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For Pastors of Small ChurchesFocussing energiesFOR PASTORS OF SMALL CHURCHES Most churches are fairly small these days, and the challenges of working as the pastor of a small congregation are rather different from those with many members. Kent Philpott has been in the ministry in the USA since 1966 and most of that time has been spent in small churches. In this book he seeks to share his experience. There are 57 short chapters, each beginning with a brief scenario which any pastor might meet. Many of these scenarios will ring bells with those who have been in the ministry for any length of time. As a pastor reads therefore, he will immediately know that he is hearing from a friend who 'knows what it is like,' and wants to help. The contents of the chapters range over all kinds of topics. Here are a few: The Minister's devotional life, Early to bed, Listening to criticism, Avoiding fund-raising activities, Weddings and funerals, Angry pastors, Finding sermon topics, Facing your own limitations, The filing system, The parsonage, Coping with failure. There is a particularly helpful chapter entitled, 'Dragons in the church,' about seeking to minister to aggressive, hurtful people among the flock. Don't we know them? Whereas other books for pastors major on preaching, or on ministerial character, this book goes straight for the down-to-earth, day-to-day work of doing one's best for a little flock of God's people. Although the US context does limit the usefulness of some chapters for those in Britain, nevertheless there is much godly and well-tried wisdom here from which pastors can benefit. Philpott's church does tend to have a different way of doing things from many traditional evangelical congregations in this country, but that serves to stimulate more thought about our own schedules and structures. The book is very much a snapshot of one man's ministry. It is therefore inevitably idiosyncratic in some areas and requires balancing from other material. The author's heart is for the preaching of the gospel. A small church has to focus its energies. It cannot do everything that it is possible for bigger churches to do. Philpott is adept at making ministers of small churches address that challenge and encourages them to make decisions about what can be done and what cannot. I rejoiced in this book. It is so good to see the needs of smaller fellowships being addressed. As the back cover declares: 'Most churches are small churches and they are and always have been the backbone of Christianity.' May God bless small churches. Buy your pastor a copy. It will encourage him. JEBJohn Benton© Evangelicals Now - October 2002 |