The Rural Think Tank
…It's Different Out Here.
Most technology commentary is built for large staffs, corporate workflows, or ministry brands with resources that smaller churches simply do not have. That is one reason so much AI discussion feels unhelpful to rural and bivocational leaders. It is often too abstract, too hyped, too suspicious, or too detached from the actual work of shepherding …
Rural AI job shrinkage may begin as task compression, hiring slowdowns, and role consolidation. Small-town leaders should pay attention before the effects spread.
Brent Lacy explains why he built MinistryPlace.net — a free resource platform for small and rural church leaders. 25+ years of ministry experience, from youth pastor to bi-vocational senior pastor, led to a platform that finally fits the churches most resources ignore.
Rural churches often face homelessness, addiction, and family instability before anyone else sees the pattern. Small towns hide pain differently, not less deeply.
Sometimes a church’s prayerful language hides unrealistic expectations. Discernment is not the same thing as endlessly waiting for a perfect candidate who does not exist.
In this episode we are looking at how we can learn from the last 20 years or so of the histories of IBM and HP. They have made some strategy decisions over the years that helped them either grow larger or leaner. Which is the right choice for your ministry and community ? Links to …
This post was originally published on MinistryPlace.net. When the snow piles up, community shows up Last weekend brought a snowstorm like I have never seen before. We had temps of -12 and spent approximately two days straight with subzero temps, plus a foot of snow blowing around in 30 mile-per-hour gusts. Our church had a …
The Gone Generation What happens when a generation leaves the rural area to seek education and employment in other parts of the country? The Southern Illinoisan Newspaper did a series looking at the students that leave small communities. The article points out that we are training our best and brightest to leave, and reaping the …