Small Churches and Trained Ministers
Small Churches and Trained Ministers
By Peggy Rawheiser
(There has been much conversation and discussion about small churches in our denomination.
The Universalist Convocation 2005, held in Eldorado, Ohio, had as its theme “Land & People,
The Future of Rural Ministry.” There was a workshop on “Circuit Riders and Preaching Stations”
conducted by the Rev. Wells Behee. There also was a Panel Discussion “Bi-Vocational Ministry
and Rural Churches.” This panel was made up of three ministers who have experience in this
type of ministry. They were the Rev. Dr. Vernon Chandler, Pastor Derek Parker and the Rev.
Kat Hawbaker. There is a place for ministry to small congregations with ministers shared by two
or more churches or by the minister having another vocation in the area of the church. Our
history is full of examples of this type of ministry.)
In a sermon in 1994 at the Asheville UU Church, The Rev. Dan McCurry of Chicago, said, “When
it was discussed that the Inman Chapel Church was about to expire, the monied Yankee
Universalists believed that southern churches should be supported only in those urban areas
with a steady financial base.”
Recently an Interim minister in one of our small Universalist churches has said that it is her view
that the small Universalist Churches should be allowed to die. The level of theological education
has been under discussion in this same church. She tried to push the congregation to change
the by laws to require that any minister hired to serve that church be a properly ordained UU
minister. Fortunately the change to the by laws was not voted upon.
There has been a discussion of the advantages of small churches on the UU Historical Society
Chat Group. The views of one of our cousins from the United Kingdom, Andrew Hill, are of
interest to us. I quote with his permission.
Small Churches are to be desired. The future is great because small is beautiful and
sustainable! There are British Unitarian churches which yesterday were almost dead but which
today are flourishing.
On a more general level, the life of British Unitarian churches cannot be separated from the life
of organized religion in Western Europe as a whole. It rises and falls with the tide and the church
involvement tide has been falling for many years and continues to fall. No one quite understands
why although the sociologists of religion hazard guesses. It is said that a French Catholic farmer
arriving at the railway station in Paris becomes a secular person as soon as he puts his feet on
the station platform.
On the other hand the Western European looks at North American church life and asks "Why do
so many people go to church?" Sociologist’s hazard guesses as to why - identity with ethnic
origins, the need for religious education, high mobility and finding new friends, also the
conservative mega churches which are major players in the US power game. Thank goodness
that in Western Europe, we don't have mega churches to contend with! Western European
politicians who mention God lose votes. Denmark couples Europe's lowest prison population with
Europe's lowest church involvement figures.
That said, US church involvement levels are falling - I read a figure of 25% of the US population
recently. Also a great many UU churches and fellowships are actually in the 0-100 member
bracket? Someone may have figures. But small churches are resilient and they play by different
rules to large ones and they have amazing survival skills which are often not available to large
churches. I predict that many small UU churches will still be flourishing long after many of the
larger ones have died out.
I am reminded of a similar struggle in Pennsylvania during the first half of the nineteenth century
about how very well educated Unitarian ministers need to be. This is from an unpublished paper
of mine about James Kay the British Unitarian minister who settled at Northumberland and
rescued Priestley's chapel from oblivion.
Troubled by the lack of suitable ministers from Harvard he put forward a plan for ministerial
training after that of Robert Aspland's Unitarian Academy at Hackney, London (1812-1818).
"It is not necessary that every minister should be a classical scholar" he wrote to The Christian
Examiner. "If one in ten of our ministers are deeply learned, it will be sufficient for the honour and
success of our cause." But as he wrote later to Harm Jan Huidekoper "no one took any notice".
So he lauded Huidekoper’s plan announced in I844 to open a seminary at Meadville PA, looking
to it for a greater good "than from our more learned institution [Harvard] where so very few are
preparing for the work of the ministry among us."(Kay to Harm Jan Huidekoper 6 September
1844 Meadville/Lombard Theological School Library Chicago IL)
Somewhere I read that more American churchgoers actually belong to small churches than
belong to large churches which is comforting to western Europeans where all churches are small
churches. I wonder what the interim minister Peggy refers to would make of Great Britain where
all Unitarian churches are in the 0-100 member bracket and many in the 0-50 member bracket
and some in the 0-25 member bracket. British Unitarian churches increasingly rely upon lay
ministry.
There is so much wrong with the idea that all ministers must be graduates of accredited
Theological Schools and be ordained by the denomination in order to minister to a church. Lay
ministers have always been a part of our denomination and still must be. Small churches with no
endowment and only a handful of members can't pay a big salary for a properly credentialed
minister. They need someone who can give them a shove and perhaps help them get to the
point where they can afford a minister with a larger "portfolio". Whether the paid leaders of these
churches are men or are women does not enter into the controversy at all.
Bi-vocational ministers come in many stripes. I have personally known one who was city
manager of the town where he was minister, one who was a college instructor, one who was a
prison chaplain and one who was a hospital chaplain. Also there are senior ministers of large
churches who would like to go into semi-retirement at a small church as minister. That has
worked well for several churches that I am familiar with.
The Rev. Elaine Bomford of First Parish Church, Ashby Massachusetts has written of her
experience in this area. With her permission I quote her:
The subject "Small churches - well educated ministry" caught my eye, as I am a fairly well-
educated minister in a small church myself. I serve a congregation which hovers around 40
(relatively active) members. The First Parish Church of Ashby is in a rural area of
Massachusetts. The congregation has called ministers educated at Harvard for the majority of its
221 years. Prior to Ashby, I served as a regular minister for a small (25 members and outdoor
plumbing) old Universalist-rooted church situated near the Connecticut River in New Hampshire.
I have a great fondness and respect for the "family-sized" congregation. I believe in the small
congregation not as a means to an end (i.e., a larger congregation), but as a blessed entity *as
is.*
I have found that in small, rural, parish-oriented Unitarian and Universalist churches in New
England one can sense the history of the liberal movement, and in particular the two separate
streams of the Association in the U.S. The congregation's orientation is generally towards the
local community, rather than "Beacon Street," and there is sometimes prejudice going both ways
- folks in small churches often don't appreciate the U.U.A. and vice versa, due to mutual
irrelevance. That's a real loss for both entities, as I see it. Obviously I do not agree that small
congregations cannot successfully sustain a professional ministry. That's why God created part-
time. I think a lot about my predecessors in this parish who divided their time
between ministry, farming and, no doubt, more study than I accomplish.(End of quote from the
Rev. Bomford)
There are many resources available for small churches.
New York State Convention of Universalists has grants and loans that are given out each year to
qualified applicants. See the information about this at: NYSCU.org
Smallchurch-min@lists.uua.org is a resource for ministers who pastor churches
of less than 150 members
smalltalk@lists.uua.org is a support list for small congregations where ministers, religious
educators, musicians, other staff, lay leaders and members can discuss the joys and challenges
of life in the small congregation
small talk newsletter@lists.uua.org is published 10 times a year. It includes articles, resources
and good ideas for churches of less than 150 members.
In looking over the many web sites, not UUA, which offer advice and suggestions for small
churches, I found one that particularly appealed to me. It is: bradboydston.
com/html/small_clustered.html
The name of the article at that site is “Small Clustered Multiplying Churches”
This article was not quite so pointed at Fundamentalist, Bible oriented churches as some of the
other articles are. Still the articles by more Orthodox Christians do contain some nuggets of
ideas that might be valuable for a Universalist (UU) church to try.
By Peggy Rawheiser
(There has been much conversation and discussion about small churches in our denomination.
The Universalist Convocation 2005, held in Eldorado, Ohio, had as its theme “Land & People,
The Future of Rural Ministry.” There was a workshop on “Circuit Riders and Preaching Stations”
conducted by the Rev. Wells Behee. There also was a Panel Discussion “Bi-Vocational Ministry
and Rural Churches.” This panel was made up of three ministers who have experience in this
type of ministry. They were the Rev. Dr. Vernon Chandler, Pastor Derek Parker and the Rev.
Kat Hawbaker. There is a place for ministry to small congregations with ministers shared by two
or more churches or by the minister having another vocation in the area of the church. Our
history is full of examples of this type of ministry.)
In a sermon in 1994 at the Asheville UU Church, The Rev. Dan McCurry of Chicago, said, “When
it was discussed that the Inman Chapel Church was about to expire, the monied Yankee
Universalists believed that southern churches should be supported only in those urban areas
with a steady financial base.”
Recently an Interim minister in one of our small Universalist churches has said that it is her view
that the small Universalist Churches should be allowed to die. The level of theological education
has been under discussion in this same church. She tried to push the congregation to change
the by laws to require that any minister hired to serve that church be a properly ordained UU
minister. Fortunately the change to the by laws was not voted upon.
There has been a discussion of the advantages of small churches on the UU Historical Society
Chat Group. The views of one of our cousins from the United Kingdom, Andrew Hill, are of
interest to us. I quote with his permission.
Small Churches are to be desired. The future is great because small is beautiful and
sustainable! There are British Unitarian churches which yesterday were almost dead but which
today are flourishing.
On a more general level, the life of British Unitarian churches cannot be separated from the life
of organized religion in Western Europe as a whole. It rises and falls with the tide and the church
involvement tide has been falling for many years and continues to fall. No one quite understands
why although the sociologists of religion hazard guesses. It is said that a French Catholic farmer
arriving at the railway station in Paris becomes a secular person as soon as he puts his feet on
the station platform.
On the other hand the Western European looks at North American church life and asks "Why do
so many people go to church?" Sociologist’s hazard guesses as to why - identity with ethnic
origins, the need for religious education, high mobility and finding new friends, also the
conservative mega churches which are major players in the US power game. Thank goodness
that in Western Europe, we don't have mega churches to contend with! Western European
politicians who mention God lose votes. Denmark couples Europe's lowest prison population with
Europe's lowest church involvement figures.
That said, US church involvement levels are falling - I read a figure of 25% of the US population
recently. Also a great many UU churches and fellowships are actually in the 0-100 member
bracket? Someone may have figures. But small churches are resilient and they play by different
rules to large ones and they have amazing survival skills which are often not available to large
churches. I predict that many small UU churches will still be flourishing long after many of the
larger ones have died out.
I am reminded of a similar struggle in Pennsylvania during the first half of the nineteenth century
about how very well educated Unitarian ministers need to be. This is from an unpublished paper
of mine about James Kay the British Unitarian minister who settled at Northumberland and
rescued Priestley's chapel from oblivion.
Troubled by the lack of suitable ministers from Harvard he put forward a plan for ministerial
training after that of Robert Aspland's Unitarian Academy at Hackney, London (1812-1818).
"It is not necessary that every minister should be a classical scholar" he wrote to The Christian
Examiner. "If one in ten of our ministers are deeply learned, it will be sufficient for the honour and
success of our cause." But as he wrote later to Harm Jan Huidekoper "no one took any notice".
So he lauded Huidekoper’s plan announced in I844 to open a seminary at Meadville PA, looking
to it for a greater good "than from our more learned institution [Harvard] where so very few are
preparing for the work of the ministry among us."(Kay to Harm Jan Huidekoper 6 September
1844 Meadville/Lombard Theological School Library Chicago IL)
Somewhere I read that more American churchgoers actually belong to small churches than
belong to large churches which is comforting to western Europeans where all churches are small
churches. I wonder what the interim minister Peggy refers to would make of Great Britain where
all Unitarian churches are in the 0-100 member bracket and many in the 0-50 member bracket
and some in the 0-25 member bracket. British Unitarian churches increasingly rely upon lay
ministry.
There is so much wrong with the idea that all ministers must be graduates of accredited
Theological Schools and be ordained by the denomination in order to minister to a church. Lay
ministers have always been a part of our denomination and still must be. Small churches with no
endowment and only a handful of members can't pay a big salary for a properly credentialed
minister. They need someone who can give them a shove and perhaps help them get to the
point where they can afford a minister with a larger "portfolio". Whether the paid leaders of these
churches are men or are women does not enter into the controversy at all.
Bi-vocational ministers come in many stripes. I have personally known one who was city
manager of the town where he was minister, one who was a college instructor, one who was a
prison chaplain and one who was a hospital chaplain. Also there are senior ministers of large
churches who would like to go into semi-retirement at a small church as minister. That has
worked well for several churches that I am familiar with.
The Rev. Elaine Bomford of First Parish Church, Ashby Massachusetts has written of her
experience in this area. With her permission I quote her:
The subject "Small churches - well educated ministry" caught my eye, as I am a fairly well-
educated minister in a small church myself. I serve a congregation which hovers around 40
(relatively active) members. The First Parish Church of Ashby is in a rural area of
Massachusetts. The congregation has called ministers educated at Harvard for the majority of its
221 years. Prior to Ashby, I served as a regular minister for a small (25 members and outdoor
plumbing) old Universalist-rooted church situated near the Connecticut River in New Hampshire.
I have a great fondness and respect for the "family-sized" congregation. I believe in the small
congregation not as a means to an end (i.e., a larger congregation), but as a blessed entity *as
is.*
I have found that in small, rural, parish-oriented Unitarian and Universalist churches in New
England one can sense the history of the liberal movement, and in particular the two separate
streams of the Association in the U.S. The congregation's orientation is generally towards the
local community, rather than "Beacon Street," and there is sometimes prejudice going both ways
- folks in small churches often don't appreciate the U.U.A. and vice versa, due to mutual
irrelevance. That's a real loss for both entities, as I see it. Obviously I do not agree that small
congregations cannot successfully sustain a professional ministry. That's why God created part-
time. I think a lot about my predecessors in this parish who divided their time
between ministry, farming and, no doubt, more study than I accomplish.(End of quote from the
Rev. Bomford)
There are many resources available for small churches.
New York State Convention of Universalists has grants and loans that are given out each year to
qualified applicants. See the information about this at: NYSCU.org
Smallchurch-min@lists.uua.org is a resource for ministers who pastor churches
of less than 150 members
smalltalk@lists.uua.org is a support list for small congregations where ministers, religious
educators, musicians, other staff, lay leaders and members can discuss the joys and challenges
of life in the small congregation
small talk newsletter@lists.uua.org is published 10 times a year. It includes articles, resources
and good ideas for churches of less than 150 members.
In looking over the many web sites, not UUA, which offer advice and suggestions for small
churches, I found one that particularly appealed to me. It is: bradboydston.
com/html/small_clustered.html
The name of the article at that site is “Small Clustered Multiplying Churches”
This article was not quite so pointed at Fundamentalist, Bible oriented churches as some of the
other articles are. Still the articles by more Orthodox Christians do contain some nuggets of
ideas that might be valuable for a Universalist (UU) church to try.
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