JTerm2011 Rural Ministry Paper

Hello everyone!
I know its been a long time since my last post. Needless to say, last semester was quite brutal...but I somehow made it through. I went back to Dallas area for Christmas break and worked with my former employer all during break, except on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, then started my J-Term. NOT much time for rest, but it was still nice to be at least in a warmer climate! I sincerely am saddened that I didn't get a real chance to spend a lot of quality time with some people, but hey...its just the way things are right now!
So this post is really about my JTerm project. I chose to work in Brenham, TX area working in Rural Ministry - something I hadn't done before. So below is my final paper and I will also attach several pics I took. Happy reading!

Rural Ministry in Washington, Burton and Fayette Co. TX
JTerm 2011 Project for R. Rivera

Rural ministry is often defined as a small town church setting where financial issues are prevalent, mission outreach is a foreign subject and churches whose main objective is to “stay open”; thereby making some smaller churches being more about self preservation rather than doing the mission of Christ to spread the Good News of Christ salvation for us all. Having just spent three weeks working in several rural congregations in Washington and Fayette counties in Brenham, TX area, I can say my eyes have been opened to the reality of what we are being trained to do as leaders of the church. Smaller churches are a living heartbeat in these smaller communities who are grasping to hold on to their historical identities. Holding onto a generational loyalty of the core foundations of our Lutheran faith, while being driven, many cases to do whatever to necessary to do just that!
My rural ministry project was to observe and hopefully learn some challenges in rural ministry that are unique or different from a large church setting. There are 2 strong points I learned, #1 – Rural Ministry is first and foremost about people. In my opinion, larger churches tend to get so “caught up” in the “business” side of running the church that they often fall short of forgetting the people they serve and who they should be serving for! Smaller churches have an “edge” on being part of each parishioner’s lives, largely because most parishioners are involved in many facets of the ministry. While this seems to “wear out” members in large congregations, smaller congregations see it as a lifeline- an ordinary part of their lives; often being so dedicated to church simply because “that’s the way it’s always been done”. #2 – Amongst the challenges of most rural ministry is the notion that there is no sense of mission in its congregations. While two of the congregations I worked in do need work in this area (and the these Pastors are committing to work on this), the Shared Lutheran Ministry (SLM) I worked in for one week is thriving and doing well in this area.
The SLM is a combined ministry of 4 ELCA Lutheran churches in Fayette County. In SLM, there are a lot of things each respective community is doing right to foster a great sense of mission and outreach in their communities; some of these things include two major community efforts that I toured this week, one is called “Second Chance”, the other “A.M.E.N.” just to name a few. “A.M.E.N” stands for Area Ministerial Emergency Need. Second Chance is basically a “good will type store” operated by 2-3 paid personnel, but primarily run by volunteers from 12 area churches (including SLM) in the La Grange area. All donations come from the surrounding communities; while the funds received all are used to fund humanitarian efforts in the area. Each of the churches rotate on a volunteer schedule to assist in running the establishment and each church has one representative who sits on a Board in making decisions about how funds are spent. Most of the funds are used to fund the first organization “A.M.E.N”.
“A.M.E.N” started originally as a local Food Pantry. The organization has grown in 10 years to now also function as a means for emergency financial need for people within their communities. Pastor Lee, Director of A.M.E.N., said, “The people who run this city understands the need for this service, so they do everything and anything to help us. It is a blessing for many people in our community”. No church in the area receives money back from any of these programs. It ALL goes back into the community thereby creating a great sense of community outreach and keeping the congregations focused on their “Christian calling”.
I spent some time learning about some of the major issues of rural ministry. I had an opportunity to speak to a C.A.S.A. (Court Appointed Special Advocate) case worker, a social worker, a family practice lawyer and other Pastors in the area. All agreed that some major issues include: 1) generational vs. situational poverty, 2) Lack of education in smaller communities and 3) lack of city/community support and programs for extreme rural community needs.
Several sources described poverty as a major issue. I had never thought severe poverty would be a major issue in smaller communities, but it does exist. Pastor Lee of A.M.E.N said “generational poverty is more prevalent because many people in smaller communities have lived with limited resources from one generation to another; so much so that they simply “do not know any better””. Due to lack of education, many do not know how to cook simple things like pinto beans. He shared in our interview that many times when his staff is leaving for the day, that they check the grounds for food that has been thrown away, because many times they find perishable food thrown in the ditches simply because some of the people they help do not know how to cook them! (This is why his organization now offers basic cooking lessons!) Conversely, situational poverty is quite different. This occurs from some emergency situation that arises in which people do not properly or appropriately plan for; like losing a job. Many people in their communities would rather go hungry than ask for help because of their pride. This is a rising issue and at the heart of what A.M.E.N. seeks to remedy.
The social worker I spoke with said that the primary problem for majority of her clients is lack of education. In smaller communities, there is simply no drive to see a need for education. It is not viewed as something that is important; this concept is often generational. Many of her clients never finish high school and young people are having children at an alarming rate which is causing more court cases for children being abused, abandoned or neglected; (which I also had an opportunity to see in a court setting) many just ends up being put in state or city run homes. This could potentially be avoided if smaller communities would foster an urgent need of care for this demographic. It is my opinion that there should be a shift from this repetitive behavior in order for there to be improvements in these smaller communities. So where does the church play a part in this? The social worker shared that churches could help by offering their facilities to offer parenting classes, after school tutoring programming and resources for poverty stricken families. Some congregations are unwilling to open their churches to a demographic that stereotypically could change the way their church is viewed (a self-preservation mentality issue). However, in some cases, the issue is not that they do not want to help, it is a matter of the church’s’ location in proximity to the major part of its community. They cannot help where they are located! Many of the small churches are in extreme rural locations from its surrounding main city, thus preventing people who need the help to be able to get to their respective locations. Perhaps if some communities would work together for transportation this could be an issue that could be solved.
The final major issue is the lack of city or community support. Smaller communities seem more interested in their own growth rather than assisting and helping the people in their own communities. Some small communities just don’t offer or don’t have the resources to put together support for their own communities. If smaller churches could play an active role in their communities and strive to reach out to the people in their own communities, then perhaps a change could occur. This is difficult because in most cases, smaller churches lack the resources for dramatic change; but with some small steps to get involved in community efforts, perhaps a change can occur.
The churches I worked in, while I found some unique issues that are more prevalent in smaller churches; they do suffer from the similar issues that are found in the larger churches. These issues include but are not limited to a decline in membership, financial issues and lack of stable continuing education for its members. All the churches I visited are trying to do “some kind” of parish educational programming. Some were more successful than others. Rehburg’s church was more advanced in their educational programming than the others, due to more regular attendance, strong parental involvement and a combined confirmation class ministry (grouping with 4-5 other Lutheran churches). I believe their efforts are showing what can happen when educational programming is a priority, in that it was the one of the only churches I spent time in, in which their attendance is growing. In fact, this congregation was recognized in their Synod for having the most significant growth last year! Their successful programming I believe is largely due to the enthusiasm and creative teaching style of their Pastor. This is not to say that the other church’s Pastors are not working as hard, but it does show the significant difference that parental involvement and driven parishioners who understand the importance of continuing education can make in a small congregation’s growth.
At the heart of all the churches I worked in was worship. In all the churches, many committee were not formed, however, music and worship seems to be most active. SLM has a strong worship and music team in place. They work tirelessly in planning worship and selected all the hymns to be used collaboratively, being careful to review which organist would be available and not afraid to step away from traditional music and liturgy to best keep the interest of their respective congregations. While each congregation does try to introduce new music, most seem set on basic standard liturgy, possibly afraid to do too much change at one time! Trying to change something they have done for years and years is a challenge in ANY congregation. All the churches I visited do have a strong music and worship committees in place, some more organized than others. It is my opinion that a church which does not exercise some willingness for occasional changes in their worship experience may lead to a stagnant worship experience for younger congregants who are thirsty for a change which can breathe new life in their worship experience and the congregants.
When I started this project, I had no idea what to expect and I truly had no idea what rural ministry was really about. I suppose I had not thought about where poverty in our communities truly lies. I had not seen how important social and economic issues in these rural towns can play such a huge factor in a small churches existence. As a future leader of the church, I hope to be an advocate for change in rural ministry mentality while also catering to the delicate needs of a smaller church in a small community. There is no doubt that rural ministry is here to stay, there are some loyal dedicated congregants in Texas who will tell you that they will do whatever is necessary to survive. I hope to stand for change in rural ministry that will serve the greater church and further the mission of Christ for many years to come. Thank you to all the churches that assisted me in this project and especially the Pastors and staff for their willingness to share and work with me. I hope this experience was beneficial for each of you as it was for me. Many blessings on your continued ministries!