wfn.org | Is United Methodism losing touch with its rural roots?

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Feb. 25, 1999 Contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-24-71B{103}

A UMNS News Feature
By Tom McAnally*

Sociologists and church leaders are concerned that the United Methodist
Church -- with a third of its members in town and country settings --  may
be losing its rural roots.

Even the definition of a town and country congregation is problematic, they
point out.

"People and congregations don't like to be defined by what they are not,"
explained Judy Heffernan, a United Methodist rural sociologist from
Columbia, Mo., who directs the Heartland Town and Country Network. "We can
fairly easily define what constitutes an urban or suburban congregation, but
it makes us uncomfortable to use town and country as a residual category --
everything that is not urban or suburban.  

"Town and country churches vary greatly," Heffernan said in a telephone
interview with United Methodist News Service. "They are not limited to
little isolated churches at the end of a dirt road."    

She recently visited a village with a population of 20 people where the
United Methodist Church had 204 members and averaged 211 in worship each
Sunday. The congregation finished a new gymnasium in 1992 and has a World
Wide Web site that includes the e-mail addresses of 15 of its college
students.

Heffernan is a member of a Task Force on Comprehensive Plan for Town and
Country Ministries authorized by the church's 1996 General Conference and
organized last August. At their third and most recent meeting, Feb. 12-14 in
St. Louis, task force members heard some of the early findings from a
questionnaire developed by Heffernan and others to get feedback from town
and country congregations. 

The 18-member task force is administratively linked to the churchwide Board
of Global Ministries in New York but also includes members from other
churchwide agencies. The board's Gladys Campbell provides primary staff
support for the group.

Judith Hill, who lives on a family-owned farm in Eastern Colorado, is
chairwoman of the group.  "We don't have time to do everything but we hope
to identify unique problems of  rural and country or town and country
churches," she said. "The challenge for the church is how it can meet some
of those specific needs."

Hill predicted that the survey will show fewer differences on faith issues
between town and country congregations and other congregations but more
differences related to geography and location. Aware of the time constraints
placed on the task force, she said, "We're determined to do the best job we
can."

The group is preparing a preliminary report for the Board of Global
Ministries' governing body in April and a final report in October. Proposals
to the 2000 General Conference must be finalized in November. The task
force's next meeting will be April 30-May 2, in St. Louis.

Every effort is being made to hear from town and country people as the task
force develops its proposals for a comprehensive plan, Heffernan said.
"We're working with a handicap of too little time, but, if nothing else, we
will at least provide an opportunity for town and country people to be
heard. That's a worthy goal in itself." 

Three superintendents in each of the church's U.S. annual conferences were
asked to distribute questionnaires to pastors of three town and country
churches in their districts. Each pastor was then asked to complete the
questionnaire and to recruit three lay persons to do the same.

Survey responses also are being sought from ethnic minority congregations
and members of several special interest organizations, including the United
Methodist Rural Fellowship, the Rural Chaplains Association, and the
National Fellowship of Associate Members and Local Pastors.  

Responses are expected from 500 to 600 chosen congregations as well as
individuals, according to Heffernan. From the responses received already,
she said it is clear that United Methodists in town and country settings
often feel cut off and isolated from the rest of the denomination. And she
believes their concerns are justified.  

"The mentality of many people who wind up in positions of authority in the
church is very urban-oriented," she said. "When church growth is mentioned,
town and country churches are usually excluded from the discussion. The
gurus for church growth forget there are people out there."

She acknowledged the dilemma of providing pastoral leadership in areas of
low population but said the church can't ignore this segment of society.
"Some conferences report that they have 70 percent of their people living in
a few counties. That may be true, but most of the churches are in the other
counties. What are they doing about them? Are we going to write off the
other 30 percent? Are we going to send them qualified  leaders? Hopefully
this comprehensive plan will challenge cabinets to deal with the issue."
Two-thirds of all United Methodist congregations in the United States are in
town and country areas.

Heffernan was reluctant to identify some topics that might be addressed in a
comprehensive plan on town and country ministries until the task forces has
heard from the survey recipients.  However, she spoke with passion about the
importance of town and country churches in the denomination.  

"I would hope that the general church and its boards and agencies would
acknowledge the significant level that these churches play in the United
Methodist Church," she said. "They often give a higher percentage of their
apportionments than congregations elsewhere. I know the total may not be as
great, but they do their share."

She also predicted that a major downturn in the agricultural economy in the
United States will have a "huge impact on town and country churches, even
churches without a lot of farmers in them." She cited the shutdown of a farm
machinery manufacturer in a city as an example. 

Poverty was apparent during a recent drive through the rural Midwest, she
said. Rural families had plastic covering the windows of their homes and hay
bales around the foundation to keep in the warmth. "It looked like the last
world war was fought there and we lost. It was very depressing." 

The day after her phone interview with UMNS, Heffernan was going to Fargo,
N.D., to work with a group of social workers. "These people have been
working the floods," she explained, "but now are shifting to work with the
rural crisis. The Dakotas are really suffering."

Looking toward next year's General Conference in Cleveland, Heffernan cited
that gathering as an example of  how town and country people are
underrepresented. Many small churches are served by local pastors,
individuals who are not annual conference members and therefore cannot vote
on delegates to the top legislative body, she said. "They not only won't be
delegates to General Conference; they can't even vote on those who do go,"
she exclaimed.

Members of the task force, including elected members and church agency
staff, are: Heffernan; Hill; Campbell; Erin Carroll, Stewart, Ohio; Pete
Gomez, Espanola, N.M.; Evelyn Banks, Marianna, Ark.; the Rev. Ed Kail,
Kansas City, Mo.; Gary Locklear, Pembroke, N.C.; the Rev. Sharon Schwab,
Worthington, Pa.; the Rev. Mel West, Columbia, Mo.; the Rev. Elliott Wright,
New York; Julia Wallace, Nashville, Tenn.; Newtonia Coleman, Nashville,
Tenn.; Mark Harrison, Washington; Constance Barnes, Washington; and Robert
Kohler, Nashville, Tenn.  

# # #

*McAnally is director of United Methodist News Service.

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United Methodist News Service
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