The church has always been a place for Christians to commune and worship as the body of Christ. However the church is more than just a building to gather in. The ties between a church congregation and its surrounding neighborhood create opportunities to share the Gospel that otherwise might not exist. This is especially true in rural communities. The relationships between Fellowship Community Church (FCC) and Grove City College demonstrate the power of Christian fellowship and the many opportunities it provides for growth within a Christian’s walk of faith.
A Local Congregation Partners with Grove City College
This past Spring, FCC partnered with several Grove City College students through the Center for Rural Ministry’s Plowshare program. The Plowshare Program connects college students interested in becoming integrated within a church community to local rural and small-town churches. Students are asked to attend a partner church for at least one semester and take the opportunity to get to know the members of the congregation.
Students in Dr. Ryan Kelley’s Leadership Management course were presented with three options for a semester-long assignment focused on developing and using leadership skills outside the classroom. One was the opportunity to participate in the CRM’s Plowshare Program. Several students in Dr. Kelley’s class learned about the role that meaningful relationships formed within a congregational community play within the Christian life. Three of those students committed to attending Fellowship Community Church (FCC) for the semester.
For Kelley, the the opportunity to tie intentional service within a congregation to the course objectives of his leadership class aligned well with his longstanding appreciation for the local church. "I believe that being a part of a local church is one of the greatest decisions anyone could ever make. I tell all my students, regardless of the class, that they should get plugged into a local church because it will truly save their lives."
This conviction made partnering with the CRM's Plowshare program an easy decision. "Once I learned that CRM had a Plowshare ministry, I knew I wanted to help contribute in any way I could. I also knew that leadership within local churches can pour into students in ways that go beyond the classroom. Because of that, I wanted my students to get an opportunity to understand leadership that is rooted in the Gospel. I think serving in a church helps develop these skills because it teaches an upside-down approach to what we typically see in our culture. It is easy to believe that subordinates are here to serve the leader, but in the church model, we see leaders serving the body as a means to allow Christ to be at the center of everything that they do. I knew this was an important lesson."
Students Reflect on Plowshare Partnerships
Junior Cade Voller and Seniors Julia Gallagher and Josh Fleming served the church in various ways during Sunday worship. Gallagher played worship music on the piano during the service, cared for the church’s youngest members in the nursery, and helped in the soundbooth. Voller also worked in the soundbooth, and he helped project visual aids on the screen. Fleming welcomed members of the church each week as a greeter and participated in the service by reading Scripture.
Voller described how much he valued the mentorship he received from FCC’s pastor, Joseph Swaim, “Pastor Jody served as someone to come to whenever I had a question about how I could help this week or what I could look forward to next week. That allowed me to intentionally put my all into a specific area each week to assist the church body in the best way possible. Dr. Kelley and the Center for Rural Ministry gave my group a purpose, and Pastor Jody was a guide in helping us fulfill that purpose."
Gallagher expressed her appreciation for the ways that the congregation poured into her as well as the opportunity to connect with FCC’s community.
“Plowshare offers a wonderful opportunity to build meaningful relationships within the congregation. My group and I were invited to attend a local play that had a handful of children from the congregation. It was a joy to see their excitement and happiness at our attendance. The time of fellowship before and after the service also allowed us to connect more deeply with members of the congregation, helping to strengthen both our spiritual growth and social relationships,” Gallagher said.
Cultivating Leaders through Service and Relationship
The College and FCC share another connection. Entrepreneurship Professor Cedric Lewis is an elder at FCC, “I think it is interesting, before I was an elder, it was my affiliation with FCC that precipitated my affiliation with the College. My wife is an alum, but it was a faculty member that attended FCC when my wife and I were dating that made the connection that brought me to the College. Now also, certainly I get to invite my students to worship with us. That is one of my greatest joys, worshipping with the students outside of the time we spend together on campus. I think it is a very different and rewarding relationship,” Lewis said.
Oftentimes, rural communities look to the church for leadership. Therefore, it is important for the church to educate its congregation to embody the servant leadership of Christ as Kelley’s class learned and experienced at FCC. It is equally important for members to take on leadership positions within the church.
Lewis described the call to leadership we all have received as followers of Christ, “We are all commanded to make disciples and to participate in the building of the kingdom. So, when we talk about leadership, to me that's not limited to pastors. We all have a part to play, so leadership is also stepping into that duty as well, none of us are exempt from that role, but ‘leadership’ as we would generally define it, is more. It's actively participating in God's plan for the church by educating, and helping to guide, nurture, train and bring up new generations in the Lord to help disciple others and raise up a new generation of leaders. At the end of the day, leaders are essential for maintaining a faithful and effective congregation to continue to do the Lord’s work until He comes.”
He described Christ as the ultimate model leaders should strive to imitate, “I think, first of all, that example of servant leader, is the model given to us by Christ. So, I think it is one of things we should strive to follow. Leading not out of our own self-interest, but out of humility, love, and a desire to serve our church family and greater community. I think we have all been given gifts to serve the kingdom and for some of us, that includes leadership, but we are all embodied with gifts useful to the Kingdom,” Lewis said.
“I think leadership is a great responsibility of stewardship over the teaching of Word and ensuring that congregations and the church universal, stays grounded in scripture. To oversee and protect a "kingdom mind" against the influences of culture and sin. Leadership puts you in a unique position to not only teach others about the character of Christ, but to also be living examples of it.”
While most people do not have a class dedicated to learning from mentors and building leadership skills, the partnership between FCC, Grove City College and the CRM serves as an example of how the relationships developed within the body of Christ help us grow in our faith as individuals and how they are a vital part of answering Christ’s call to share the Gospel with our communities.
Emily Fox is a senior at Grove City College and a CRM Student Fellow. She grew up in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and is studying English with minors in Writing and Digital Marketing at the college. Post-grad, she hopes to pursue a career in Public Relations.
