By Patrick Bowler
Valley Life Church (Lebanon, OR)
Sorting through the “junk drawer…”
Every home has one. The infamous catchall spot known to most as the “junk drawer.” The reason we all have one of these drawers is because we all have items in our homes that lack a particular compartment of their own. These drawers are full of old keys (for some reason, we have this innate, unexplainable fear of throwing them out), batteries (your best guess at whether they are good or not), spare shoelaces, paper clips, twist ties, plug-in air-freshener refills, lighters, clothes hangers, loose toothpicks, lots of pennies and orange-handled scissors. Where else are you going to put miscellaneous items like these? I find it interesting that nothing of considerable value ever ends up in the junk drawer. You’re not going to find Grandma’s diamond earrings in there. Why? Because items of value have a designated spot of their own. The junk drawer is for the inconsequential. It is my guess that for most of us, the entire contents of that particular drawer could be thrown out and we wouldn’t miss a thing. Am I right?
“Rural America” as a category feels a bit like a demographic “junk drawer.” Demographers and sociologists alike seem to work tirelessly studying and defining metropolitan America and its effects on American culture as a whole. But when confronted with our country’s more rural pockets, there seems to be an uncertainty as to what to do with them. Rural America ends up tossed in a drawer right next to the dried out shoe polish. Even the U.S. Census Bureau tends to define rural America by exclusion, defining it as follows, “All territory, population, and housing units not classified as urban.” Basically, rural communities are what urban communities are not. Metropolitan America remains the standard with it’s 83 percent of the country’s population, leaving the remaining 17 percent marginalized in some unspecified drawer somewhere.[1]
Not a BIG enough vision…
The proverb, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18; KJV) presents us with a clear leadership problem. Now, before the people cry “foul!”, I should point out another translation of this same passage of scripture. The English Standard Version (ESV) offers us this slightly nuanced perspective; “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint.” Though this version does not remove the leadership problem, it does remove the victim card from the deck of the people. It looks as if they perish at their own hand. But leadership nonetheless remains a clear component.
Rural America needs movement leaders just as metropolitan America do. Pastors, church planters, network coordinators and movement leaders are as much a staple in the countryside as in our cities. There is a huge need for Gospel-centered churches to be planted in rural communities across the country. There are people in smaller towns looking for good, solid, biblical teaching—centered on the cross and mobilized on mission and it is tragic if the best thing we can tell them is to get an iPod. There are churches all over the rural landscape dying for lack of a prophetic, apostolic vision. Viewing rural America as inconsequential to the broader mission and trusting that the overflow of urban ministry will make it “down river” to our rural communities is not a big enough vision. Small towns need called, qualified, and capable men to help get them out of the junk drawer and back on the shelf.
[1] Richard E. Wood, Survival of Rural America (Lawrence, KA: University Press of Kansas, 2008), p. xi.
The Middle of Somewhere~ 
are all your blog posts about how rural churches get the short end of the stick? and actually as I read these, it’s not even like you guys get the short end of the stick. doesn’t seem like you get shafted much. nothing really bad ever happens to you. it’s just that you don’t feel like you guys don’t get recognized in high esteem by “urban churches” (which is not how those churches view themselves unless they’re deep in some metropolitan down town area; in fact most would just see themselves as small churches with many the same problems as “rural” churches so I think the dichotomy is an artifice altogether). so your pride is hurt? is that it? the big boys look down on you “rural churches” (a precept I still don’t accept btw). seems like a severe case of wounded pridefulness to me. seems even more like someone has an oedipal complex for “urban church pastors”.
Scott, thanks for weighing in. These posts are not aimed at urban churches and their perception of the more rural churches; they are aimed at the rural churches and their pastors and their perception of themselves. I too want to avoid a dichotomy. As a rural planter in a predominately urban/metropolitan church planting network (Acts 29), I have spoken with many rural pastors and planters who suffer from discouragement and isolation. They tend to view themselves as inferior and having little to offer. My aim is to come alongside them and push back on the lies regarding their work… lies that tend to be in their own heads. My case is that rural churches need movement leaders too. They need called, gifted, and qualified men just as the cities do. Small town ministry is not invalid or second rate. I desire to see these men encouraged and equipped. If what you heard is “we are better than them,” then I apologize.
I would also add that this blog is merely a week old. These initial posts are meant to encourage rural pastors in their work; to see these guys validated (not at all at the vilification of the urban guys). I expect to cover a variety of topics as well feature a variety of bloggers as things get more underway.
I appreciate you taking the time to respond. My hope is that the conversation will be helpful to many.
If anything (being the son of a pastor) I see I see the real differences by every metric between big and small churches. not urban and rural. but I also wonder why there’s no mention of visionary women in any of this? why can’t female pastors contribute? or is it just a grammatical oversight?
“There are people in smaller towns looking for good, solid, biblical teaching—centered on the cross and mobilized on mission and it is tragic if the best thing we can tell them is to get an iPod.”
I’m fairly new to a rural area, and am finding this to be true for me. I long for just this kind of church to belong to and be involved with, and so far in my search I am coming up empty. Surely there are people in this town with a passion for following God, and for teaching based on scripture! I just don’t know where they go to church.
I’m not a pastor, so I’m not sure if my comment here is even productive or adding to the conversation… But I find this blog particularly interesting, as I’d love it if a passionate visionary-type pastor planted a church here. I’ll keep looking for it.