If you go to a large church with a pastor (or more than one), this might not be of interest to you.

If, however, you attend a congregation with a limited number of weekly church-goers. Maybe with a pastor; maybe not. This 'korner' is for you!!

Recently I had the chance to talk with Steve and Carol. They live on a farm near a small town in southeast Iowa. Their church had a weekly worship attendance of between 20 and 25; they didn't have a pastor.

So they formed a committee to see what they could do. They knew they didn't need and couldn't afford a full time pastor. Coming out of their meetings, a retired pastor offered to work for them past-time for $1,000 per month. They thought they could handle that salary amount and his offer to preach each Sunday. Maybe a couple other things.

Not long after, several people approached some of their local church to learn if they could rent the use of their existing church. Theirs was a small congregation, broken off from a mainline denomination church.

Steve spoke up and said, "No, you can't rent our church but you can use it!" Thus started their partnership. Now this upstart group with a part-time minister, meets in the building's fellowship hall, while the 'normal' church meets in the sanctuary.

Some time later, several Hispanic people met with the congregation, "Could we rent use of this church?', they asked.

Once again, Steve to the rescue, "No, but you can use it!" So their smaller, relatively new congregation meets on Sunday afternoons.

The upstart group told the 'real' congregation they would not need to provide janitorial service, they would do!

And the Hispanic congregation said, "Don't worry about lawn care. We will do it!"

Another 'best part':  the three congregations have a potluck meal one time per month. And dozens and dozens of people meet together!