What looked like a small Christian church congregation at the Christian Campus House on Saturday was actually much more than that.
Church leaders from East Central Indiana met for a conference about energizing small churches.
The event was hosted by the Energizing Small Churches Network and sponsored by Standard Publishing and the Christian Student Fellowship. It lasted from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and the theme was "Maximize Your Ministry."
Mark Pike, campus minister of the fellowship, said they chose to have the conference because they support what small church leaders in the area are doing.
"We believe good things are happening here," he said.
Mike McMullen, director of the network, is from the small town of Milan, Ind.
"You don't have to be big to be good," he said, citing the year Milan High School beat Muncie Central in the 1954 basketball state championship.
Tom Ellsworth, the keynote speaker, spoke twice and led a question and answer session at the conference. Participants could also take part in two of five workshops about maximizing their church's potential.
Ellsworth said you have to keep it simple in order to grow a church.
During his 28 years at Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, Ellsworth grew his church from 80 to 2,500 people, qualifying it as a mega-church.
"The Bible doesn't talk about size of the church, but about people who do great things to serve the church," Ellsworth said.
He said he was amazed at how complex ministry has become and it should just be kept simple. From his childhood, he remembers the sense of community that was established during the church homecoming and special birthday celebrations.
Another great way to grow a church, he said, is to invest in new members by designating parking spots for new people, offering them a small gift, enhancing communication and making them feel generally welcome.
Though few students attended the conference, Pike said students could benefit from being exposed to leadership in the area. He plans to use information from this conference for student leadership training this summer.
Michael Thom, a student who works at the Christian Campus House, said he feels the conference was beneficial for small church leaders. His hometown church has a congregation of 5,000 people, but he said it still maintains the small church feel, which should be the goal of any big church.
Ellsworth said his advice to students is to be patient.
"Don't jump into change too soon," he said. "The ideas have to soak for a while, and when you make a change, take the people with you. Give it all your heart."
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