It is encouraging to note the church paying an increasing amount of attention to small congregations. Given the fact that the Episcopal Church is composed primarily of small churches (those under 150 communicants), it is wise to be turning in this direction.

In recent months, episcopal elections in dioceses which have a sizable number of small churches have had at least one candidate with small-church experience. In Western New York, delegates to the electing convention chose the Rev. J. Michael Garrison, a regional vicar working with small congregations in the Diocese of Nevada. Eastern Oregon, a diocese in which small churches predominate, elected the Rev. Alexander James MacKenzie [TLC, Dec. 26], who also has small-church experience.

Elsewhere, various programs have been held and continue to be scheduled for members of smaller congregations, including the highly successful Leadership Program for Musicians Serving Small Congregations. In many places, members of smaller congregations are being elected to various diocesan offices.

Providing clergy leadership in small congregations continues to be a major issue in many dioceses. Because these congregations are small, their budgets are often not large enough for them to provide stipend and benefits for a full-time priest. Such arrangements as part-time clergy leadership, yoking of congregations and the ordaining of Canon 9 priests provide the answer in some places, and are unsatisfactory in others.

While some of the church's greatest problems and most urgent needs are in these smaller churches, these congregations also present wonderful opportunities for pastoral ministry, stewardship and evangelism. The development of more specialized ministries and programs for smaller congregations should be encouraging to all who care about the future of the church.