June 20, 2024

By Rev. Rick King

The United Church of Christ is a denomination of small- and medium-sized churches, under 250 weekly in worship. This is the third and final column in a series of three highlighting some advantages small churches like New Life and Falcon Heights have that make us effective as small churches. But we need to embrace and capitalize on them.

This week’s small-church advantage is local respect, especially in contrast to the temptation many younger leaders have to develop a national profile in this age of social media. We may have heard about “viral moments” that catapult people to sudden notoriety online.

When I was starting out in ministry and in my mid-30s, I took every opportunity I could to get out in public, doing radio interviews and press releases in the local paper (it was a small town, in the days before social media), attending and speaking at service organizations and political events. In-person, no virtual, was the reality I swam in—but it was important to me to become known and take my public role seriously.

Several years later, I was serving another church, in Colorado, and my junior colleague—about the same age as I was when I started out—had that same desire to build a profile. The difference was Facebook and Twitter, as well as YouTube and other platforms, and he was pretty savvy, wanting to become known not just locally but nationally. By doing a couple of webinars for the UCC and dedicated posting on social media day after day, he quickly had a small national profile.

As Carey Nieuwhof points out, every church has a reputation, and the smaller one’s community, the more familiar people are with one’s church.

So I want to ask, What’s OUR profile in our wider community? In our denomination? Which one matters more? And is that profile generally positive or negative? What impressions do people have of us? What are they based on? Do we even know?

What are we known for—what we stand for? Or what we are against? Are we known for our donations to Every Meal at Falcon Heights Elementary, or our support for the Department of Indian Work food shelf? Or our Summer Kids’ Camp, which is in its second year? Or for the trans flag we fly outside our church? Or through the community groups that use our building?

Or are we known for what’s called the economic “halo effect” that Nieuwhof points out that even small churches can have, especially in small towns and rural areas. Do WE have a halo effect? Do we want to have one? How do we get there?

I’d love to hear from you!