The Small Church Advantage is the best book on the small church I have ever read. Tex Sample There are painful flaws in our conversations about small church worship. Dressed up, they sound like this: Small congregations don’t really have what is needed for quality worship. At best, they fumble through it. - Their music doesn’t measure up. - The preaching is weak. It’s not entirely their fault (bless their hearts). - They struggle without adequate expertise, or vision, or resources to consistently pull off powerful worship. - Oh, yes, and we are exhausted at the endless task of trying to fill in the holes for them. What if author Teresa Stewart told you that small congregations have powerful advantages in offering worship-deeply forming strengths that are not generally available in big settings? She will. And what if our current approach to small congregations largely strips these powerful strengths and replaces them with putty and paint to better imitate worship in large congregations? Stewart will remind you that it does. The author writes that it is worth the messy exploration to find another way...a conversation. In The Small Church Advantage, author Teresa Stewart offers lessons that remind small congregations they are not “less than” anything. She reminds readers of the strengths of the small church and leads them through a process of using those strengths as an advantage. What readers are saying About The Small Church Advantage: Teresa Stewart has faith in the future of small congregations because she has faith in a God who shows up even in small and forgotten places. She believes that small churches are neither deficient nor immature but rather critical learning laboratories as the church navigates a future far too complex for one-size-fits-all patterns of ministry. The Small Church Advantage is a poignant reminder that the future God beckons us toward is more like a handful of tiny mustard seeds than a grove of stately sequoia trees. F. Douglas Powe, Jr. Wesley Theological Seminary Stewart demonstrates that smaller churches aren’t inferior; they have an advantage. Plant these ideas in the soil of your congregation and see what happens! Mike Graves Saint Paul School of Theology Teresa Stewart’s passion for and commitment to small congregations is evident on every page of this book. More importantly, she turns the conversation about small congregations away from a focus on their perceived deficiencies and disadvantages and toward their giftedness and advantages. E. Byron (Ron) Anderson Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary ike the Early Church and our 16th-century reformers, Teresa J. Stewart builds on the idea of worshipers as active participants: worship is the work of ALL the people, not just a small group of expert leaders. The examples, explanations (and humor!) will fill you with hope and a spirit of adventure. Imagine—2,000 years later, and we’re just getting started! Susan Marie Smith Episcopal Priest The Small Church Advantage is the best book on the small church I have ever read. It is not only the subtlety of Stewart’s mind or the clarity of her writing; it is the relentless creativity concretely applied to worship in the small church. Working with the difference between the performance aesthetic of the large church and the participation aesthetic of the small church, she has wonderful ideas and quite practical examples that can revolutionize worship in the small congregation. Tex Sample Saint Paul School of Theology Finally, a book for small churches from someone who understands and appreciates small churches! Allen Stanton Former Director of the Turner Center for Rural Vitality