Churches in rural contexts often face a unique set of challenges. Much of England can be defined as rural yet often the focus is on urban or suburban contexts. However the opportunity for churches to work together to effectively serve the needs of the local community can sometimes have a greater impact, because of the size of a particular community; whether a hamlet, village or market town.
Until 2021 The Churches Rural Group met three times a year to consider the joys and challenges of churches working together in rural contexts. The Group is now closed and looking to be potentially be reconstituted in the future. The CRG was linked to the International Rural Churches Association which gathers every 4 years.
In 2019 The Council for Christian Unity produced excellent research entitled Doing Mission Together, surveying how churches were working together through evangelism and social action in small to medium-sized market towns.
Resources
There are a range of excellent resources for churches in rural contexts to draw on, including:
An excellent 2024 piece of research from Dr Stephanie Denning entitled Rural Britains Hidden Struggles: Insights from the Cotswolds is helpful in assessing the challenges in rural settings where poverty is often unnoticed.
The Arthur Rank Centre: an independent ecumenical charity aimed at supporting an encouraging rural mission and ministry. They long to see confident rural Christians. An excellent recent book How Village Churches Thrive: A Practical Guide was published in 2022. They also coordinate the Rural Mission and Ministries Course which is an ecumenical training course co hosted by the Methodist Church.
Rural Ministries was established in 1962 with a vision to see the countryside served by people of mission who are grace-filled, God-empowered and contextually relevant. They have a number of resources and training events aimed at rural Christians.
Rural Missions is a Christian charity that specialises in serving rural churches throughout the UK, providing encouragement and support to enable them to engage with their local communities to express God’s love and share the good news.
The Agricultural Chaplains Association are the only ecumenical Association that specialises in caring for Agricultural and Rural Chaplains, Farming Support Chaplains, Rural Support Officers, Diocesan Rural Life Advisers and Rural Officers working throughout the churches.