"Two men looked out from behind prison bars; one saw mud, the other stars." Thus describes rural pastoral ministry. Here are some positive challenges I’ve seen in my decade of pastoring rural churches… I like knowing a majority of the people in town. There’s a power in going into the store and calling most everybody there by name. Not every person will know your name, but they’ll likely know you as "that Wesleyan minister."

There is generally a traditional mindset in rural churches. While this can also be a detriment, what it means is that national trends take longer to arrive in full force. Coming up with a policy on same-sex marriage isn’t really an issue in Doaktown yet. Rural pastoring allows for a more flexible schedule, at least in my experience. Not to say that you’re not kept busy, but people don’t tend to live by the Day-Timer (or PDA…) as rigidly. Just stopping in to the local hardware store or coffee shop and "chewing the fat" is appreciated, maybe even expected. Generally, smaller communities make it easier to get together with other pastors as well. When I pastored in Crystal, Maine, a very rural place, I had a wonderful relationship with most of the other pastors. We were friends and colleagues. We knew what was happening in the others’ churches. It was real fellowship.

In rural churches you often find yourself following in someone else’s shadow. What that means is that there are heroes to look up to, brave pioneers whose legacies pave the way for your success. They laid the foundation for you to build on, and people in town speak highly of them. Of course, there are the negative challenges of rural pastoring, some of which sound similar to the positive ones…

Sometimes a previous pastor’s legacy can cause you grief too. If they messed up (which is often a subjective thing), then you’ll be the first to hear it, and it might even be held against you. And if the pastor was a success (which again is a subjective thing), then living up to his or her standards may be nigh impossible. And don’t forget the wife too. I remember the summer we moved to a new church, and at the Sunday school picnic, in full view of my wife, someone said, "Oh, I sure miss Mrs. ______. She was so much fun." This great lady had been gone for some time, but her legacy will outlast ours.

Another thing about the traditional mindset – that applies to church tradition as well. I don’t know how hard it is to create an atmosphere of change in an urban church, but it isn’t easy in a rural one. Sometimes you have to lower your expectations of what you’d like to see happen. When you don’t have enough resources, whether they be people, or facilities, or finances, you may have to expect less. Now, sometimes God gives a vision and He’ll provide the resources to do it. But other times you have to make due with what you already have. This means you may not have a vibrant children’s ministry, music ministry, youth ministry, and/or senior’s ministry. People may leave your church to go to bigger places that have these things.

There is a trend in our society to move out of rural areas. In the last 4 years, I have lost 4 young families, all leaders in the church, a total of 19 people, to jobs elsewhere. I’m not saying urban churches wouldn’t miss 19 people, but that’s half my Doaktown congregation. Rural churches often have to deal with losing young families because of employment. Rural areas often treat outsiders as what we native Grand Mananers call SFA – Strangers From Away. This is, you’re not from here, you’re not one of us, you never will be, and everybody knows it. Now, not every church treats every outsider this way. But small towns and small churches often have cliques that outsiders such as pastors can’t break into. They may love you, but you’ll never be one of them. And this can be a real challenge, especially since rural churches are so driven by the personality of the pastor.

Personally, I have gained great comfort from two books over my years. Not The Purpose Driven Church and Natural Church Development. Well, they’re good too, though I’ve never been able to apply them. No, the books I mean are The Heart of a Great Pastor by H.B. London and Neil Wiseman, and How to Thrive as a Small-Church Pastor by Steve Bierly. The first is great for anyone, and the second is great for anyone who thinks theirs is a small church.

Someone once said, "God must love small rural churches – He made enough of them." We who pastor one or two should remember that God’s plans of redemption include us, even if we never make a noticeable difference in the world.