That first Sunday after my little church hunkered down to weather the COVID epidemic, we did worship differently. We went online. We'd not scaled up for professional level livestreaming, so what this frazzled and slightly overmatched pastor managed to pull off was the best I could manage at the time.
For a couple of months, I'd knit together bits and bobs of audio and video on an old repurposed gaming laptop, cobbling together something that was one part worship, and one part podcast.
That effort needed a name, and so...as it was intended to serve my small congregation...I decided to call it The Tiny Gospel Radio Hour.
Eventually, lay-folk with more innate talent for such things were able to gather what was needed for a better livestream, the pastor was relieved of that duty, and The Tiny Gospel Radio Hour name was set aside.
Still, it seemed like that name could serve another purpose. Like there was more for it to do.
As I've gotten close to wrapping up work on a book about the blessings of life in little churches, the idea kept coming back to me. "Do something with this," said a little voice, poking and nudging and as insistent as my dog when he really really wants to go outside and chase chipmunks.
What I don't want to do is just have me blabbering into a mic about all my bright small church ideas. Not that my little church isn't a life-changing blessing, but ours is only one little light.
Out there in America, there are thousands upon thousands of small congregations.
They ain't fancy. They're fifty souls in a small suburban sanctuary, twenty five folks in a small town storefront, twelve souls in an old clapboard church in a valley, six folks singing together in the living room of a doublewide, three souls sitting in a bar and talking life and Jesus all the way through to closing time.
Some go back hundreds of years, and some just came into being. These churches are human scale, intimate and personal and real, and every single one of those gatherings has a story.
So I figured, why not go looking for those stories? Find the places where church folk are living on a human scale, where they love what they're doing and have found beloved community together, and let them tell the Good News of what that looks like?
I'd also like to share the wisdom of the human beings who've come to love the unique blessings of intimate communities, and who've chosen to spend their lives caring for and supporting them.
Take all those stories, make sure they're witnessed to and remembered, and share 'em with folks who might need a little dose of humble church courage and insight.
So I'm trying that, over on Substack. Give a listen as you'd like. Subscribe, and it'll come your way for free whenever I encounter something new to offer you.
And if you've got a story of Gospel goodness you'd like to share, or a little gathering that's been a blessing to you, let's talk.
Peace and Blessings,
David
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