Welcome to the Web site of the Energizing Smaller Churches Network. We’re glad you’re here and we hope you find our site helpful. Why devote this Web site-and a national organization-to smaller churches? Because smaller churches form the foundation of America’s religious landscape. A study released by Barna Research reported that the typical church in America has an average worship attendance of eighty-nine adults-that a full 60 percent of Protestant churches in our country are attended by one hundred or fewer adults in worship. This is not to downplay the significance of larger churches. They’re here to stay, and they play a vital role in the work of God’s kingdom. Still, smaller churches (churches with an average Sunday worship attendance of 200 or less) are in the majority in our country, and they are crucial to the advancement of God’s kingdom on earth. Think about the vital role filled by the thousands of smaller churches across North America. In every community people need to know Jesus Christ. In every community people need to be discipled. They need the fellowship of the saints. They need to be nurtured and loved and encouraged in their Christian faith. From weddings to funerals, from family problems to social concerns, from national crises to personal victories, people in every community need the ministry of the local church, no matter how small that community-or church-may be. This places every church in every community in a strategic position. By virtue of its purpose and location, each church in each community is uniquely qualified to influence those closest to it for Christ. What would happen if leaders and volunteers in smaller churches all across America agreed to stick together, to love each other like family, and to do whatever it takes to deliver the good news to their boroughs, villages, towns, and cities? Can you imagine the impact this would have across the country? Can you imagine how many lives would be transformed? How many families kept together? Can you imagine how many schools and school boards, how many town and city councils-and subsequently community decisions-could be affected across the nation by Christians and churches that chose to be salt and light to their communities? Helping smaller churches achieve this goal is the purpose of the ESCN.