Churches large and small …

Christian Century, Sept 20, 2003

AFTER 50 YEARS as a pastor, I believe that God judges churches by the amount of love in them (Richard Bliese, "Life on the edge," July 12). I fear that our denominations are failing to emphasize this point enough. In our annual reports, we list the numbers (attendance, membership, baptisms, dollars). Shouldn't we have a section asking how much love there is in the church, whether our members are growing in discipleship, and whether they are drawing closer to God? These are the marks of a successful church.

John T. James Punta Gorda, Fla.

Thanks for "Life on the edge," Richard Bliese's affirmation of vital small church ministry. For too long, small churches have been shame-based: "not enough people," "not enough money," "can't do it." Small churches are vital to denominations, and many congregations are carrying out vital ministry. We just don't hear about them very often.

The "tentmaker pastor" is the Presbyterian Church's description of a bivocational pastor. Other options of pastoral leadership For smaller congregations are described in "New Times New Call: A Manual of Pastoral Options for Small Churches." A newly revised edition is available from Presbyterian Distribution Service at www.pds.pcusa.org.

Diana A. Stephen Louisville, Ky.