About Small Church Toolbox
ARE YOU A PASTOR?
If you are a pastor of a small church, you have probably felt a common frustration. Everyone expects you to do, by yourself, everything larger churches do with multiple pastors and a support staff.
Small Church Toolbox (SCT) helps pastors of small church by providing affordable, easy-to-use online resources designed to build the skills and confidence of members so that pastors of small churches don’t feel like they are doing a huge job all alone.
ARE YOU A LAY LEADER?
If you are a Lay Leader you are likely to face similar frustrations. Your congregation probably needs more professional leadership than your budget affords. You and a few other lay leaders are probably working a second (unpaid) jobs to fill leadership gaps.
Small Church Toolbox (SCT) empowers lay leaders of small churches by providing online, flexible, lay-oriented trainings and resources so that small churches build congregational confidence and skills so that more hands can truly make lighter, more effective work.
Sound Like A Tall Order?
Well, it is. There's a lot to figure out—creating the resources and figuring out the best ways to deliver them to congregations.
Small churches have all the same needs large churches have. Their parishioners need care and nurturing. They need inspiring worship and educational options. They need youth programs and home visitation. They need to provide counseling resources, and they need to feel that they are contributors to needs larger than they are.
Small churches work with the skills of one, usually part-time, pastor and lay leaders. Large churches hire another pastor and create a staff to meet these needs. Small churches can only imagine—one pastor for youth, one for education, one for visiting, one for administration, four pastors in the chancel on Sunday morning. Ah! Heaven on earth!
Meanwhile, small churches feel isolated—the neglected step-children of the church.
Use of the internet could change this inequity. It can maximize all the skills that make small churches so resilient—the skills of the pastor and members. With online ministry, each member has unprecedented reach and power. Each person can have influence. If you have ten members, you have ten evangelists!
Churches (even large churches) are behind other modern organizations in incorporating technology. Churches cannot afford to continue to avoid technology. All those people you hope will find your church—the internet is the hub of their lives.
Make it the hub of your church's life, too.
When the technology revolution took hold, it was daunting for all churches. Early software wasn't easy to learn and changed frequently—a constant, tiresome learning curve. Both hardware and software were new expenses. Small churches had good reason to watch their pennies.
Things have changed. Today, even the smallest churches can use technology. There are good and inexpensive tools and software. Nearly everyone has skills and experience online.
Small churches are no longer alone with technology. Most online service providers have 24/7 service hotlines to help you figure things out. Hit a snag. Just call.
Small Church Toolbox helps churches—even the smallest churches—use the internet to revitalize ministry, to connect with their neighborhoods (and beyond), support the pastor, and empower and equip the laity. Small Church Toolbox will help you set up your Digital Ministry including helping you find answers to questions quickly.
Technology may be the answer to your prayers for your church's future.