According to a 2021 study of more than 15,000 religious congregations by Faith Communities Today (FACT), 7 in 10 U.S. churches have 100 or fewer weekly worship service attendees.1 And the number of rural churches is growing in number, if not in size.
Pastor and author Brad Roth ministers in one such church congregation, in rural central Kansas. He grew up baling hay, tending sheep, and shearing Christmas trees on a farm in Illinois. He’s writing from personal experience when he says, “Rurality isn’t a problem to be solved. Rural is a way of life, a kind of culture. We’re still here.”
What sets rural ministry apart is the communities themselves. “There are formal responsibilities and contracts and job obligations in rural communities just like there are in cities and suburbs,” Pastor Brad writes, “but what really sets rural apart are the informal obligations and responsibilities that bind people together.”
Pastor Brad feels that ministry is not “task-based,” but is more “presence-based.” In rural communities, the need to “get to know the people” is even more crucial than in urban or suburban ministries. “Pastors have to be in, with, and for the community.” “Showing up” and “staying put” are important concepts. Loyalty is not optional.
For Pastor Brad, the message hasn’t changed. It doesn’t need to be rebranded. The same gospel, the same methods that Jesus used to establish His church are the same. But the rural community has its own mentality which must be understood in order to minister the Gospel effectively.
Using the Gospel of Mark as a backdrop, Pastor Brad “walks” the reader through the joys and challenges that are part and parcel of the rural community ministry. Rural ministry avoids typical “measuring tools” that seem to be the bread and butter of urban and suburban ministry.
As a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and the Anabaptist Mennonite Seminary, sometimes the author’s education gets the better of him. But through it all, Brad Roth’s championing the cause of the rural church is a refreshing journey through the Flyover Church.
I received this book free of
charge in exchange for my open and honest review.
FLYOVER CHURCH
BRAD ROTH
ISBN: 978-1-5138-1372-1
RELIGION / CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
/ PASTORAL RESOURCES
HERALD PRESS
159 pages
$19.99
