What if the hope of the church lies as much in its smallest churches as it does in its largest ones?

Drawing on a small, year-long cohort of United Methodist churches with average attendance below 50, Flourishing Small Churches offers new insights about what is happening in small congregations that are cultivating belonging, deep faith, community partnerships, and resilient leadership.

These congregations are ‘punching above their weight’, if you will, with clarity about their identity, bold faithfulness, and outsized presence in their neighborhoods.

This report is a start on the study of a much bigger picture of small congregations throughout the country—in different kinds of communities and contexts, with members of different backgrounds and traditions.

We hope you find these initial insights useful in your ministry context.

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Would you like to gather, learn from, and encourage small churches in your region?

We can help you do that! And help us expand our view of the whole landscape of flourishing small churches--in a wider diversity of settings, traditions and peoples.

Built as a companion to the Flourishing Small Churches report, this cohort curriculum is designed to further explore what makes small congregations resilient, faithful, and deeply connected to their communities. Through guided conversations and shared experiences, participants move from self-reflection to insight to more deeply grounded action.

The curriculum guides small churches toward describing and affirming their essential work and articulating the value of faith communities that are small by design. It invites pastoral and lay leaders to:

• Articulate alternative, non-numerical measures of effectiveness and impact
• Identify pastoral, leadership, and congregational qualities that characterize purposeful, impactful, and effective ministry
• Explore alternative and sustainable financial and business models

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