I have spent over 25 years in small-town and rural ministry. Youth pastor. Associate. Bi-vocational. Transitional pastor. Community Missionary. Parachurch Staff. Long time supply. A wild journey.
And most of the time, I couldn’t find resources that actually fit my church.
The Sunday school curriculum assumed I had a full-time children’s director, or class sizes larger than the number of children an youth in the whole church. The volunteer management guide assumed an HR department. The pastor search materials assumed I could afford a search firm. The budget templates assumed I had a budget.
So I built what I wished existed.
MinistryPlace.net is now live. It’s a free resource platform built specifically for small and rural church leaders. No subscription. No email gate. No upsell. Just practical resources designed for the way most churches actually operate.
The Reality Most Churches Live In
The numbers tell the story. According to the National Congregations Study, the median American church has 70 people on Sunday morning. Faith Communities Today reports that 70% of U.S. congregations have 100 or fewer in weekly attendance. Lifeway Research found that 47% of evangelical pastors work a second job.
These are not edge cases. These are the majority of churches in America. And for most of my ministry, the resources available to me were not built for that reality.
What You’ll Find on MinistryPlace
Free children’s and youth Sunday school curriculum for every age group from nursery to 18. Small Group Studies. I have built out resources to help small and rural churches help individuals in our communities with special needs and neurodivergence to be included in worship and build out a faith they can understand. A pastor search committee toolkit and resource guides that walks your church through the entire process, from forming the committee to extending the call. Volunteer management guides and forms. Church administration and bylaws templates. Bi-vocational ministry resources. Church financial management guides. An interim pastor handbook. AI policy templates and toolkit. Deacon and elder training materials. It’s all here.
Over 640 resources. Most completely free. No subscription.
Why I Built This
I remember preparing a sermon at 10 PM after a full day at work. Searching for a Sunday school lesson that did not assume I had three dedicated teachers and a budget for curriculum. Coming up empty.
I remember serving with pastor search committees that had no idea where to start. No budget for a search firm. No template. Just prayer and a lot of trial and error.
I remember being a bi-vocational pastor carrying more responsibility than support, looking for help that understood my context and finding nothing but resources designed for churches with staffs I did not have.
MinistryPlace exists because those experiences should not be the norm. The church of 40 and the church of 60 and the church of 80 deserve resources built for their reality. Not adapted. Not downsized. Built for them from the start.
For Churches Searching for a Pastor
If your church is in a pastoral transition, MinistryPlace has a low cost pastor search committee toolkit that walks you through the entire process. You can also list your opening on the job board for free or premium listings at low cost. No hidden fees. Just a straightforward listing that reaches people who are actually looking for small-church and rural ministry positions.
For Candidates Looking for a Church
If you are a pastor looking for your next church, you can browse current openings and find churches that fit what you are actually called to do, not just the ones with the biggest budgets.
The Bottom Line
I did not build MinistryPlace to get rich. I built it because I know what it feels like to serve in a place where the work is heavy, the margin is thin, and the resources do not fit.
If you serve in a small church or a rural church, I hope this helps.
Brent Lacy is an author, speaker, podcaster, Community Missionary and IT strategist. He has served in small-town and rural ministry for over 25 years, from youth pastor to bi-vocational pastor as well as many other ministry roles. He founded MinistryPlace.net to provide free, practical resources for small and rural church leaders. He also hosts the Rural Think Tank site and podcast, exploring the unique challenges and opportunities of rural ministry.
On the business side, Brent is Strategic Advisory Manager at a Managed IT provider in the midwest, where he leads a team of vCIOs. He is the author of vCIO Rewired, ReWired MSP, and Near Miss, along with ministry books including Rural Youth Ministry and This is NOT DiY: Renovating the Local Congregation, with more on the way. His books are available on Amazon.
You can learn more and connect with Brent at BrentLacy.com.
Sources:
- National Congregations Study — nationalcongregationsstudy.org
- Faith Communities Today — faithcommunities.today
- Lifeway Research, “Evangelical Pastors More Likely Than Others To Be Bivocational” (June 2025) — research.lifeway.com