Community Connections Archives - The Project on Rural Ministry

August 20, 2020

Leadership Pain

Allan Copenhaver
No pastor can avoid pain entirely. Thriving in ministry over the long haul requires that we navigate challenges and the resulting pain well.

July 8, 2020

How Do We Lead Without the Answers?

Glenn Daman
Perhaps the greatest challenge we face today is not that we lack all the right answers, but the fact that we are asking the wrong questions.

July 24, 2020

Quarantine Songs: History and Tradition in a Changed World

Adam Loretto
Used well, history and tradition can be the soundtracks that help rural churches adapt and develop new practices that meet the needs of a world in flux.

August 5, 2020

The Project on Rural Ministry: The Roots are Deep in Grove City College’s History

P. C. Kemeny
The Project on Rural Ministry is only the most recent example of Grove City College's deep commitment to local pastors and the wider Christian community.

June 24, 2020

Cars, Kids, Crisis, and Construction: Contextualized Rural Ministry

Mark Sentell
Ministry out of a small, rural church is all about contextualization. What is good for an inner city may not be good for the country.

June 2, 2020

The Community is My Parish: A Paradigm for Rural Ministry in Appalachian Communities

Michael Richards
In Appalachia, community-based ministry is an essential part of the pastoral vocation. It also means that pastors need to have a long view of success.

May 21, 2020

Church Re-imagined: How Drive-In Worship and A Willingness to Adapt Have Helped One Rural Church Thrive

Jason Schepp
The last few months have brought many changes in the church. They have also offered an opportunity to re-imagine what church looks like.

April 23, 2020

Feed My Sheep: How One Small-Town Church Is Continuing to Bless Its Community

Elizabeth Yale
As social distancing became the norm, St. John's Church had questions about how to move forward with feeding ministries--ministries that were now more important than ever.

April 7, 2020

Leading A Five-Church Charge Through This Crisis: An Interview With Pastor Janet Pratt

Janet Pratt, Charlie Cotherman
It is difficult enough to lead one congregation through the current COVID-19 crisis. For Janet Pratt, the task is even more complex. As the pastor of a rural five-church charge, she’s finding that the challenges—and the joys—are multiplied.

June 9, 2020

Not Just an Urban Issue: Racism and the Church in Small-Town America

Charlie Cotherman
Only when we in the rural and small-town church reject the assumption that racism is an urban problem, can we step into the work of addressing it.