Religion News Service: Tiny Churches, Big Hopes
A recent Religion News Service article quotes STH alumnus Rev. Robin Bartlett (STH ’13) and Nancy Ammerman, School of Theology professor of sociology of religion. In “Tiny churches, big hopes: Why some thrive despite the odds,” Cathy Lynn Grossman writes about a new report: “American Congregations 2015: Thriving and Surviving.” The report finds there are rising numbers of congregations with fewer than 100 in attendance each week; however, the leaders of small churches often see positive signs of hope and thriving.
Rev. Robin Bartlett is one such pastor. Referring to the church where she pastors–First Church in Sterling, Mass.– Bartlett told Grossman, “This does not look like a dying and sad church. It looks like a vibrant and active church on a Sunday morning.”
The author of the report, David Roozen, says thriving churches are open to change. Nancy Ammerman agrees that is critical, writes Grossman:
[Ammerman] observes that those aging congregations slipping toward insolvency “can take a long time to die because a handful of really determined folks will keep it going. That works — if they are willing to revolutionize themselves.
“People haven’t lost the urge to congregate together spiritually. But how they do it is being expressed differently and the churches that do well are reshaping constantly,” she said.
Read more at Religion News Service.