In the planning stage of Project Reconnect the themes heard from the village worship groups were of memories of the “good old days” when their congregations where full, when their communities where vibrant, how they had all become old, their numbers are now few, and they wondered how much longer they would last. One thing is for sure the church is doomed while ever this is the primary mind-set of members of small congregations!

Rather than small numbers being a liability there is greater opportunity for meaningful dialogue on matters of life and faith.

The unique strength of small congregations is that they are effectively small groups. Small groups have time and again been part of the reformation of the people of God. Small groups were integral to the life of Israelites at the time of Moses. The "synagogues" at the time of the exile were effectively small groups. The people of the early church met as small groups. In more recent history small groups drove the Wesleyan Movement. Strong churches around the world today are based on small groups.

A timely word, from an academic specialising in religious studies, is that the rural congregation “is a sleeping giant”^[1]. That sparks a dream for Project Reconnect that it might be a part of the "awakening". With many hundreds of congregations across Australia, with the simple principles that drive Project Reconnect, and the ease of distributing the resources to any part of Australia, there is great potential for small rural church’s to be a very real and hope-filled presence of the kingdom of heaven in their place.

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October 2007 - December 2009