The Rural Think Tank
…It's Different Out Here.
Rural church resources. Free and practical tools for small church leaders including Sunday school curriculum, administration guides, and volunteer management.
One invitation changed a family tree It all starts with a young coal miner named John Kuhnert. He had a young family at home, and not a lot of resources. John and his brothers went fishing using a technique called hogging or noodling, grabbing large catfish out of sunken logs during spawning season. One day, …
Why church safety matters There are some questions that those of us in church leadership should be asking ourselves. We live in a dangerous world. As shepherds, we must help protect our flock from physical danger in addition to guarding from spiritual wolves. Church safety is not about fear. It is about stewardship. Ten questions …
This post was originally published on my other blog, MinistryPlace.net I know, I used a buzzword. Whether you are in Church Growth, Business, Marketing, SEO, or Fantasy Sports, the word “Metrics” carrries a heavy connotation. Its one of measuring and evaluting everything for the sake of making things better. In a lot of rural churches, this would be a …
This post was originally published on my other blog, MinistryPlace.Net Numbers 13:31-33 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had …
Lessons from a windmill field In my workshop at the 2018 RHMA conference, one of the examples I gave for the need to network for ministry in your community is a windmill field. There are some lessons we can take from these pieces of wonderful technology as churches. They have a purpose that is simple …
The Gospel Grows Like Stubble Clover “So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.” — 1 Corinthians 3:7-8 (ESV) I was part of a lot of years of planting seasons as a kid and teenager. Want to know what my least favorite thing …
Useless or Useful? You Decide. Philemon 1 — “Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house.” The letter to Philemon is one of the shortest books in the New Testament. But it …