Dream or Reality?

It is a joy to know that some ‘dream’ churches or community groups already exist. However, the reality is that most villages are in need. How might the dream become reality?

The present situation.

Vibrant village churches do exist, but often they appear like an oasis within a desert. The spiritual decline in the rural areas first became noticeable in the 1960s. Many thousands of village churches have closed since then. Where there used to be both an Anglican and a Free Church in almost every village, most villages now have only the Parish Church and that might have only one service a month.

Since about one person in six within the UK lives in a rural location, the possibility of reversing this decline is too great for any organisation or initiative to achieve. For the dream to become a reality, it will need people in each and every village to commit to making it a reality where they live. 

What is it like where you live?

Changing the Narrative

The pattern of declining congregations has prevailed for too long. Accepting single- figure, grey haired Sunday attendances can all too easily become the norm, and so we do not expect anything else. Added to this, there is often a resistance to change.

And nothing will change until we firstly become discontented the way things are. For God’s work to advance we need to turn can't into can. We need to believe in better. Then we need to pray earnestly for the changes that are needed.

Nowhere will be perfect.

It is easy to become frustrated when things are not as good as we hope they might be. But even the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles reveal human weaknesses and limitations. However, that should not prevent our praying and working to turn the dream into a reality.

Church or a Small Group?

While the ideal would be for a whole church to catch the vision, that is not always possible. Sometimes it is easier and better to start with a smaller group who will understand and work towards the dream becoming real.

Village churches almost always have a high physical profile within the village. Increasingly, the social profile of village churches has declined, as many who live in the countryside do not regularly attend church. The dream we have described above should be the vision for every village church. 

However, encouraging a small rural congregation to become more intentionally missional can seem like an uphill task. In such situations it might be better to work with those who are willing or more willing to explore mission in their community. If you have ever lit a coal fire you will know how important it was to start the fire with sufficient crumpled paper and smaller sticks then, laid on top some larger pieces of wood and only a few pieces of coal. Simply applying a flame directly to coal would achieve nothing.

Whether you want to share the dream with a small group or your whole church, we are willing and able to help you.

Visible and Vibrant

Jesus spoke about being light and salt. To be effective light needs to be visible and salt needs to be affecting its surroundings. In his letter to the Christians at Philippi, the apostle Paul writes that one of the outward signs of true Christianity is to be thrilled with Jesus. It is highly probable that those who formed every village church were passionate about Jesus and their faith. Such passion needs to be recovered.

It would be foolish for a shopkeeper to operate out of sight from the public. A wise shopkeeper will display his goods boldly and draw attention to bargains. Think of your church as God’s shop window. When we speak about being visible and vibrant, we imagine a Christian community made up of people both full of life and attractive to others.

Caring and Engaged

We are called to love our neighbours. During the Covid Pandemic many village Christians demonstrated love of their neighbours by supporting those that became unwell or who needed help while isolating. In most cases they were seen just as good neighbours rather than the anticipated actions of those who are part of a local church. The people of the local church should be seen as the ‘go to’ place in times of need.

A village is much more than a collection of houses in a rural location. All kinds of organisation and activities take place all the time. The local Christians should not be seen as separate from all of these, detached and isolated. But there is more to engaging than being present everywhere. At every level it should be clear that we engage to be a blessing to others and, together, to seek the common good.

Appropriate and Effective

Missional activity needs to be culturally effective to have lasting benefits. There are many ways in which we can be missional (see the five marks of mission). Alongside this list we would add that good strategies should be appropriate to the personalities, gifts, and life experiences of those undertaking mission actions. It should also be appropriate to the known needs of those we want to bless through mission actions. It should always be culturally relevant (beware of importing urban strategies). But most importantly mission strategies should be appropriate to what we believe God is saying and doing. That can only be discerned through prayerfulness.

If it is appropriate, then it will be likely to be effective. Often the best outcomes we see in village churches is from action plans that are formed almost unintentionally from the lives of local Christians. However, Jesus left his disciples with two imperatives. One is to share the gospel and make disciples; the other is to seek the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for the task he asks us to undertake.

How we could help you?

Rural Mission Solutions is an enabling ministry. We can encourage, inspire, envision, and motivate. If all is well in your church, we would love to hear from you and to share your joy. But if you share our dream and need some help to make it come true where you are, we stand ready to help you. We offer help based on  many years of experience and research. Our field team members have experience working with churches of various denominations and traditions, and in all kinds of villages.

We will not impose, and we promise to be gentle. The organisations policy is to serve with no mention of costs. 

If you share the vision expressed as a dream, we cannot create such a community, but we can help to enable it to emerge. Please start a conversation with us.