|More

 

Text

Translate

Disclaimer

This translation is not completely accurate as it was automatically generated by a computer.
Powered by

Boy Scouts from Troop 222 march in front of Leipsic United Methodist Church during the parade that kicks off the town's annual Fall Festival. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. View in Photo Gallery

Rural churches, however, cannot do it on their own. It will take a United Methodist connection — and beyond — to revive the rural church in America.

The key areas of need, and the solutions proposed by many rural leaders, include the following:

Qualified leaders: Tough times require experienced clergy well versed in rural needs. New seminary graduates, or hard-to-place pastors, do not cut it, rural leaders say. Part of attracting and keeping good clergy, advocates say, involves supporting greater efforts toward equal salaries for rural clergy.

At the same time, with limited finances, the rural church needs to explore alternatives such as an elder supervising local pastors and certified lay ministers in a cooperative parish, Kemp says. Sociologist David Ruesink, leader of the ecumenical Rural Church Network, also says churches should be open to partnerships with clergy from other denominations.

Mission emphasis: National and regional church leaders often look to urban and suburban areas for mission outreach, writing off rural areas as a losing proposition, rural church leaders say. Rural leaders ask successful churches to consider partnering with a rural church, and for the denomination to make rural missions a priority.

“In the post-modern world, people are looking for community,” Kemp says. “The small rural churches may be in a better situation to provide that than the suburban churches where we’re focusing our attention.”

The need for resources: One suburban size does not fit all. A key concern expressed by rural church leaders in a 2010 survey is a lack of denominational resources geared to their needs. They seek more affordable, relevant resources and training sessions for lay and pastoral leadership that are geographically accessible.

Church members gather for a musical program at Leipsic United Methodist Church. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. View in Photo Gallery

Equal representation: To make sure their voices are heard, rural leaders seek proportional appointments on district, regional and national boards and committees.

Signs of hope

The Rev. Tom Graves of the Leipsic Multi-Site Parish was momentarily taken aback this fall when 10-year-old Ashley Kelley approached him outside the locked doors of Belmore United Methodist Church, and asked when it would reopen.

But he quickly recovered and made sure New Hope Bethel reached out to Ashley and her family. Within a month, the congregation arranged to pick up Ashley and some of her neighborhood friends each Sunday for worship, joining the other children there.

Ben Smith knows most of the families personally. “I call them every Sunday morning to make sure they’re up and out of bed,” he says.

Those Sundays when the old rural church  has as many or more children as adults are among the first fruits of a parish ministry with big plans.

Forward in mission

Just as older urban and suburban churches cannot wait for a return to the 1950s and 1960s  when their sanctuaries were full and churchgoing was a way of life, so, too, must rural congregations set aside romantic notions of recapturing an idyllic past, church leaders say.

As global economic pressures, divorce, alcoholism and other factors threaten the fabric of rural America, now is the time to step forward boldly in mission, according to rural church leaders.

The Rev. Janet Lewis-Cattell leads children's worship at Oakdale United Methodist Church. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. View in Photo Gallery

In Ohio, Patterson, the senior pastor of the Greater Leipsic parish, would like to see the parish build a community center to help attract those not currently attending a church, particularly youth and young adults.

And more than 1,000 miles away in northern North Dakota, a wall of portraits of white men – the former pastors – faces the Rev. Kathy Hammond as she greets congregation members and young people from the community as they arrive at Bowbells United Methodist Church for a meal, conversation and a service.

A woman pastor, Wednesday night family worship and plans for starting exercise classes are all being embraced by this rural farm congregation as it seeks to connect with a new generation.

These churches and thousands of others like them hold the roots of a Wesleyan revival that can renew The United Methodist Church’s sacred mission “to provide sacraments in every place,” rural leaders say.

“It really touches what has been most distinctive about the Wesleyan movement — our concern for those on the margins,” says Kemp, a rural fellowship leader. “Perhaps our definition of rural is to be on the margin.”

Bloom is a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.