It was a busy week so we took our time coming back this weekend and made it a mini-vacation which was a good decision. Having some time to reflect on the conversations, meetings, and sessions I thought I'd share some of the key quotes I am taking away from this year's gathering.
It turns out all of these are from our main speaker, Karl Vaters, who is an author, pastor, and expert on small churches. He proved to be a perfect fit for who we are and where we are at as a denomination.
A little background, The Brethren Church traces its roots back to 1700's Germany when a movement was birthed out Anabaptism and Radical Pietism. Fleeing hardship and persecution, these original Brethren moved to the American colonies and continued many aspects of their spiritual and social lifestyle including being agrarian (farming) people and remaining German-speaking for many years. These preferences led them to starting churches in rural areas to begin with. And while various groups have splintered off and no longer maintain this path, it still provided the foundation for where we began and where our churches were planted. Because our specific denomination did not dramatically change course we remain in mostly rural areas with mostly smaller churches (50-150).
And here is where the Conference's themes and Vater's expertise comes in to play:
"Small is not a problem, virtue, or an excuse."
IKEA and Starbucks are both wildly successful businesses with vastly different business models (h/t to Vaters for this genius analogy). We don't have to compare ourselves with bigger ministries and we don't have to arrogantly believe we're better because we "provide a better personal touch."
"A healthy church will not necessarily experience numerical growth."
Numbers may accompany healthy ministry, but not always. We need to divorce ourselves from the assumption that numbers equal health and health equals numbers. More quotes to come, after the break...
