How can small churches make a difference, if at all? People often quote the “big two” when it comes to hurdles for this kind of work: no people and no money. So what can really be done about this?
Let me start by affirming that small churches can actually make a huge difference in ANY community. Niddrie Community Church currently has a little under 60 members and a Sunday attendance of anywhere between 70-100. By U.K. statistics, we are probably about average; by U.S. statistics, we are small.
Regardless, we have seen that even a small, gospel-centered church can have an amazing witness for God, not only in the local community that it serves, but also in the wider community and even, in our case, within the Scottish Government.
Historically, there has been a gospel witness in Niddrie for over 120 years, but the last 20 years—as with much gospel ministry in outreach—saw attendance drop off, the work begin to wane and no locals coming to a saving faith. When I arrived six years ago, our building was under constant attack, members were being assaulted in the street, cars were being smashed and there was a real sense of intimidation.
The faithful few who congregated each week were largely made up of “outsiders”—people who drove in from around the city to meet and use the building as a point of worship. What we had was a community church in name only.
This has all changed, by the grace of God, over the last five years. Now, instead of being a fringe group in our community, we are beginning to be an integral part of it. The church is not stoned anymore. Members aren’t assaulted anymore. Episodes of random vandalism are now few and far between. The building has become a little hub in the community for many different groups of people.
We are seeing people come to faith, and the church is slowly but surely growing both spiritually and numerically. So, how has this come about and is it reproducible for other struggling churches? Let me highlight a couple of reasons why I think a small church like ours is seeing a turnaround in a difficult community.
1. Faith in the power of the gospel. Romans 1:16 really is true! Honestly! People often come by or send me an email asking me about my “methodology” or “strategy.” I’m not saying we don’t have any of these things, but I am saying that we approach this work absolutely, 100 percent convinced that it is the gospel, driven by the power of the Holy Spirit, that is going to do any and all work of change in the hearts and lives of sinners. That is our bottom line. That is our starting point. That is the foundation of all that we do.
