By Deacon Jessica Noonan (she/her), Acting Executive Director at LEAD

This past weekend we started the season of college tours with our middle daughter. It’s hard to imagine that in just under two years our second child will be launched and start a whole new chapter of young adulthood. Our first stop was a smaller state university about three hours from home. It’s situated in a small town in East Texas that I hadn’t heard of until a couple years ago and keep in mind I grew up in Texas.

Upon arrival in this unassuming town, we weren’t super excited but then we arrived on campus. Picture it – beautiful tall trees provided shade all over this campus that was a mix of century old buildings and brand-new construction. Purple banners with the school motto and welcome signs were everywhere! It was a sunny day, so students were hanging around outside talking and laughing.

Then, we joined our tour group where six very energetic college students, all decked in purple (even their shoes had some purple) greeted us. My daughter received a purple bag with flyers and a pen with purple ink. They were really well branded!

One thing that caught my attention in a state where “bigger is better” seems to be the catch phrase, the story our tour guide told was “we are a small school and this is why it is better”. They really leaned into the advantages for students when you come to their smaller school – classes are smaller, build better relationships with faculty, stronger connections with other students, and more academic opportunities.

Sometimes we can view being a small congregation as a negative but what if we really leaned into the advantages of a smaller faith community? What are the best parts of your congregation and how do you tell that story to those who are not yet there? How can you share the story of God’s grace and love in a way that stands out? 

As we begin to think about the coming Advent and Christmas season when we have worship guests, how will they be welcomed? How will they know what is unique about your faith community? It’s time to start preparing!

LEAD recommends the book, The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker uses her experience to help you think through the whole process of gathering in small and large groups.