The Rural Think Tank
…It's Different Out Here.
Many churches think of leadership transition in only one category: get someone in the pulpit until the next pastor arrives. Sometimes that is enough for a short season. But sometimes a congregation needs more than coverage. It needs clarity. That is where a transitional pastor can be especially helpful. The role is not just to …
Many rural churches have learned how to survive with limited people, limited money, and limited margin. That resilience can be a gift. But sometimes it also creates a habit of isolation. A church can start to think its only options are to do everything alone or not do it at all. That mindset wears leaders …
Rural churches often face homelessness, addiction, and family instability before anyone else sees the pattern. Small towns hide pain differently, not less deeply.
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 …