Thursday, 30 June 2016

“Have we lost the glue that holds our rural communities together?”

At a recent meeting of Christians who work or are involved in rural matters from local authorities, businesses, agriculture, the third sector and churches, one of the concerns that became apparent was the loss of the glue that binds rural communities together.   This glue was not one particular aspect of rural life which had been lost but rather something less physical; something like magnetism or the rhythm of the tides, the loss of which has meant that people are less connected and less supportive of one another.

For several months I have been reflecting on this and then a comment at Rural Action Yorkshire staff team meeting the Chair, Jan Thornton used the words “Social Ballet” to describe community life.

This was like firing the starting gun in my mind and I was quickly making some notes as I reflected on this phrase and the idea that living in a rural community is like being part a “dance”.  What’s more I could see connections with the idea of God as Trinity.  In some branches of Christian theology is the idea, that the three persons of the Trinity (Father Son and Spirit) are not only co-equal but that they are in a perpetual loving and supportive relationship as they dance together.  As Jonathan Marlowe puts it “The early church fathers and mothers looked at that dance (perichoresis) and said, (That’s what the Trinity is like.) It’s a harmonious set of relationship in which there is mutual giving and receiving.”

Reflecting on this I can see that in a traditional villages such as the one where I was born there were several shops, church, Chapel, village school, women’s institute, pub, village hall committee running events such as fruit and veg shows and a Cricket club which held an annual barn dance and pig roast which was attended by young and old.

I can even remember the first village hall folk dance I attended where a band lead the music, a caller explained the steps and called the moves of dances such as Strip the Willow and the Gay Gordon’s.

Since then many of these touch points where people meet and interact have been lost. The result is that people see each other less often, have less interaction and will clearly know and appreciate one another other less well as the relationships have become weaker.

It also perhaps explains why people in towns and cities feel they are isolated. As although there may be a myriad of places to shop, play sport, eat out or worship, the people that are at each of these places are different so relationships are, as a result, likely to be superficial and shallow.

In terms of addressing the loss of glue in our rural communities it’s not so much as their being one magic bullet or even one particular initiative such as a luncheon club, fresh expression of church that’s required to turn things around. It’s the development of a whole series of these so that people are able to make connections throughout the week with all members of the community at some point.


Two things I think are needed to be borne in mind in this process. Firstly, the need to realise that community and context has changed. Patterns of work and demographics have changed in rural communities so that the age profile is likely to be older. So perhaps rather than say constantly trying to prop up a cricket club perhaps  the answer is for a cricket club to transform itself into croquet or bowls club.  

Secondly the answer is not one particular initiative or one group such as the church or the village hall to see themselves as the saviour of community life but for each to look for ways to act in concert so that all may thrive.  Generating different occasions and providing places where people can come together and build their common life together.

Rural Action Yorkshire has perhaps put their finger on this by producing a list of 52 (Almost) Painless Things Your Community Can Do!. With ideas ranging from: Setting up an oil-buying cooperative, starting a community choir or holding a wine-tasting evening.

From a church perspective this isn’t about the church being the centre, it’s about recognising that God works through all people of peace and goodwill in the community to bring about change for the common good.  We are called to seek and proclaim the good news of the Kingdom.  If we open our eyes and ears we see and hear stories of the Kingdom all around us, of God at work in and beyond our churches. If God can use an ass to direct Balham in Numbers 22 or the King of Salem known as (Melchizedek) to bless Abraham then surely he can use people beyond our churches to speak and bless our communities. We shouldn’t be like Balham and his ass and ignore them at our peril but rather like Abraham and Melchizedek seek out people of peace, acknowledge the blessings they bring and then working with others as co-workers bring blessings to the whole community.

Perhaps this is what’s so special about the rural church. Where the edges between church and community become fuzzy and where people in churches embed themselves in the community so that everyone is blessed.

Producing a myriad of initiatives providing opportunities for people in our communities to come together building up our common life and join the social dance as Jan puts it.  Rather than sitting on the side watching others.  May be we will then regain that community glue of the social dance.  Perhaps we can then dance like the community of Mabou on Cape Breton Island in Canada I once visited. Here folk-dancing is so imbedded in village life that there was no need for a caller at the village Cèilidh, everyone joined in and all knew the steps and the tunes. 

Watch the people of Mabou dance in their village hall here 



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