Reflections on the 2023 Conference
I recently sanded and revarnished the bargeboard on the side of our house. It took longer and cost more than expected! After all that effort, you wouldn’t notice the difference unless you looked closely.
It could seem like a waste of time, but it’s really important to help protect the house against the elements, and if it wasn’t done in the long run, it could cause major problems which would cost a fortune to fix.
For people involved in busy ministry life, conferences can be like revarnishing bargeboard. They take up days in busy weeks and don’t make any visible change. But they can be really important in helping us thrive as we cope with the varied weather of ministry life.
TRP Bakewell 2023
The first Rural Project Conference was designed to suit and serve those involved in the busy life of rural ministry. The central location made it accessible for a wide range of rural places.
The timings of 10 am-3:30 pm on a Saturday meant many could travel to and from it without taking a day off work. Lunch being provided removed another thing to organise on the day and created more space to get to know others involved in rural ministry.
All the time carved out to chat and meet others was really encouraging, too. Folks had travelled significant distances to attend and support this venture. It all worked to be a really encouraging atmosphere.
Weakness Our Strength
The talks were designed to encourage and equip us for ministry in our rural context, with a rural minister preaching Christ to our rural context and were particularly strong.
John Hindley spoke on Weakness Our Strength– the first talk was on the weakness of Christ - We saw how the agonising, weak shame of the cross was the glorification of Jesus and the exertion of his mighty arm to save.
This was then applied to our context in the second talk, considering the weakness of the Church. We like to feel successful given our lot, so we often grab at things which make us look good, then subtly drop them into conversations. John helped us see that we do this because we forget the glory of the weakness of the Church. They made me want to worship Jesus and just serve him no matter how small things might feel.
(Listen to Conference Messages)
Panel Sessions
This was also a helpful time to think strategically about reaching rural Britain for Christ. The panel discussion brought rural and city wisdom together to discuss how partnerships can work to help rural Churches thrive.
Scotland 2024
The plan is to run these in a different location each year – rotating around the UK so that every rural part can have a conference which is geographically accessible once every 3 years. I’m really excited to take forward planning one in Scotland for 2024
Kenny Rogan
Kenny is pastor of Hope Church Aviemore a recent Church Plant in the Scottish Highlands. He’s also part of the Rural Project Steering Team. He is married to Lesley and they have 3 children. He loves playing most sports especially mountain biking and football.
Before moving to the Spey Valley they lived in London where Kenny worked as Assistant Pastor at Twynholm Baptist Church after studying at Oak Hill College. Kenny’s first career was as an accountant, which he loved and is very happy to talk about it if anyone is having sleep trouble.
