THE UNIQUE NETWORK OF A SMALL CHURCH
Learning to communicate in ways a congregation expects.
John Koessler
January 1, 1993
Building our new church facility went without a hitch. Our first service in the new building, however, was another matter. For over a year, the board had talked about changing the way we took offerings. Our practice had been for members to place their offerings in a box on the wall. We were convinced we needed to start passing the plate. We knew that would make some people uncomfortable, so we decided to begin passing the plate when we moved into the new church building. With so many other changes, who would notice one more? The morning of our first service in the new building, I received a phone call from John, a former board member. "Is what I heard true?" he asked. "Are you planning to take an offering this morning?" I told him we were, and he went ballistic. "If you do," he said, "I'll interrupt the service and call you to account!" We had violated a fundamental principle in successful small church leadership: we had overlooked the congregation's need to know. Communication is vital to leadership in any church. A certain style of communication, however, is especially important in the small congregation. A family feeling
People in a small church expect a family style of communication. I learned that the hard way. My first year here, I left on my vacation without informing the congregation. (I cleared the vacation with the elders, and they knew how to reach me in an emergency.) I had considered announcing my absence the Sunday before we left but decided I had a right to some privacy. When I returned, one of the elders took me aside. "Why didn't you let the congregation know you would be gone?" he asked. "I didn't think they needed to know," I said. "Well, Miriam told me she tried to get in touch with you several times last week and ...
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