Why are so many progressive churches on the small side?

I love my coaching work with progressive churches. It feels like coming home theologically. It does my soul good to know that there are congregations out there offering safe harbor for people who all too often face rejection in many corners of our culture, including church. I celebrate the changes these congregations are affecting in the world, grounded in their faith in a God that has created each one of us in the divine image.

Many of these churches have fewer than 100 active participants, and some are under 50. (Note: not all progressive churches are small, and not all small churches are progressive.) Maybe these congregations were once larger and have become smaller because of stands they have taken. Maybe they were always this size. Let me be clear that I don’t think attendance and membership numbers are helpful metrics. They do not reflect the impact churches have on their members or on their larger communities, which is often much larger than these numbers suggest. That said, we live in a world that tells us that this hard data is meaningful. As a result, members of progressive churches can wonder why more people haven’t joined them. They know their congregations have something that many people need: a center of welcome, meaning-making, and positive action. So why are these churches often on the small side?

The people for whom your congregation is a good fit have often been wounded by past church experiences. If your church is welcoming and affirming of LGTBQIA+ people, for example, there’s a good chance that those who need your kind of faith community have, unfortunately, been rejected elsewhere. This makes it so hard for them to walk through the doors of any church, even if it’s one that has taken pains to extend hospitality to those who have been marginalized. (And once folks work up the courage to attend church, even those of us with the best of intentions are prone to microaggressions that can be retraumatizing.)

Christianity has been weaponized. I am a Baptist who came of age during the height of the battle for control of the Southern Baptist Convention, which led immediately to the subjugation of women and eventually to other problems such as coverups of widespread abuse. But you don’t have to be Baptist to be affected by twisted religion. Just look at the current tangled mess of fundamentalist Christianity, ultra-Americanism, and white supremacy. The whole Church is blemished by what is essentially a grab for power in the culture wars.

Education about your iteration of church is needed. Because of both of the points above, many people who could find a home in your congregation will first need to know how and why you are different. That will take intentionally and consistently showing up and building relationships in the places these potential constituents occupy, both online and in person.

"Evangelism" is a concept with a lot of baggage. Many people with a more progressive theology hesitate to go out and recruit or even educate about their faith communities. We associate evangelism with strong-arming and condemning, with one-sided conversations and the sinner’s prayer. Let’s take back this term. Let’s think of it as showing up Christ-like in the world: taking a genuine interest in people and their stories, offering them our care and our time, and allowing ourselves to be changed by them just as they might be changed by us. (Yes, I believe Jesus was changed by his relationships. See his interaction with the Syrophoenician woman.)

Small church is an all-hands-on-deck situation. What this means is that there is usually a solo pastor, maybe with some very part-time staff, and a lot of leadership distributed across the laity. Sometimes we foist responsibility onto newcomers too soon, eager to share some of the work. These newcomers might need time to heal from past church experiences first, or they might be so new to church life that there’s a learning curve for stepping into lay leadership. Either way, we must be able to give them space to get to know the congregation, to grow some roots, and to discover organically how they might use their gifts in service to the church’s mission. If your church can’t offer that breathing period, newcomers will likely not stick around.

Small congregations sometimes feel self-conscious or apologetic about their size. What I want you to hear is that your church is very much needed. You are redeeming the Church’s reputation and practices. You are saving the theologies and sometimes the lives of the people in your midst. Small can be very, very mighty. And with the ways that you have expanded your reach during the pandemic, there is no limit to what God can do in and through you. Thanks be to God for who you are.

Photo by Hilda Trinidad on Unsplash.