The Urgent Need For Smaller Churches

By Thom S. Rainer

Founder of Church Answers

Read the original article HERE

The United States Census Bureau released a report in 2020 that provided a striking reminder about who we are as a nation. In a report titled “America: A Nation of Small Towns,” they noted that about 76% of all incorporated places—nearly 19,500 of them—have fewer than 5,000 residents. Even more astonishing, almost 42% of incorporated places have populations under 500.

That means the overwhelming majority of American communities are small. While our cultural attention often focuses on the big cities, the small towns and rural areas form the backbone of the nation’s geography—and, for generations, the backbone of its spiritual life. Yet these are the very places where the church’s presence is now most fragile.

The data underscores an urgent truth: if we do not intentionally strengthen, plant, and support smaller churches, the majority of American communities will have little or no access to a local, gospel-centered congregation.

The majority of communities are small.

The numbers are not just statistics; they tell a story of spiritual geography. When 76% of incorporated towns are under 5,000 in population, it means the typical American community is not urban—it’s small, local, and often overlooked. Yet church leaders, networks, and denominations tend to concentrate resources where the population is densest. The result is a growing imbalance: a strong church presence in metropolitan areas and a weakening presence across the vast landscape of small towns.

To reach America, we must reach small-town America. The Great Commission does not draw city limits. Every place—no matter its size—deserves a gospel witness.

A massive mission field exists in small places.

Nearly half of America’s towns have fewer than 500 residents. In many of these communities, there is no school, no hospital, and increasingly, no church. A generation ago, nearly every town had a congregation on Main Street. Today, many of those sanctuaries sit empty or serve as historical landmarks rather than living ministries.

This is not just a nostalgic problem—it’s a missional crisis. The smaller the town, the less likely it is to draw attention from church planters or denominational leaders. Yet these are precisely the places where the gospel can transform lives through personal connection and presence. The mission field of the small town is vast, and it is open.

Larger churches cannot reach them all.

Large and megachurches have remarkable influence, but their reach has natural limits. They cluster in metropolitan corridors where the population supports a complex staff and extensive facilities. No matter how many campuses or online services they develop, they cannot physically plant themselves in every small community across America.

Smaller churches fit the scale, culture, and rhythms of their context. They can thrive on volunteer leadership, modest facilities, and a relational approach to ministry that larger models can’t easily duplicate. The future of ministry in small-town America depends not on replication of megachurch models but on the revitalization of small churches.

Small churches offer deeper relational ministry.

In a culture that often feels impersonal and transactional, smaller congregations provide what sociologists call “high-touch” community. People know one another by name. They notice when someone is missing. They share meals, burdens, and celebrations together.

This kind of ministry is not secondary—it is essential. Jesus built His church on relationships, not programs. In smaller churches, evangelism is personal, discipleship is intentional, and pastoral care happens naturally through proximity. The intimacy of small-church life mirrors the early church more closely than many other models.

The future of church presence depends on small churches.

As larger churches consolidate and some denominations shrink, the local presence of the church is increasingly dependent on smaller congregations. When a small church closes, there is often no other church within miles to fill the void. Multiply that reality by thousands of communities, and the result is a vanishing gospel presence across entire regions.

The future of Christian witness in America is not only urban; it is rural, local, and small. The sustainability of ministry in these areas depends on a new generation of pastors willing to serve faithfully in congregations of 50, 75, or 150. These pastors are not “less than”—they are frontline missionaries to the heart of America.

Smaller churches anchor community identity.

For many small towns, the local church is more than a spiritual gathering—it is the heartbeat of community life. It hosts the food pantry, the funeral meals, and the Christmas programs. When it disappears, something irreplaceable vanishes from the town’s identity.

Sociologists often describe rural churches as “social glue.” They hold communities together through shared memory and moral grounding. When the church declines, the community’s cohesion declines with it. Preserving and strengthening these churches is not merely a matter of religious concern; it is a matter of social health.