The distinctiveness of the Rural and Village Church
A contrast between Rural and Urban Areas in the UK
Rural Mission Solutions recognises many of the challenges that small rural and village churches face. Consider the following facts obtained from the DEFRA Statistical Digest of Rural England (January 2022):
The Intergenerational Foundation published a report, based on census findings that:
In their report, they state: "Researchers argue that the housing crisis is clearly driving this trend, with young people locked out from rural areas and older generations increasingly choosing to live more rurally. While ‘escaping to the country’ may sound like the perfect retirement dream, the reality is that unprecedented rural ageing comes with personal and wider societal costs. Geographic age segregation keeps young people out of the countryside with all the amenities on offer there, and makes it more expensive to provide services for older people, such as nursing, social care, gardening and retail".
Each Village and each Church is unique
Villages vary enormously, by size, shape, and social characteristics. Many are now home to the millions of people who have moved from towns and cities, choosing to live in the countryside and sometimes investing large sums of money in order to do so. In the process incomers have changed the nature of many of the UK's villages. They have also often displaced indigenous rural people who now find they cannot afford to live in the countryside.
Over recent years many villages have lost amenities, including schools, shops, pubs and post offices. While the UK's villages have generally become more affluent there is a lot of hidden poverty and deprivation.
Many urban dwellers still have an image of the countryside that is largely a mythical idyll. Whilst there are villages with pretty thatched cottages, many rural areas are agricultural or industrial areas producing unwanted pollution.
Some villages have grown up around a fishing industry while others around other industries such as mining.
Rural communities tend to be small with a complex mix of social types with differing values and beliefs.
All our villages are served by at least one church, though today it might very well not have a service every Sunday. Despite the loss of several thousand of non-conformist chapels during the latter half of the twentieth century the church is still a valued part of village life. Church attendance, as a percentage of the population, is higher than in urban areas, and a recent government survey revealed that 70% of social capital in rural areas is provided through the churches.
We recognise that no two villages or village churches are the same, so a single mission strategy would not be appropriate. We understand that there are very different cultures within village settings, with significant contrasts often between the established population and those who may recently moved into the village, for example because a new housing estate has been erected. Rural Mission Solutions has a wide experience in offering bespoke solutions which fit best for the diversity of your church and community.
Ivor MacDonald, a Minister of the Free Church of Scotland, having ministered in two rural congregations and having worked as an agricultural advisor, has recently (Spring 2021) written a very helpful and informative article examining the challenges of mission in a Rural context, and entitled as the "Distinctives of the Rural Context for Christian Mission"
The Rt Revd Dr Brian Castle, assistant bishop in the Bath and Wells diocese has written an excellent article in the Church Time entitled "More are escaping to the country" where we see people wishing to enjoy country life and be part of a local community. Of course, the recent Covid pandemic has prompted people to move for health and well being too. He then identifies a series of challenges (and therefore opportunities) including:
Rural Mission was featured highly in the life of Jesus! He began and conducted most of his ministry in Rural Galilee!
It's interesting to note that Jesus was born in a small village (Bethlehem), grew up in another small village (Nazareth) and conducted a major part of his ministry in villages of rural Galilee.
Rural mission was important to Jesus and part of his original plan.
How we work and support small churches
We work with village churches across the UK, to release, refresh and resource them for mission.
We offer a process that is interactive, adapted to suit the local situation and usually led by an experienced facilitator. Most importantly, we start by carefully and prayerfully understanding your current situation, looking at your strengths and weaknesses and then we explore what resources your church might already have. It is important that as many church members participate and actively support the process, which then involves generating ideas and determines the most appropriate course of action. This is followed by implementing that plan into action and then evaluating it's success. Once this has been completed, the final step is to repeat the cycle again without losing momentum.
We are well aware of how most village churches are resourced, so we keep costs to an absolute minimum! As our heart is to encourage small village churches,
we offer a free initial consultation with no obligation to proceed. Should we then be privileged to work with you, you will find our costs to be very reasonable, and of course, this will be agreed with you in advance. To find out more, click the button below.
Join us
If you have a heart for rural mission and share our vision, then we'd love to hear from you. Why not prayerfully explore ways in which you could share in this ministry, either as a church or individually.
From time to time there will be opportunities to volunteer at regional events, so please do sign up. Thank you.