The Challenges of Rural and Small Town Ministry

My district president recently invited me to take part in the recent leadership meetings held throughout the area.  As one of the participants from the district to attend the first national convention of the Rural and Small Town Mission of the LCMS held in Storm Lake, IA at the beginning of November, I addressed concerns and resources concerning the unique challenges facing this demographic.  For 12 years now I have served a parish in a decidedly rural setting, and therefore I was able to bring a personal perspective to the discussions.  The groups that joined me for the three mini-workshops ranged from 4-10 or more, not a huge crowd, but an interesting mix.  We discussed the various challenges facing rural and small town settings and found common ground, despite our varying situations.  Although far from an expert on this subject, I am beginning to get a better 'feel' for what faces us.  Some of the ideas I am accumulating along the way....
  • The need to overcome territorialism and combine resources for programs we cannot do on our own.  E.g.: VBS. 
  • The need to prepare the next generation of pastors to be open and better equipped for bi-vocational ministry.  We will be increasingly unable to support full-time clergy in many of these smaller churches.
  • The willingness to recognize the changing demographic and how we can reach out to it.  E.g.: the rise of Hispanic populations in rural settings. 
  • The need to adjust to an increasingly aging population at large as well as in our smaller parishes.  We have know for some time that the 'baby boomers' would create quite the impact on our country and its structure.  Are we prepared to care for this aging demographic?
  • The willingness to make the hard decisions about the viability of smaller parishes that are in irreversible decline.  Dual and tri-point arrangements will become increasingly common.  Should some parishes become "preaching stations"?  And then the big question: when do we close a church and share the remaining resources with others in the area?
  • How will the changes in the agricultural community ultimately impact our rural congregations originally founded to serve this group?  Can they adapt?  And are we aware that even as this group declines there is growth in other areas?  Small towns and rural communities are not dying.  They are changing.  
Well, that's just a few thoughts in the morning as I prepare to go to the office. 

Comments

Rev. Alan Kornacki, Jr. said…
Considering the hire/fire climate in the LCMS right now, preparing for bi-vocational ministry is a wiser course anyway. If you've got more than one iron in the fire, you've got another option when one of them is stolen from you.
January 24, 2013 at 7:01:00 AM PST
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Firefighter's Cross

Image
[Note: A similar article to this will be shared with my department at their next meeting. During this Lenten season when we are meditating on the significance and meaning of the Passion of our Lord and the Cross at Golgotha, it seemed like one way to offer a witness to the department that captured their interest and yet was not too heavy.] [Editorial Note: In response to a recent comment on this article I have made some changes to the original version of this article especially in regard to references to the so-called St. Florian's Cross. For any confusion the previous unreferenced information may have caused I apologize. I hope that the changes are satisfactory.] THE STORY OF THE MALTESE CROSS In many ways the familiar symbol to the right requires no explanation. It is the universal insignia of firefighting nationwide. Yet the precise origins of this symbol are less clear. The most popular explanation proposes its beginning in the far distant past of medieval Crusaders fi...
Read more

Historical Roots of the Warham Guild Hood

Image
In doing just a little checking on the internet, it's interesting to see how the Warham Guild hood, which I have as part of my STM degree attire, is actually a throwback to the Medieval hood. One article notes "the work of the Warham Guild in its imaginative renderings of medieval hoods" (reference is from here ). Again, here is my hood: The Medieval hood, which was originally a very practical outer garment to cover a person's head and shoulders, protecting both from the elements, bears striking resemblance to this revived form: This hood was also a part of the garb of monks in that era. The Medieval hood, in some cases, also had what is known as a "liripipe," a long tail hanging from the back of a hood. You can see the modern stylized version of this on my own hood. From an article on "Academic hood development" we read that "By 1463 the favourite dress of doctors was the hood with round bell-shaped cape, and the lir...
Read more

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Image
According to a recent documentary, for all the talk about academic freedom in the world of the large American university system, it would seem that it extends only as far as the system defines it - especially with regards to the subject of origins and science. Noted speechwriter Ben Stein stars as host of the film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Dr. Angus Menuge, professor of philosophy at CUW, highlights the film in an article included in the Concordia University - Wisconsin magazine Concordian , including some seemingly revealing details about the expulsion of talented scientists who apparently were ‘expelled‘ from their positions for mentioning the theory of Intelligent Design: “In the current climate, even when academicians have a relevant doctorate and a track-record of peer-reviewed publication, their careers suffer if they argue that the scientific evidence points to an intelligent source involved in the creation of the world. In 1992, Dean Kenyon, a biology professor at ...
Read more