A few random notes:

I reckon there are three ingredients needed here: a missional one; a change in thinking functionally about the strengths and weaknesses of a small suburban church, and a change in thinking about leadership in the church - any church - vis-a-vis our clericalist history...

I've only pastored two 'small suburban churches' - Narwee in NSW (50 people to start with - small) and Blackburn (about 300: a bit larger than small, and smaller than large :-). I've done interims in half a dozen others...

In the Narwee situation (a student pastorate, in a built-out suburb with, I think, nine Baptist Churches within a five-mile radius) we asked the question Lyle Schaller later suggested is the key to a small church's survival: what do we do best? Our answer: reach out to young people. So we took the hat around and appointed a full-time youth pastor, and the church trebled in size over the next 4-5 years...

At Blackburn the missional focus was mainly two-pronged: young people (again) and homeless folk. Plus a multiplication of small groups (to about 60) and the concomitant opportunity for many people to develop as pastor-leaders of those groups. The Sunday services were seen (by me at least) to be congregations/aggregations of small weekly/fortnightly groups.

Re strategic thinking: There are four 'retail modes' in modern suburbs: malls/supermarkets; boutiques; franchises (Seven Elevens, Bakers Delight etc.); and corner stores... The latter are suffering: they can't compete with the other types of stores... Now, why? I believe there's a direct parallel between small suburban churches and struggling corner stores.

Re many 'emerging churches': where do they fit into this scenario? They're often boutique I reckon: aimed at a particular 'clientele' with a specialized group of facilitators.

The training-for-leadership issue I reckon is crucial: for example, how much of the 'verbalizing of the faith' happens from the mouth of the one with his/her 'Revs up'? I'm dead serious on this one, but it's received minimal attention from those who confine the notion of 'ordination' to an 'elite' commissioned by their denomination. Why is that? Just before I went to Blackburn I was fortunate to do a Masters thing at the University of Sydney on 'Attitude Change', and learned in that field of social psychology the importance of people verbalizing their commitment to their particular ideology/faith, if they are expected to be ambassadors for it...

On the missional aspect: I grew up in a Brethren church: terrific for (male) leaders verbalizing their faith: so they stayed stable, but pathetic on mission (virtually non-existent). So now that church is greying and dying...

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Shalom/Salaam/Pax! Rowland Croucher

November 2007