Who We Are & What We Do

Small Church Ministry is an interdenominational and international support organization for small churches. We are a for-profit ministry with a heart to reach small churches with resources that work with smaller budgets and smaller numbers.

We create both free and paid products to serve people in smaller churches (under 200 on a Sunday). Although we do support pastors, our primary goal is to equip the millions of volunteers, lay people, and ministry leaders in small churches worldwide.

We teach ministry skills and philosophies, not theology.

We are incredibly relational, deeply caring, and have a reputation of delivering resources that are high-quality and effective. 

Our website reached over 1,000,000 people within its first 3 years, and our community represents 100s of denominations in over 88 countries and 6 continents.

Small Church Ministry includes:

• Small Church Network
• Small Church Ministry Website
• The Small Church Ministry Podcast
• Quarterly online conferences: Small Church Summits
• Free Facebook community: Creative Solutions for Small Churches

Our Team

Small Church Network Team

In addition to the people above, we are grateful for the 100s of people who serve as conference speakers, moderators, leaders, and prayer team members; blog post contributors; podcast guests, network guests; and more. Our community would not be what it is without the commitment of those who form it.

To read Founder Laurie Acker’s personal story “From Jesus-Loving Misfit To Ministry Expert,” click here.

The History of Small Church Ministry

• 2019: Laurie Acker started a blog called The Creative Little Church to share ideas about Creative Arts in smaller churches.
• May 2020: we hosted our first paid product, an online workshop called, “How To Create A Small Church Ministry You Love.”
• June 2020: our first membership called Better Together launched with 30 paying members
• October 2020: we hosted our first online conference called Women In Small Churches
• January 2021: we began holding quarterly themed conferences. January (women’s ministry), April (children & youth ministry), July (pastors’ spouses), Sept/October (leadership)
• October 2021: The Better Together membership was replaced by a new & highly improved Small Church Academy. The Academy includes a 2-year course with certification, private community, group coaching, live online events, and more.
• January 2022: the Small Church Ministry Podcast was launched
• Summer 2022: We launched paid products, ministry PDF bundles for building foundations in women’s, children, and youth ministry
• July 2022: We changed our name to Small Church Ministry (formerly The Creative Little Church)
• Fall 2022: The Small Church Network was born (the Academy rebrand), with two membership options: Standard Membership includes members-only community and monthly training. Plus Membership includes added benefits of cohorts, group coaching, more individualized attention, and the Academy course certification and celebrations.
• Summer 2023: We surpassed 1 million lifetime visitors on our website
• November 2023: Ministry-specific training courses were launched for Women’s Ministry, Children’s Ministry, Youth Ministry, Worship Ministry, and Burnout Recovery

More About Our History

• To hear the beginnings, listen in to the Small Church Ministry Podcast Episode 024: The Creative Little Church: Where We’ve Been & Where We’re Going (published June 2022)
• For a more recent update of Small Church Ministry, check out our 100th Anniversary Episode: Behind The Scenes With Small Church Ministry With Maggie Dupree (published Nov. 2023)

Statement of Faith

Team members, partners, writers, and speakers of Small Church Ministry (including but not limited to guest bloggers, conference speakers, & leaders) agree to the following statement of faith.

• We believe the Bible is the inspired authoritative Word of God.
• We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
• We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
• We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
• We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
• We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
• We believe in community, and that as long as we all believe in the death and resurrection of our Savior, Lord Jesus, our Messiah, and understand that the main essentials of 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 are what is of primary importance, we will have unity of purpose under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.”) With this in mind, we believe the ways that we differ in non-essentials are not to be issues of division in our community. 

Ministry Philosophies

Team members, partners, writers, and speakers of Small Church Ministry (including but not limited to guest bloggers, conference speakers, & leaders) agree to the statement of faith above and also agree to support our ministry philosophies and core values that follow.

• We believe God is always at work.
• We believe in relationships over programs.
• We believe in meeting needs not achieving numbers.
• We believe small churches can be healthy and still be small.
• We believe volunteers don’t exist just to do ministry; they are our ministry.
• We believe every disciple is called to influence, and, in this, called to minister to others.
• We believe ministry frustration most often results from our feelings & thoughts, rather than circumstance.
• We believe effective ministry isn’t always about doing more things, but often about doing less things better.
• We believe in self-care – mind, body, and spirit – and that our health is essential for fruitful ministry.
• We believe in collaboration over competition, within the church and in the community.
• We believe in involvement in a local church body and supporting its leadership through service and example.

Core Beliefs

• We are CHRIST-CENTERED. We take personal discipleship seriously and know that if we are not attached to the vine, nothing we do produces real fruit. (John 15)
• We are FRIENDS. We believe that God desires healthy relationships over accomplishment. We believe we are better together, and we value collaboration over competition. We put healthy relationships in the forefront including loving through conflict, being quick to forgive, and praying blessings over one another. We are iron in the softest sense – using our strength to sharpen one another and allowing ourselves to be made better in community.
• We are DIVERSE on purpose. We not only welcome diversity, we seek it. We believe that every person in a small church who seeks Jesus has a place here, regardless of age, race, demographic, or denomination. We seek to be a diverse community that focuses more on WHO we have in common than on WHAT divides us. We believe this unity in diversity makes us stronger and is a reflection of heaven on earth.
• We are LEARNERS & LISTENERS. We strive to grow in character, discipleship, and skill. When we don’t know what to do, we seek solution over inaction. When we encounter different perspectives, we listen before we speak. When in conflict, we proceed only in humility. We consistently ask, “What are You doing, God? What are You teaching me?”
• We are RESPONSIBLE for our thoughts and actions. We take seriously the Biblical command to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. We know that our thoughts influence our emotions and our emotions influence our actions. We strive to speak God’s truth into our own hearts, to build others up, and to maintain the hope we have in Christ.
• We are COMMITTED TO SMALL CHURCH MINISTRY. We recognize the beauty and uniqueness of small church ministry and consider ourselves specialists. While we believe God works through large churches, medium churches, and small churches, our call is to small churches. We are not in competition with large churches, nor do we seek to become large. We believe small churches are uniquely positioned by God to meet specific people in specific ways.

A word about sometimes-controversial topics like women pastors, women in leadership, and more

To whom it may concern,

Small Church Ministry is not an online church, but rather a support organization that exists to encourage and equip Christians in small churches everywhere. 

We have chosen to be interdenominational which of course means we do not hold all the same beliefs. I realize that is difficult on many levels (and many more than the role of women in leadership). 

We believe Christ is always at work in us as we seek to know Him more fully, and I can’t wait until that day when we all see clearly and no longer see in part. I believe only then will we be in perfect unity, unhindered by any issues that currently divide us.

The women and men who speak or write in any of our platforms confirm the statement of Christian faith above. Beyond that, we are diverse.

We intentionally have chosen to allow other differences, whether views of women in leadership, gifts of the spirit, baptism, ordinances, issues of social justice, dress codes, matters of culture, and, oh, so much more.

We hope this clarifies our community. While we respect your convictions if they differ from those above, we ask that those who participate in events with us respect the differences of others. We will not engage in theological, political, or social debate within any of our communities or events. 

We have zero tolerance for harsh behavior, confrontational language, and any form of discrimination or hatred. 

On behalf of the team at Small Church Ministry

Laurie Acker
Laurie@smallchurchministry.com
Small Church Ministry, LLC