Originally being from the Upper Midwest, Justin began to undertake a process of cultural learning upon moving to the South (first to Texas and eventually to North Carolina). This included practicing subtle but important language differences (like using “y’all” rather…
These pastors see rural America — and its churches — as a growing mission field
Relatively few ministerial candidates want to lead small country congregations. It’s understandable. Those settings require pastors to provide all the functions usually divvied up by larger church staffs: pastoral care, preaching, teaching youth and children, paying the bills and preparing budgets. But there are unexpected rewards in rural churches, say some pastors.
The multi-church movement
Upon reading the title of this article, you might wonder, “Does he really mean ‘multi-church’ and not ‘multi-site’?” Nope! The multi-church movement is taking hold in England and is serving rural congregations exceptionally well. The Arthur Rank Center (a rural-church…
New pastors, small churches
Update March 2015: The program described in this story has been renamed Small Church Residency Program. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), like many denominations, has two challenges: thousands of small churches in need of pastors and hundreds of new seminary graduates…
Four emerging trends in small town churches
Today kicks off a new series of blog posts called “What’s Trending,” where I will specifically discuss cutting edge trends that might push a few boundaries for many rural churches. The trends I will name in this series will range…
8 elements of a healthy small church
What does a healthy Small Church look like? It looks like a healthy big church – in all the ways that matter, anyway. No, a healthy Small Church is not just a miniaturized version of a healthy big church. Pastors…