The Rural Missioner’s Guild is a new, prayerful initiative supporting rural churches, communities, and those who serve within them. Hosted by The Arthur Rank Centre, the Guild has been established as an intentionally ecumenical space, drawing together Christians from across traditions who share a commitment to rural life, faithful presence, and long-term mission in local places.
The Guild was launched at Ripon Cathedral on 30 January 2026, in the presence of Bishop Anna Eltringham of Ripon, and is being developed in partnership with the Anglican Diocese of Leeds, The Methodist Church, and Churches Together in England. From the outset, it has been shaped by a shared conviction that rural mission is best sustained when churches work together, learning from one another and holding rural communities in prayer.
Membership of the Guild is open to anyone with a heart for rural life. This includes clergy and lay leaders, chaplains, those involved in farming and land-based work, and those who simply wish to stand alongside rural churches and communities through prayer and encouragement. At its core, the Guild is about belonging, prayer, and mutual support.
Each year, on St Isidore’s Day (15 May), the Guild will recognise an individual who has made a significant contribution to rural life and mission. Alongside this, the Guild will help seed new local expressions of rural mission through a small grants fund, supporting churches and groups as they respond creatively to the needs of their communities.
The Rural Missioner’s Guild seeks to affirm the quiet, faithful work already taking place across rural Britain, and to strengthen it through shared prayer, ecumenical partnership, and a renewed sense of calling to serve God’s people in rural places.