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Welcome to a very special time at Small Church Ministry! We’re going to be celebrating our 2nd Anniversary since my very first online workshop, and it has been quite a ride. I’m often asked where this vision came from, and what we’re planning for the future. Keep reading for a casual peek into the last few years of the Small Church Ministry. 

In this blog post, you will get the chance to,

  • Learn how this whole thing got started and why
  • Get a behind-the-scenes view of where we’ve been as well as where we’re going
  • Hear answers to a few frequently asked questions
  • Plus … you’re invited to celebrate with us at our week-long Anniversary Party!

The Beginning Of The Small Church Ministry Story

People often ask me how I got this master vision for the ministry of Small Church Ministry, or some will say that they’re thankful that I was obedient to follow the Lord’s calling. However, this isn’t how it happened. I didn’t have a master vision, and I’m not sure that I was ever focused or clear on being obedient to a calling. 

During Easter time in 2017, I was visiting with one of my closest friends, Becky Brown. She had timed her visit around our Journey To The Cross, Good Friday event at our small church, and it was awesome! We did a hands-on, participative journey to the cross. We transformed our worship center into creative, interactive stations. Two days later, Gene, our bass player, said to me how amazing it was that we pulled off such a great event. He had mentioned that it’s the kind of stuff that big churches do; and here we are, a little church of 60 people, doing these amazing creative displays and worship events!

Before Becky left town, we sat on the couch together, sharing our hearts, struggles, and hopes. As a passing thought, I mentioned starting a blog called The Creative Little Church. I thought that it would be great to share what we had just done at a small church. I wanted to provide people with a step-by-step plan so that other small churches could do it too.

An Idea Was Born

Fast forward to the fall of 2018, almost a year and a half later. I was working a day job that I was excellent at, but didn’t love. My kids were getting older and were leaving soon. I started to think, “Is this what I really want to do for the rest of my life?” I decided that I could keep doing this job that I’m not passionate about, but I was going to need a creative outlet.

Even though I was still leading worship at the church, there was a lot of things happening that made it stressful. Honestly, I was at a place where I just didn’t want to be around people anymore. This is why writing sounded so good. I pictured myself with my computer and my creativity, just writing! I wasn’t aiming to make it big or to get rich, but I knew that I could make money freelance writing or copywriting, so I decided to explore it.

I decided to attend a conference in North Carolina for Christian women who wanted to speak, write, and develop a platform. I was hoping that this conference would tell me how to write and earn enough to pay my bills. The conference didn’t do this. It ended up being a rollercoaster ride that peaked in hope and dipped into complete defeat. Three different times during the conference I rode the ride from being super excited, to falling into a puddle of depressed tears. 

I came back feeling completely out of my league. I had no idea what I was doing. 

A New Found Hope

 I returned home, regrouping and starting to research self-publishing. I found that if you wrote a lot of books, the little bit that you make on each book could add up. So, I set my heart on becoming a prolific writer. I was going to start a blog to build an audience, and also write 10 books a year. This seemed like the creative outlet I needed, as well as a great distraction from other stress in my life. 

I ended up calling my friend Becky, who had a few successful online blogs and businesses, to get some guidance or some idea of what to do and where to start. Step by step, whatever Becky said, I did. 

Flash forward to 2019. I was creating a website that I was scared to tell anyone about. I’m learning to write blog posts, learning about social media, and beginning to understand what SEO means. I started listening to a podcast that taught me that it wasn’t enough to just develop great content, I needed to build a community. So, I started a Facebook community. I hope that you notice that I didn’t have a master plan. I’m not being humble or shy. However, with a master plan or not, the vision kept unfolding! 

The Push I Needed

Fast forward a year, to April 2020, a year after I started my quiet little blog. My college kid got kicked off campus because of the pandemic. Her fiance, who also got kicked off campus, took up a residence in our office because his job was here and they were getting married in 2 months. One afternoon, we are in the driveway, getting ready to jump in a car to leave the quarantine house for a rare trip into the pandemic-stricken world. A UPS driver stops at the bottom of the driveway, walks up with his mask on, and hands me a cardboard envelope. 

It was from my workplace. My job was just eliminated, effective immediately. I was out of a job and a lot of money, and we needed to pay our bills. I had a daughter getting married in 2 months, and another graduating high school, and getting ready to start college. I truly believe that God used this as a push to go all in!

My next call, once again, was Becky, the only entrepreneurial friend I had at the time. Once again, I just took every step she told me to take. I was going to host my first paid online workshop in a few weeks. In May 2020, I hosted my first online workshop called, “How To Create A Small Church Ministry You Love.” About 30 people attended, and at the end of the workshop, I invited them to join a membership at a deeply discounted founding member’s price. 24 of them joined!

Growth

I ended up writing a 5-Day Challenge to ‘do small church better’. This challenge has been accessed by over 10,000 people as of now. This is not because I came up with a new church growth strategy. It’s because I reminded people that God is with them. He never left, and He is always at work.

So many people in small churches think that they are failing because the church is small. That is so messed up. God never said, “If we do ministry right, our churches will grow.” No. He said that the road is narrow, and few will follow. This is what is true. Small church ministry isn’t less ministry, but it is a different kind of ministry. Join God where He has you planted. Small churches have so much to offer that large churches cannot duplicate. Let’s celebrate it and start using tools and strategies that actually work in small churches.

So here comes Small Church Ministry. Speaking exclusively to the millions of small churches out there. I’m not just speaking to the pastors, but to the volunteers and the people who keep the church running. We’re developing resources and sharing tools that are specifically successful in small churches. We are connecting outstanding small church ministry leaders and volunteers from all over the world. We are raising amazing small voices in small churches. It has been a beautiful two years!

I’ve also cried so incredibly much because, in the middle of the beauty, I’ve been on the craziest learning curve while becoming an entrepreneur. Cledra Gross told me that being an entrepreneur is the most intense personal growth development plan ever. She is so right! It exposes every insecurity. It pushes your limits and tests your character and faith. 

Our First Conference

During the summer of 2020, only a few weeks after my first paid online workshop, I got a message from Jen Klein. She says, “Hey, I think you should do an online conference. I think it would be really great for small churches.” The next thing I knew, my first online conference was on the calendar and only a few months away. Again, as I’m doing the work, I’m also on the floor crying. I had no idea what a webhook is, or even what affiliate means. There were so many things I did not know and needed to learn one step at a time. 

The first conference was called “Women In Small Churches.” There was an amazing response. Volunteers in small churches were connecting, sharing, and finding hope. This was how the conferences were born!

The first conference happened in October of 2020. Our 8th conference is coming up this July. We held a conference every 3 months since that first one. We’ve focused on women’s ministry, children’s ministry, pastors’ wives, a conference all about volunteers, and added youth ministry to the Kidmin conference. 

A question that came up after our first few conferences was, “Would we keep the conferences online, even after the pandemic?” The answer is yes. We didn’t host online conferences because of the pandemic. We hosted them online because most small churches can’t attend in-person conferences. Small churches aren’t run by paid staff who can use their paid work time to attend conferences. We stay online to make it as accessible as possible.

What Is My Business Model?

I’ve been asked what my business model is. Since I don’t know what options that might include, my best picture of my business model is the children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. My business story is a lot like that book. 

If you give small churches a blog, they might want a community to go with it. Once they have a community, they might want a workshop. After learning so much in the workshop, they’ll want a membership to go with it. Once they have the membership, they’ll want some conferences to spread the goodness. Once they experience the conferences, they’ll want a podcast so that they can listen at home.

Occasionally, I’ve used the term ‘accidental entrepreneur’ to describe myself, but honestly, there was nothing accidental about any of it. Looking back over my life, I truly see that what I am now, is the culmination of my experiences, strengths, challenges, and even my failures. While I’m certainly an example of learning on the job as an entrepreneur, my intention to serve people in small churches has led the way. I’m a lover and a learner. 

Our Small Church Academy

In October of 2021, we did an overhaul of the Better Together membership and launched the Small Church Academy. It’s epic! I spent a year and a half looking at what would make the biggest impact on a small church, what we want to keep, and what we want to change. Here’s the thing about the Small Chuch Academy, one trained person in a small church will completely change your church’s ministry. Having one person who knows how to cast a vision, plan successful events, deal with conflict, and knows exactly what to say yes to or when to say no is so amazing.

This is the Small Church Academy. It’s how we can best support small churches, by training one person in small church ministry skills, not just with knowledge, but with hands-on application. It is the most intentional mix of ministry skills, along with a little spiritual direction, and lots of encouragement. The Academy has three components: Community, Consultation, and the Course. Each one is a beautiful aspect that you won’t find duplicated anywhere on the planet. We are the only ministry exclusively committed to supporting not just pastors or ministry leaders, but all volunteers in small churches, as well as those who lead them!

My Team

I’ve only gotten by with help from my friends. The support from Becky Brown of Faithful Finish Lines, So Very Blessed, and The Prayer Pocket, has been priceless. My earliest advisory board, in addition to Reno, included Amy Satterfield, Alexis Brown, and Tenecia Sims, but there are so many others in the mix! I have an advisory board that prays for me and offers so much wisdom, volunteers who help with the Facebook community, and over 100 speakers who’ve given their time to pour into small churches at our conferences. I couldn’t do any of it alone.

I hired my daughter, Maggie Dupree, to take over social media a year ago. She kept telling me that she could do it better, and she was so right. Maggie has become a project manager and developer of all good things. My sister Cheri Kulhawick does more than any human should from outreach to resource creation, developing our content creator team, and so much more. Becky Sargent, well, if you’ve read the website or are in the Facebook community, you see her at work everywhere.

There are so many people involved in what is now called the Small Church Ministry, giving their time, energy, and wisdom. There’s a place for you too if you want to be a part of the mission. I encourage you to get involved in our free Facebook community, join the Small Church Academy, or even write a guest post for the blog!

Read More:

The Ministry Funnel For Effective Small Church Ministry 

Embracing Change In Small Church Ministry 

5 Steps To Start An Advisory Board For Your Small Church Ministry