastors. Help for the Small-Church Pastor offers pastors of small churches the guidance and encouragement they need. In this common-sense book, Steve Bierly draws from his eleven years in ministry to show what makes smaller congregations tick. Help for the Small-Church Pastor provides practical insights on uniquely “small-church” issues, such as the characteristics of small churches, how to work effectively as an “insider” within the small church, how God is at work in powerful ways in smaller assemblies, how to motivate your church toward positive change and true growth, how to invest your own time and energy in the right directions, and how your church can reach out to the community in ways that are practical and productive. “There are many ways for even the smallest congregation to be true to the church’s calling,” says Steve Bierly. Help for the Small-Church Pastor will steer you through the strengths and weaknesses of your small church to unearth its true riches.
About the Author
Steve R. Bierly is the pastor of American Reformed Church in Hull, Iowa, where he lives with his wife, Deborah, and two children. He is the author of Help for the Small-Church Pastor and How to Thrive as a Small-Church Pastor.
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