Pastoral Strengths and Challenges in Rural Ministry

Director, Dr. Trisha Wheelock

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As part of the Kick Off, pastors participate in an interview with a Grand View faculty member. Here are several themes from the 2023 cohort related to pastoral strengths, challenges, and what they hope to get out of the project:

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What are your strengths as a rural pastor?

• Developing relationships with people and relating to people

• Grounded in all God does, willingness to meet people where they are at and serve alongside

• Background in connecting people to resources, being willing to get out into the community

• Able to meet people where they are, ability to relate to people

• Relatability as has lived in similar communities, has office hours for drop-ins

• Remembering how people are connected, getting energized from being with people

• Willing to live where the congregation lives (parsonage), visiting and connecting with people

• Tenacity

• Understands rural life, connecting well with people

• Aware of how small communities work (cliques, being an outsider or insider) and thus being aware of who is not being included; ability to think outside the box

• Grew up in an agricultural community so knows the lingo, likes getting to know people

• Understands farming and can speak the language

• Experience in communications and marketing and identity, helping with technology

• Helping the multi-point congregations understand shared ministry

• Appreciation for the cycle of rural life; as an introvert, doesn’t have strong social needs

• Listens well, has a good sense of prayer, thoughtful, honest, not trite.

• Developing relationships

• Connecting with people, visitation, getting past the small talk, good preacher

• Has always gravitated to older people, loves hearing their stories; making personal connections

 

What are your challenges as a rural pastor?

• Finding time for myself and having boundaries (say “no”)

• To remain committed to have “the main thing be the main thing” and not be distracted

• Isolation, especially with being single. Being a woman

• Always feels as though should be doing more due to limited resources

• Time management as must balance amount of time given to each congregation

• Being alone in the office or isolated from people; no colleagues nearby; being a woman

• Everyone has an opinion rooted in history of the church; navigating nuanced realities of discussions (discussions are not always about what they seem to be about)

• Knowing everyone in the community, technology (church doesn’t have ANY)

• Scheduling time off to rejuvenate

• Lack of personal friendships in people who don’t have anything to do with the church

• Being at a church that has never had a female pastor

• Trusting self of being capable of being a pastor; being young, single, a woman

• Working with youth

• Is a very different pastor than the one at the congregation previously; being an introvert so activities that require extroversion are exhausting; having multiple “bosses”

• Personally unorganized, which can affect communication, isolation

• Being expected to go to everything in the small community; working with conservative attitudes

• Cannot have ministry of presence as members don’t reach out when they have a problem

• Being a woman, feeling as though only gets invited to community events to bless the food; community doesn’t reach out with concerns until after they are addressed; being a city person

• Administration and feeling as though must make all the decisions

• Congregants who want to help are not able to physically; those who are physically able are busy; lack of ability or willingness to get new ministries off the ground

 

What are you hoping to get from the Moses Project?

• A community of people to turn to for support and advice (and to be able to give the same)

• Doesn’t want to be a pastor that just does the bare minimum. Feels as though they have been “white knuckling it” for a while.

• Community and structure

• How to better make a difference in the community and more effectively spread the word

• New insights, new knowledge perspective, working with peers/mentors outside current context

• Collegiality with others from rural areas, physically being at Grand View

• Connections with those in similar contexts, collaboration, mutual learning

• Collaborate with people who understand the rural context and lack of resources

• Camaraderie, learning about pastoral imagination, learning and reading

• Energy, revitalization

• Continuing education that translates to rural ministry, connection to colleagues/collegiality

• Building relationships with colleagues; has felt as though has lost their way

• Ideas from cohort, new enthusiasm for ministry

• Discernment as to whether the work is so difficult that they should not be in ministry

• Collegiality, connection, guided readings

• Diversity in books provided, having a cohort and mentor

• Personal encouragement through listening to the stories of others; to be reinvigorated

• Discernment as things have been “ugly” and has looked for jobs outside the church

• Intentional getting together with people, healthy communication with other pastors, having accountability

• Fulfill community education requirements, have a network of people to support and get support

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