You find yourself in a small congregation. Voices of doubt whisper in your ears: not enough young people, not enough money to keep the building open, not enough programs to attract new persons, and most of all, not enough time to reverse the decline of congregational life. Before you head for the door or settle into a resigned sleepwalk, listen also for the voices of hope coming from without and within.

More is going on in your small congregation than you might think. Small On Purpose offers a vision of the small church as a Spirit-animated organism that releases native religious creativity and energy in its worship; makes claims on a future by making plans; and discovers surrogate family ties that bind. This small church learns how to bless rather than curse its location, how to craft beauty and hospitality from its buildings, and how to bequeath its faith to the younger generation. A small church in dynamic equilibrium looks to its past for wisdom, not nostalgia, and projects continuity, not disaster. It has a sense of the value of its story within the larger story of God's project to build a people to be a blessing to the nations.