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Report of the Executive Presbyter

Report of the Executive Presbyter. September 2009. Hope For the Small Church. Small churches can and should practice their core values. Small churches can and should live out the marks of a true church. The church is one . The church is holy. The church is catholic.

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Report of the Executive Presbyter

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  1. Report of the Executive Presbyter September 2009

  2. Hope For the Small Church • Small churches can and should practice their core values.

  3. Small churches can and should live out the marks of a true church. • The church is one. • The church is holy. • The church is catholic. • The church is apostolic. • The Word is trulypreached & heard. • The Sacraments are properly given & received.

  4. Small churches can and should personify the major images of the church in the New Testament. • People of God • Body of Christ • Household of Disciples • New Creation

  5. “The church is God’s demonstration plot (think DeKalb signs) in the world. Its very existence demonstrates that his redemptive reign has already begun. Its very presence invites the world to watch, listen, examine, and consider accepting God’s reign as a superior way of living.” Craig Van Gelder, TheEssence of the Church: A Community Created by the Spirit (2000)

  6. Hope For the Small Church • Small churches are the first and favored context for most Christian practices. • The burden and grandeur of God’s election are clearer in a small church. • Authentic religious experience and response are imaginable in a small church.

  7. Most small churches should aspire to dynamic equilibrium, the rest to growth to medium size. • The four components of a small church in “healthy equilibrium.” (1) A multi-generational community of faith (2) Living out its core values and true marks (3) Surviving over extended periods of time (4) By creatively adapting to changes in its environment

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