Sentences with phrase «in small congregations»

The family - cluster house - church has been used in some small congregations instead of Sunday School as the basic form of education for children and youth.

In small congregations which pay all benefits, which meet all salary guidelines, and which are not exploitative, the fact remains that there is more openness to the leadership of women than is found in large churches.

In a small congregation, relationships resemble those in a family.

In smaller congregations, people who have already been through some family - related trauma or who have experienced recent bereavement can be encouraged to minister to others in similar situations.

In a small congregation, groups can be organized on an ad hoc basis in response to particular needs of members; in larger congregations, the size of the congregation may warrant ongoing groups that parents conjoin on a short - term basis.

The United Presbyterians have put together a booklet on evangelism in the small congregation — The Vital Signs, by Wesley Baker.

A study published in 2000 by the ELCA revealed that of the cohort of newly minted pastors, 71 percent placed constraints upon where they could move due to the needs or desires of a spouse; 58 percent restricted their first call to a location in or near a large city; 36 percent were opposed to serving in a small congregation; and 32 percent were opposed to serving in a rural setting.

For the most part, the elders play a role in the Q&A for the technical answers, but everybody in the small congregation has an answer from their own experiences, and everybody is free to share.

But sometimes a mission statement can do more harm than good in a smaller congregation.

The point is not entirely lost in a small congregation either: Almost every church can allocate at least some money for causes that honest residents can not afford, by reason of poverty, to fund themselves.

Not exact matches

I was going to mock these, but, in truth, for a small congregation, where somebody's personal car has to double as the church car, these could be useful.

I came out to our small Vineyard congregation in Ontario just over a year ago now, something that was precipitated by my realization that I was in love with my current partner.

But the focus was very small in the midst of major need in these congregations.

The Lutheran groups most likely to identify as evangelical are small and functionally free - church (the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ).

Morrison accepted the position at the small (less than half the size of the Perry congregation) west - side church in the city and became active in the Disciples community of the Hyde Park area located near the University of Chicago.

Another factor is that the church was very small with an ageing congregation, which doesn't help in that situation either.

And just as the retail workers at Target are left in the lurch, our small congregations were often left to scatter in the aftermath, trying to find healing as best they could.

And though I wasn't there on a Sunday, to judge by the number of chairs in the sanctuary, the congregation is a small percentage of the neighborhood.

I was serving a suburban congregation of rather socially prominent, conservative Episcopalians in a small southwestern Virginia city.

Rachel serves Congregation Beth Israel, a small Reform - affiliated congregation in western Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband Ethan Zuckerman and their son.

Most are small and neighborly, with the pastor living in the same block as his congregation.

Smaller and more flexible than most government bureaucracies, local congregations and charities can also spawn creative social innovations that benefit those in need.»

This open acknowledgment of the moral context of the therapeutic group enabled the group to function in relationship to the individual somewhat like a small congregation or Methodist class meeting.

Since a shortage of pastors hovers over the future of many churches, small congregations will have to wait in line for full - time pastors, even if they possess the resources to support them.

Shelbyville is a typical northern New England church: a small congregation of 120 members located in a town with 1,000 residents; many of the members are elderly, and finances are a constant concern.

To become a church in mission St. Andrew had to let go of clericalism and convert the members into ministers; let go of the myth of size and develop a vision of what a small church can do; move beyond «coffee fellowship» in its conception of worship and food; and leave behind traditional notions of church in order to focus on the congregation's mission on the margins.

But my time at St. Andrew has taught me that small congregations can more easily go through processes of spiritual transformation than larger ones and can be made «free for real missionary adventure and apostolic self - confidence,» in Rahner's words.

It is not easy to lead, whether we are talking about a large congregation or small group, so having grace and compassion for leaders who show up every day and do their very best is something we can bring in order to be great followers.

But 1,000 or 10,000 people spread out over hundreds of smaller churches and ministries can do just as much ministry (and some of it in better ways, for the reasons you've mentioned) than when we're all clumped together in one big congregation.

Small, poor, «otherworldly» congregations were able to motivate people even in the face of armed police and angry mobs.

But those who like to read and reflect are often potential leaders in congregations, and even a small minority can make a program feel like a success.

It is easy to let small things balloon out of control in a congregation while everyone avoids the deeper problems lurking beneath the surface.

In a congregation too small for a Sunday school that offers classes for all age groups, this might be considered one alternative.

For twelve years Barth served as a pastor, first as a pastoral assistant at a German - speaking congregation in Geneva and then as pastor of the Swiss Reformed Church in Safenwil, a small industrial town in the Aargau.

The small congregation of some 25 people gathered in the chancel to share this moment of worship was made...

The largely Asian congregation, part of a small denomination, the Cumberland Presbyterians, began as an offspring of a 100 - year - old congregation in San Francisco's Mission District.

When a small church in Wuxi village had its cross removed, a member of the congregation used his welding torch to put it back up.

His ability to relate to people of diverse conditions became apparent here in this congregation of small businessmen whose religious and cultural advancements had been small.

«For a smaller congregation, it's really nice to be a part of something bigger,» said Matt Staniz, the pastor of Temple Lutheran Church in Haverton, Pennsylvania.

Deeply religious people, and they are a small minority in every congregation, have a personal relationship with a God they feel is as present in the church as the next person in the pew.

The Peoria partnerships are part of a small but growing movement to engage congregations and religious nonprofits in the lives of families making the transition from welfare to work.

As one pastor who moved from a large church to a small church commented, I would never go back to a large church... Administrative tasks kept getting in the way of doing what I wanted to be doing,... [which is] serving a congregation and making a difference in people's lives.»

Indeed, an argument could be made that at no time since the First Great Awakening have so many churches of disparate denominational, theological and stylistic approaches been so united in terms of their music: one can now walk into old - line Pentecostal churches, small - town evangelical congregations, mall - like suburban megachurches, and many a mainline Protestant sanctuary across the country on any given Sunday morning and hear the same hymns and choruses done in approximately the same musical styles, with similar settings and instrumentation.

Usually, there are 10 to 12 - a surprisingly good turnout for a congregation of 25, which just goes to show how many people the disease affects in this small Southern town.

Also, a small group didn't like that this black couple was marrying in that church — they do not represent the whole congregation.

Catholic and mainline Protestant congregations, on the other hand, contain a smaller proportion of the church - going population than they did when baby boomers were in Sunday School.

But bear in mind that a small percentage of your congregation will turn into strange alien beings, resisting all efforts to join in, relax and have fun.»

Small growth groups have added a real flavor to the life of our congregation... they are the persons who are most involved in the life of the church at all levels.

Congregations would divide into small groups and meet for worship in the homes of different members.

Our buildings are too small for our growing congregation, and we didn't have sufficient parking — and being hemmed in by two busy arterial streets limited our options.