What does rural ministry mean to you?
Throughout my career I have been continually surprised and
amazed by the power and depth of the relationships that I have formed as a result
of my work as a pastor in a rural setting. And it always appears in unexpected
ways. To the untrained eye, a trip through the rural countryside is a quiet and
peaceful experience, largely devoid of people and basically populated by
scattered herds of farm animals and large expanses of land, sometimes
cultivated, often not. The occasional visitor sees only these outward trappings
and assumes that life in this place is slow and bucolic, without challenges and
dreams, except for the constant work of making a living from the land. And even
when they know better, images from Grant Wood or Green Acres immediately spring
to mind.
But that is not the life that we rural pastors know.
While the land is important, even essential to our
existence, the life in our context is found in the men, women, and children who
call this place home. Each community,
each congregation, each family has a story to share. Their lives are full of
challenges and dreams, sometimes filled with disappointment, anger, grief, and
struggles, but often balanced by hope, celebration, joy, and promise. And into
those lives we step, called to represent Christ and his church in personal and
very real ways.
One of the greatest privileges of being a rural
pastor is that we are invited into the personal lives of the people we serve at
very private, often very intimate moments. Joining the family circle for births
and deaths, weddings and funerals, anniversaries and other celebrations, means
that we not only represent the church, but are ambassadors for Christ as well.
Learning to cultivate that gift of 'presence' is essential to the practice of
effective ministry.
One stereotype of rural ministry is that we
are caretakers for our congregations and that vibrant, creative ministry only
happens in urban areas. As you might
have guessed, I could not disagree more. While there are some churches for
which that is true, and some pastors who don’t strive for anything else, there
are many places where excitement and vitality are the norm; churches that
demonstrate a desire to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to their constituencies
with passion and meaning, and pastors who are engaged in the lives of their
members with the kind of care, concern, and faith that must bring a smile to
God’s face.
This web site is dedicated to the
encouragement of that kind of passion and vitality. It is designed as a gathering place for
pastors and church leaders who are looking for resources, ideas, and
conversation that will lead to renewal in our congregations and in the larger
church. We don’t see our rural settings
as a barrier to church growth and development, but as an opportunity to provide
the gospel for a 21st century people who happen to live in a unique
and less populated context.
Over the years we have spent too much time and energy worrying about the loss of members, our denominational struggles, and maintaining a style of ministry that was designed for the 1950s. Our rural churches deserve better. I invite you to join us on this journey, as we reinvent the church, moving away from an attitude of decline and irrelevance and toward a new expression of the faith that exudes the gospel of Jesus Christ in the way we live our lives, the way we relate to others, and the way we worship our God.
That’s where I’m going. I hope you will come with me.
Ruralpastors.org
