The question before us seems simple enough. Yet the answer is a bit more elusive than it may appear at first glance. At its most simple, the definition of a rural church would be: A rural church is a body of believers who gather in and serve in a rural community.
But this definition, of course, then begs the question: What is a rural community?
Many folks who are a lot smarter than me have asked this question. There’s not a single, agreed-upon definition of what constitutes a “rural” community. Even the U.S. Census Bureau gives a somewhat unsatisfactory definition: “Rural encompasses all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area.”
In other words, whatever communities aren’t included in metropolitan areas are rural. That’s about as clear as Uncle Dave’s two-year-old motor oil, right?
Rural realities
Even if we don’t have a solid definition of what makes a rural community, we can say with some confidence more than 60 million people live in rural America. This comprises about 20% of the population.
One fascinating statistic, according to the Census Bureau, is 97% of the land mass of the United States is rural, but less than 20% of the population lives there. So, the 80% of the population who live in our metropolitan areas (urban and suburban) only live on 3% of the nation’s land mass.
To put it into perspective, this means all our urban and suburban cities comprise a total area roughly equal to the size of Colorado. Everything else is rural. Those numbers are staggering.
Andy Addis, Rural Strategies Coordinator for the North American Mission Board, and I have come up with the following definition for rural churches: If you’re rural, you know it. Another way we say it is, “Rurality is a mentality.”
While it may seem like we’re sidestepping the issue, we’ve come to realize rural folks function more like a people group than simply a population segment. Here’s what I mean: Rural folks think differently than city folks.
When you’ve grown up in a community where the grocery store closes by 8 p.m., the local hardware store closed 15 years ago, and you’re 45 minutes from the closest Walmart or Home Depot, things function a little bit differently. Often, the mindset that comes from having lived in rurality doesn’t change even if someone moves to “the big city.”
So, I would argue you can have rural churches even amid some of the largest urban centers in the nation. It’s quite possible you have some rural folks in your church, regardless of where your church is located.
Rural churches
In his excellent book, The Forgotten Church, Glenn Daman gives three markers of what encompasses rurality.
- Rurality encompasses the isolation of where people live.
- Rurality encompasses the way people earn their living.
- Rurality encompasses the values people share.
In other words, there’s a shared sense of isolation, a shared economy (think of a community dependent upon something like farming or manufacturing), and a shared set of values. This isn’t to say all rural communities are homogenous; not at all. But there is still some truth to the phrase “small town values.”
These realities bring some unique ministry opportunities. For instance, a rural pastor can serve as a community pastor.
I served in one rural community where I had multiple opportunities to share the gospel and provide pastoral care while shopping in the local grocery store, at the football game on Friday nights, and at the local movie theater before the show started. Most of these were people who never darkened our church’s steps on a Sunday morning but who still considered me to be “their pastor.”
Rural churches matter
In 2010, when NAMB launched the Send Cities initiative, there was an intentional emphasis on church planting in the 30 largest cities across North America. There was a valid reason for this.
As I’ve already mentioned, 80% of the population of the United States lives in urban centers. It made sense to focus church planting efforts on the places where the most people were.
However, as I’ve also mentioned, more than 60 million people live in rural America. These folks need the gospel too. While there’s a need for rural church planting, in many communities, the biggest need is for the existing churches to be healthy, gospel-preaching, disciple-multiplying churches.
Simply put, rural churches matter because rural people matter to the kingdom of God.
Rural churches are as diverse as the communities they serve. You can find some with traditional worship, singing only hymns with a piano and organ, while others will have full praise bands singing the newest worship songs.
You’ll find some rural churches that have served their communities for multiple centuries and rural church plants that have only existed for a few months. Some rural churches will be struggling with just a couple dozen senior adults, while others are vibrant and exciting places with dozens of young families.
There’s no one-size-fits-all definition for rural churches. But what you’ll find in rural churches of all shapes and sizes are people committed to the local church and Great Commission.
So, if you find yourself serving a rural church (however you may define it), don’t lose heart. You’re not serving on the B-team or the JV team of ministry. You’re doing valuable and needed ministry among people who are loved and valued in the kingdom of God.
Note: This article originally appeared at Lifeway Research.
