“Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much…” (Luke 16:10)

‍

I love serving the local church through worship ministry. It is my passion and I truly believe it is God’s calling on my life. I’ve been blessed to serve in the same normative (read: small) Southern Baptist church for nearly 15 years. I love the pastors I’ve served with, I love my church family, they love me (I’m pretty sure!), and I love what we have built together over the past decade and a half.

At the same time, I’ve also thought numerous times over those 15 years about quitting and doing something else entirely. Something that doesn’t require 24/7 commitment. Something that doesn’t take me away from my family as often. Something where constant discouragement isn’t looming around every corner in the form of someone questioning or criticizing or just flat out complaining. Something that spares me the pain of a friend deciding to leave the church, knowing it likely means the end of our relationship as well.

Leading worship in a small church isn’t easier or harder than in a large church—it’s just different. In small church ministry, the victories feel incredibly rewarding and the disappointments can cut even deeper.

Allow me to share a few of these “higher highs” and “lower lows” we experience in small church ministry.

‍

HIGHER HIGHS

Deep Relationships: When I look out over my congregation on Sunday morning, I don’t see a sea of strangers. I see friends, neighbors, family.  People I’ve celebrated and rejoiced with; people I’ve cried and mourned with; People who tease me about my loyalty to the Kansas City Chiefs and my nerdy obsessions with the Supreme Court and parliamentary procedure; People who have literally helped raise my three kids from birth. Every voice in that room lifting up praises to our Lord feels personal to me.

Moments of Beauty: I’ve witnessed some truly astonishing things in my ministry here, things that others might tend to overlook. A child singing their first solo in the Christmas program or plunking out a simple hymn they’ve learned in piano lessons for an offertory; an otherwise shy teenager leading their peers with a guitar on a Wednesday night; our 18-voice worship choir nailing a harmony part we’ve worked on for weeks. These experiences feel monumental because of the intimate connection we share as a small body of believers.

Every Contribution Matters: If my drummer calls in sick on Sunday morning, we just don’t have drums that day. If a member of our praise team is out of town, say goodbye to 25% of the vocals. In a larger church, losing one volunteer might go unnoticed. In our church, one person stepping up to play guitar in the band or tuba in the orchestra, to sing in the choir, or to work in the AVL booth feels like a miracle! Each person’s value to the team is magnified exponentially, so adding just one new volunteer can transform the sound.

Choir as Community: Our small choir isn’t just a musical group—it’s a prayer circle, a social club, and a family that carries one another’s burdens. Our Sunday afternoon rehearsals contain more than just notes and rhythms, service plans and sheet music. I love hearing the chatter beforehand as people gather and catch up, talking about the sermon that morning or sharing about the job interview they have coming up that week. Choir is also “the largest small group in the church.” Discipleship happens there through close examination of song lyrics, the reading of Scripture, the sharing of devotional thoughts and testimonies, and the intentional sharing of prayer requests within the choir family. In planning our rehearsal times, I am constantly mindful of a powerful statement from longtime Southern Seminary professor Dr. Greg Brewton: “We have failed if we produce trained musicians but not Christians growing in their walk with the Lord.”

LOWER LOWS

As much as the moments and experiences described above fill me with joy, there are others that remind me how heavy this calling can feel.

 When People Leave, It Hurts: Every single departure in a small church is painful, but losing an instrumentalist or a choir member can feel like a gut punch to a small church worship pastor. Sometimes it’s for good reason—moving out of state or taking a new job. In those cases, you bless them, exhort them to stay in touch, and you move on. But sometimes you struggle with the reason they are leaving and take it personally—they don’t like something about the church or the worship ministry or even you. The pain follows you around, leaving a trail of discouragement and disappointment.

Expectations vs. Reality: Several times in the past 15 years, our choir has gone all out for our Christmas concert. I’ve recruited fellow worship pastors and community members to play in the orchestra, spent hours setting up lighting cues and visual effects, planned and prayed for months—only to have more people on the platform than in the pews on the night of. I’ve never been prouder of my choir for the time and effort they put in, but I would be lying if I said that I didn’t leave church some of those nights feeling like a failure deep down in my soul.

 Burnout Is Close By: With a smaller pool of volunteers, the same people get asked again and again to serve in the various ministries of our church. Planning our Sunday volunteer schedule involves making sure that I don’t put Agnes down to work the nursery on the Sunday I need her to play keyboard. I hesitate to ask Bob to join the praise team (even though he has a stellar voice) because he’s already actively involved in keeping two or three other ministries going. If every choir member were up on stage the same Sunday, we would be hurting to find enough greeters, security patrols, nursery workers, and ushers to cover the service. When a single volunteer steps back from serving or takes a break, the whole system feels the strain.

Small Failures Feel Way Bigger: If a projector bulb burns out, or the livestream crashes, or an untimely squeal emerges from the sound system, it can feel like the whole service fell apart. If a worship leader forgets lyrics or misses a cue, everyone notices. There’s no hiding it. These types of distractions don’t fade into the background—they become the main thing that people remember about the service (at least in the worship leader’s mind!).

The Comparison Trap: Despite every seminary class and conference speaker telling us we shouldn’t, small church leaders sometimes can’t help but measure our ministries against large churches with big budgets. We marvel at their technology and seemingly endless supply of musically talented volunteers. We covet their at-capacity worship centers and multimillion-dollar construction plans. We ask ourselves why we even bother to do ministry when we can’t possibly function to this level and offer people this kind of worship experience.

IT’S WORTH IT ANYWAY

So why do I have a heart for small church worship ministry? Because it’s worth it.

Kingdom Impact Isn’t Measured by Numbers: Every act of worship is significant, no matter the size of the crowd. If our team has led one person to see the majesty and glory of Jesus Christ and we have faithfully proclaimed the gospel message through song on a Sunday morning, I call that a win.

You See Growth Up Close: I have a front-row seat to the musical and spiritual development of my team and my congregation. Witnessing a teenager go from timid singer to confident worship leader or a senior adult transition from cranky grumbler to active servant and passionate worshiper is a view that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Jesus Worked with Small Groups: In addition to His ministry to the multitudes, Christ Himself often ministered to crowds of dozens or less—His disciples, the seventy-two, and those gathered in homes or synagogues. The small church is closer to Jesus’ discipleship model than we sometimes realize. A tight-knit community of believers offers us the opportunity for up close and personal ministry, not only through music but through doing life together.

Faithfulness Over Flash: In the end, it’s not about production values, but about presence and obedience to what God has called us to do. Our church will never win an award for being on the cutting edge of anything and that’s okay with me. It removes the pressure of finding the latest and greatest song out there as fast as I can and making sure that our technology is state of the art. Our church will celebrate our 150th anniversary in 2026. That’s a century and a half of faithful ministry to the Lord and to our community. What a legacy!

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR FELLOW SMALL CHURCH LEADERS

 Compared to older and wiser worship leaders, I still have a long way to go on my journey. But there are at least three insights I’ve gleaned that I believe will encourage other small church worship leaders.

1. Don’t measure your ministry against the megachurch down the street. In fact, do the opposite. Go befriend their worship leader. Get to know them. Take them out for coffee. Ask them to mentor you. Some of my closest friends are serving in churches ten times the size of mine. I learn from them, they learn from me. We are all playing for the same team and pulling for the same result. Cheer each other on!
   
2. Celebrate the wins, no matter how small they may look on paper. Express appreciation to your team. Rejoice together and give glory to God when you and the team you serve alongside accomplish something together.
   
3. Remember that when you faithfully pour into a small group of people, you’re planting seeds that can change families, neighborhoods, and generations. From a normative SBC church in the middle of nowhere may come the next Adrian Rogers, W.A. Criswell, Lottie Moon, or Annie Armstrong.

Yes, the highs are higher and the lows are lower, but in both, Christ is faithful. That’s what makes small church worship ministry so uniquely rewarding. Fellow small church leaders: keep showing up, love on your people, steward your ministry well, and trust God with the results.

Dr. Josh Erisman serves as minister of music and education at First Baptist Church of Strafford, Missouri, and as professor of music and worship at Mission University in Springfield, Missouri. He is a proud two-time alumnus of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned both a Master of Arts degree in Church Music and Doctor of Educational Ministry degree in Worship Ministry.