When you talk about the makeup of the RPCNA, you have to talk about small congregations. The great majority of our congregations are small:

• 1-100 total members: 69
• 101-200 members: 16
• 201-300 members: 2
• 301-400 members: 1
• 401 and over: 0

What can you tell about the health of a congregation from the number of members?

Nothing.

I suppose many of us understand that fact, but it also cuts against the grain of our society. It’s hard to be proud of being a small church. This magazine has focused on small congregations many times, but one of our most notable was the two-issue, five-article series on the small church in 1989.

RP pastor J. Paul McCracken (now retired) said in one article that “in the history of the Christian church since Pentecost, the number of small churches that God has used is surely vastly greater than the number of those that are large.” He pointed out that historians estimate that by 70 A.D. there were between 400 and 500 synagogues in Jerusalem, with an average of about 100 adults each. The pattern continued in the two centuries after Pentecost, when nearly all Christians met in house churches.

In another article, RP pastor Bill Roberts pointed out that people think of churches the way they think of aircraft: a single-engine prop plane is a scaled-down version of the much bigger and better four-engine passenger jet. Instead, he said, we can think of small churches as a helicopter-with different dynamics and strengths compared to the passenger jet (large church).

Pastor Roberts observed that the small church emphasizes relationships, including multi-generational families. The small church can be tough, with highly committed members. The laity is often actively involved, since the survival of the congregation depends on it.

The strengths are not without some potential weaknesses. For example, the close relationships, including family ties, can sometimes make newcomers feel excluded.

In this issue we feature a book excerpt that expands a key concept shared with those former articles: The small church has a strategic role in God’s Church. Being small can even be a decision, such as with our Indianapolis-area churches that have planted new churches rather than try to build an Indianapolis megachurch. But, as this month’s article points out, a small church shouldn’t be content with the status quo. We can capitalize on the strengths that our congregation has at its present size. We can look deeper to see if we are growing in terms of conversions and Christian maturity, rather than always looking at the numbers.