Too Small to Grow?

I came across this quote and wanted to share it with my pastor friends and the people of the Eastern New York/New England District of The Wesleyan Church where I serve as the Director of Evangelism and Church Growth:

"God never put anyone in a place too small to grow." (Henrietta Mears)

As a founding district in The Wesleyan Church, we have a tremendous heritage to be proud of. Many, many lives have been changed through the ministry that has been ours. But in recent years, we lost focus and came to believe that we couldn't grow due to the smallness of our churches and the mindset that prevailed against our potential. True, the locations where most of our churches serve are in small, rural towns and hamlets. But in each center, people who need the Lord live around us and deserve a community church that never forgets its mission, not matter how small the congregation.

Today God is elevating our focus and doing a new thing among us as pastors and key leaders of the judicatory. As we follow the example of our DS, Paul James, and determine that tradition alone will not save us, we are wrestling with and winning over old paradigms and practices. We're embracing the reality that we must reach up to God for blessing, reach into ourselves for a new determination to lead and grow, and then purposefully reach out to others who are crying for His love, acceptance and forgiveness.

Indeed, we are changing.

Friend, "God never put anyone in a place too small to grow" and the embrace of this statement will have far reaching impact in your life and church, as it will in mine.