Six Challenges of Ministry in Small Places

Jul 20

Photo by zenyep elif ozdemir on Unsplash

I recently spoke with a pastor from Rural Wales. Their church had the joy of seeing a man saved through Christianity Explored. It was a great encouragement for this church. But a year later, this man moved on due to work. The church felt like they were back to square one.

Do you sympathise with their experience? No doubt many churches will. Sixteen per cent of the population of England live in villages with populations under 10,000 (and even more in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). Whether you use the word ‘rural’, ‘small places’ or ‘villages’ this is clearly an important mission field. But these locations face particular challenges.

I pastor a church in a village of 1,300 but I’m also part of a group called The Rural Project which hopes to provide support to such churches. During my time working with this group, I’ve noticed a number of common challenges are raised. These aren’t true of all churches (not all are true of mine). But they are common and worth considering solutions to.

(This post was originally posted at Affinity to continue reading click button below)