We are a small, friendly church of about 50 people, located in Cloverdale Indiana, in the rolling hills of Putnam County, Indiana, near the beautiful Cagles Mill Lake. Some of us have lived here all of our lives, some are transplants from a bigger city either retiring here, or just longing for a more quiet, simple life and found this church attractive for several reasons.
Karl Vaters in his book, “The Grasshoper Myth,” which the adult sunday school class is currently studying, explains some of the reasons that a small church can be more fitting for a person.
Quotes from Karl Vaters in his book “The Grasshopper Myth:”
“People miss you (when you’re gone) because the hole you leave is bigger. You get to know everyone, but that means everyone knows you, too.”
“Some people just like going to a Small Church instead of a big church. That’s where they find their greatest spiritual nourishment and a better chance to serve and grow.
..Small Churches and their leaders have played a central role in more of the world’s great revolutions than most of us realize.”
“Let’s not forget that 37 of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower were members of Netherland’s Leiden congregation – a Small Church.”
“The eventual overturn of slavery was sparked in Small Churches, and until the Emancipation Proclamation freeed the slaves, Small Churches provided many of the vital links in the Underground Railroad that ferried runaway slaves to freedom.”
“…the right of women to vote was largely sparked by sermons, and these usually preached from the pulpits of Small Churches.”
“John Wesley’s Methodist revival started with the training and sending of teams of circuit-riding preachers who who rode from town-to-town on horseback, pastoring several Small Churches at a time on a rotating basis, as did Wesley himself. The key to the Wesleyan revival and subsequent growth is widely credited to his accountability system, in which the groups were intentially kept very small.”
“In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. It is now universally acknowledged that prayer meetings in illegal Small Churches were one of the critical catalysts that led to it.”
“I pray…that when pastors ask each other, “so how’s your church going?” we will talk about life transformation first and attendance figures last – if at all. That we will share personal stories rather than offering-basket figures. That we will burst with passion for the people in our churches and communities and communities more than our facility expansion plans.”
