The Church Revitalization Podcast – Episode 314– Small Urban Church Growth Strategies
You’re pastoring a small church of 35 people in a major city. Your congregation is aging. The neighborhood around you has changed dramatically. What now?
If this describes your situation, you’re not alone. Small urban church growth strategies often feel elusive when you’re surrounded by demographic shifts, limited resources, and a congregation that remembers “better days.” But here’s the encouraging truth: small churches in metro areas have unique advantages that, when leveraged correctly, can lead to remarkable transformation.
Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution, this article explores four strategic questions every small urban church should answer. These questions will help you identify practical next steps and show you how to apply proven strategies to your unique context.
The Starting Point: Think Like a Church Planter
Before diving into the four questions, you may need a fundamental mindset shift. When your church is small but located in an area with opportunity, you must think like a church planter.
This doesn’t mean abandoning your history or the faithful remnant who’ve stayed. It means approaching your situation with fresh eyes, entrepreneurial energy, and a willingness to try new things. Church planters don’t have the luxury of maintaining programs that aren’t working. Neither do you.
The hard truth is that you can’t keep doing everything you’ve been doing for the last 50 years. Your resources and capacity have changed. Success requires focus and strategic decision-making.
Now let’s explore the four questions.
Question 1: What Are You Doing to Be Visible?
The first small urban church growth strategy is simple but often overlooked: visibility. If people in your neighborhood don’t know you exist, they certainly won’t visit. A key feature here is one most churches need to remember: don’t assume anything, be intentional.
Physical Visibility
Start by evaluating your physical presence in the community. Is your pastor (or are your leaders) showing up in community spaces? This might include:
- Attending chamber of commerce meetings
- Volunteering at local schools
- Being present at neighborhood events
- Frequenting the same coffee shops and gyms where neighbors gather
- Participating in civic initiatives
When you have a part-time pastor with limited time capacity, strategic visibility becomes even more critical. The pastor can’t do everything, but showing up consistently in key places signals that your church cares about the community beyond Sunday mornings.
Digital Visibility
Your online presence matters more than ever. Most people’s journey to finding a church starts with a Google search. Consider these essential elements:
Website basics:
- Clear, prominent service times
- Accurate address with easy-to-find directions
- Photos of actual people (especially the pastor)
- Mobile-friendly design
- Updated content (nothing screams “dying church” like a 2019 newsletter on your homepage)
Google Maps optimization:
- Claim your Google Business Profile
- Verify your service times are correct
- Add recent photos
- Encourage members to leave honest reviews
Social media presence:
- Post regularly about community engagement (not just internal events)
- Share sermon highlights or devotional content
- Highlight stories of life change
- Show what your church is doing in the neighborhood
The Hygiene Factor
Think of it this way: if someone asked how to make friends but they hadn’t showered in days, the first advice would be basic hygiene. The same principle applies to churches.
Drive past your building this week and ask honestly: would you want to go inside? Are there:
- Signs of life on Sundays (welcome signs, visible activity)
- Clear signage directing people where to enter
- A well-maintained exterior
- A parking lot that doesn’t look abandoned
These aren’t superficial concerns. They are barriers to entry that you may be able to remove relatively inexpensively.
Question 2: Who Are You Recruiting to Invest in Tent-Pole Ministries?
The second critical question addresses focus. Small churches often maintain too many programs that serve too few people. It’s time to identify 1-2 “tent-pole ministries” that could become substantial bridges to your community.
What Are Tent-Pole Ministries?
Think of tent-pole ministries as the supporting structures that hold everything up. They are:
- Front-door ministries that welcome new people
- Significant enough to become known in the community
- Meeting real, felt needs in your area
- Sustainable with your current resources
Examples for Urban Contexts
Consider these specific examples that work well for small urban churches:
1. Hot breakfast every Sunday
If you’re in an area with food insecurity, offering a free hot breakfast immediately before or after your service could be transformative. Breakfast is inexpensive to prepare, older congregants can volunteer to cook, and it creates natural opportunities for relationship-building.
The key is timing. Experiment with having breakfast at 9:00 AM with service at 10:15 AM, or reverse it. After six weeks, evaluate which creates better engagement.
2. Excellent children’s ministry
A church of 35 can absolutely provide quality children’s ministry. Young families desperately want their kids to be in safe, engaging environments. This doesn’t require expensive curriculum – it requires committed volunteers and age-appropriate spaces.
The Engagement Strategy
Here’s the critical piece many churches miss: you need an engagement plan before you launch these ministries.
Don’t become merely a service provider. From day one, capture names, make personal connections, and follow up. Your pastor should prioritize one-on-one meetings with people who engage with your tent-pole ministries.
What to Stop Doing
To focus on tent-pole ministries, you’ll likely need to cancel some existing programs. This is painful but necessary.
The reality is simple: you have 35 people right now and you’d like to grow. To make that happen, you need to do fewer things because you have less capacity. None of the programs you’re canceling may be bad or wrong, but they may be outdated and ineffective. You’re simply making strategic choices based on your current resources.
If a small group absolutely refuses to change, let them continue quietly while you invest energy elsewhere. This is sometimes called “mowing around the stump.” Don’t fight battles you don’t need to fight.
Question 3: Are You Doubling Down on Clear, Bold Biblical Teaching?
The third small urban church growth strategy might surprise you: it’s not about softening your message, but strengthening it.
Why Bold Preaching Matters
There’s a temptation in declining churches to make sermons more palatable, more self-help oriented, more “seeker-friendly.” The opposite approach is actually more effective.
What matters most is clear, bold, expositional preaching of the Bible consistently rooted in the Gospel. This kind of teaching creates the heart-burning conviction described in Luke 24:32, where disciples walking to Emmaus said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
That burning (the Holy Spirit’s conviction) happens when Scripture is faithfully taught, not when it’s watered down.
What Bold Teaching Looks Like
Bold doesn’t mean angry or controversial for controversy’s sake. It means:
- Expositional: Clearly explaining Biblical texts
- Gospel-centered: Consistently connecting passages to Jesus and the good news
- Applicable: Showing how ancient truth addresses modern life
- Convicting: Allowing the Word to challenge and transform
Don’t shy away from the tough things in scripture. Your congregation needs the full truth of what God is calling them to in a transformed life. This includes the hard teachings, the challenging commands, and the uncomfortable convictions.
A Warning About Milk
Nobody should stay on a milk diet. Yes, new believers need foundational teaching, but even that teaching should have substance. Milk is for a season, meat is for a lifetime, and nobody should remain on an elementary diet indefinitely.
The Acts 2 sermon Peter preached was hardly soft: “This Jesus whom you crucified.” Yet 3,000 souls were added that day through the Holy Spirit’s conviction.
Trust that God honors His Word preached faithfully.
Question 4: How Are You Building Spiritual Friendships from Sunday to Sunday?
The fourth question addresses the reality that people don’t come back to churches just because of good programs or sermons. They come back because of relationships.
Moving Beyond “Greet and Go”
Many churches have a brief greeting time during the service where everyone awkwardly shakes hands. That’s not enough.
Small urban church growth strategies must include intentional relationship-building rhythms:
- After-service coffee: Make Sunday morning last longer by creating space for conversation
- Monthly meals: Potlucks, dinners, or breakfast gatherings where people share life
- Mid-week connections: Small groups, Bible studies, or service projects
- Hospitality culture: Encouraging members to regularly invite someone new into their home
The Advantage of Being Small
Here’s where your size becomes an asset. In a church of 35, you can know everyone by name. You can notice when someone’s missing. You can celebrate every birthday and care for every crisis.
People need repetitive ministry environments where they can form deeper relationships. This might be:
- Sunday school classes
- Small groups organized by life stage or interest
- Service teams that work together regularly
- Accountability triads
Leadership Must Model This
The pastor and elders must lead the way in hospitality. If you’re not inviting people into your home, your congregation won’t either.
Your pastor may have limited time capacity, which makes strategic choices even more important. While volunteers can help with relationship-building, the pastor should prioritize one-on-one meetings with people who engage with your ministries.
Relationship-building can’t be delegated entirely. It must start at the top.
The Uncomfortable Question Underneath It All
Before concluding, there’s an important question for urban churches to consider: Are you comfortable if the entire demographics of your congregation shifted? Are you all right with that?
If your church was once predominantly white and affluent, but your neighborhood is now diverse and economically mixed, are you genuinely open to your church reflecting that change?
This question requires honest reflection. Demographic transformation isn’t just possible – it’s likely if you successfully implement small urban church growth strategies in a changing urban context.
What Success Actually Looks Like
Don’t worry about the growth numbers. This might sound counterintuitive, but fixating on attendance figures can actually hinder progress. Instead, focus on doing the right things the right way for a long time. God will bring the growth in His timing.
Success for a small urban church isn’t becoming a megachurch. It’s:
- Faithfully proclaiming the Gospel
- Being known and loved in your neighborhood
- Making genuine disciples who make disciples
- Meeting real needs with the love of Christ
- Creating a community where people encounter Jesus
- Seeing incremental growth and new relationships
Your Next Steps
If you’re ready to implement small urban church growth strategies in your context, start here:
- Answer the four questions honestly. Gather your leadership team and work through each question. Write down specific, actionable answers.
- Choose one tent-pole ministry. Don’t try to do everything at once. Pick one ministry that fits your context and capacity. Plan it thoroughly, including your engagement and follow-up strategy.
- Evaluate your visibility. This week, drive past your church building as if you’re a stranger. Check your website on your phone. Google your church name. What needs to change immediately?
- Commit to bold, biblical preaching. If you’re the pastor, recommit to expositional preaching. If you’re a leader, encourage your pastor to preach the Word faithfully without fear.
- Start small with relationships. Begin by having people stay for coffee after the service. That’s it. Don’t launch an elaborate small groups strategy until you’ve mastered simply getting people to linger and talk.
Additional Resources
For churches wanting to go deeper, the Healthy Churches Toolkit (HealthyChurchesToolkit.com) is an excellent resource. This toolkit includes a Strategic Envisioning Process that helps churches work through essential questions about mission, vision, and discipleship strategy.
The toolkit offers a free seven-day trial and includes training specifically designed for small churches navigating revitalization.
Conclusion: You’re Not Alone
Thousands of small churches in metro areas face the exact challenges you’re experiencing. The good news? Small urban church growth strategies are not mysterious or unattainable. They require clarity, focus, courage, and consistency.
Your church’s best days don’t have to be behind you. With strategic thinking, bold faith, and a willingness to change methods while preserving God’s call, your congregation can thrive right where God has planted you.
The city needs your church. Your neighborhood needs the Gospel. And God specializes in using small, faithful communities to do extraordinary things.
Additional Resources:
8 Essential Church Revitalization Questions Answered: 300th Episode Special
Six Burning Revitalization Questions
Watch this episode on YouTube!
Scott Ball is the Vice President and a Lead Guide with The Malphurs Group. He lives in East Tennessee with his wife and two children. (Email Scott).
