3 Types of Rural Church

Last time we discussed the definition of a rural church.

But even within that broad definition there are differences.

In his Rural Ministry course, John Hindley specified three types of rural communities.

I’ve adapted it slightly here, but it’s a good summary of rural churches in the UK

Traditional

When you think of “rural”, a traditional community is probably what you are imagining. Here are some defining features:

Agricultural work: The congregation will be farmers and occupations that serve farmers’ wider needs.
Dispersed population: Church members will be dispersed amongst hamlets and villages. They can’t necessarily walk to church.
Static communities: Little turnover in congregation. This means Church members will commit to their local church for their whole lives. However, newcomers to the area (such as a pastor) may always feel like outsiders.

Such communities still exist in parts of the United Kingdom.

However, because of the economic challenges facing farmers, most communities have usually developed into one of the two other types of community below:

Holiday

A holiday community began as a traditional community but later became a holiday destination. Some of these communities will be based around the seaside, but many Brits enjoy a countryside holiday.

Tourism work: Most income revolves around tourism.
Seasonal Population: The population swells in school holidays with tourists. However, the permanent community can be deceptively small and often aged. These churches may have large congregations in holidays but struggle to find lay leadership and evangelise their existing community.
Expensive housing: Outsiders buying holiday homes are pricing out the local community. This can lead families into poverty as they pay over the odds for their homes. This can lead to tension with tourists

Commuter

A commuter location also began as a traditional agricultural area. However, over time many farmers sell their land to housing developers.

Professional work: Middle-class families are attracted to the area because of good schools and bigger houses. This can again lead to pricing out the “indigenous” community.
Commuting: Most church members will commute to work. This can mean that workers will have huge commutes and may not be rooted in the life of their community. (However, this is changing in some areas with the advent of remote work)
Growing membership: As the population of the village expands, so does the church. However, Christians may live in a village but still commute to a church a long distance away. Church members may also expect their small village church to run all the ministries a previous larger church ran.

There are probably many variations on these broad categories. Some churches will have elements of all three!

The key here is to know your community. Especially if there is a mixture, be careful your church isn’t all one type of person. For example, if your community is largely traditional, but your church is only made-up of holiday makers and commuters, perhaps you need to consider how to reach the pre-existing community.

It’s fair to say planting into such communities is rare. That’s why next time we’ll discuss why church planters fear village ministry.

(See other posts in this series)