Rural Now: Some Thoughts on Rural Mission

Many years ago I heard a lecture on missionary work by Lynn Green, the then International Director of Youth with a Mission. Lynn outlined the work of Don Richardson an American Missionary who worked from the principle that God is always ahead of a missionary and it’s the missionary’s role to identify where God is already working and to connect with this and interpret the signs of God at work to the community. See Don Richardson’s books: Peace Child and Eternity in Their Hearts.

In my mind this is what Jesus may have meant by "Seek First the Kingdom of God", i.e. our first priority is to identify where God is already at work in our communities and then and only then to proclaim that God is already at work in that community and the good news that God has come among us in Jesus.

One example of this is the concept of redemptive analogies; these are stories and traditions embedded in a culture which speak of the Trinitarian God of love. For example Don Richardson refers to Saint Paul on Mars Hill using the altar to an unknown God as the starting point for his proclamation of the good news of Christ. He goes on to recall stories from his missionary work in various cultures, contexts and the different redemptive analogies and how building on these this has resulted in the successful proclamation of the gospel and how whole communities have been turned to Christ.

In many ways the work of Don Richardson is similar to the work of the Catholic Missionary, Vincent Donovan, who engages in a process of dialogue with the Masai people of East Africa. Donovan had identified that after over the 100 year of traditional missionary work in the area where the Masai people lived, providing schools and hospitals, very few had connected with the church and become Disciples of Christ. He therefore left the apparent security of the mission compound and travelled to be with the Masai people and engaged in a process of dialogue and discussion. See Donovan's Book Christianity Rediscovered

Donovan finds that in Masai culture there are many stories which can be used to point to the one true and living God. Donovan’s work is outlined in his seminal book “Christianity Rediscovered”, which tell the stories of how through dialogue and discussion and establishing relationships with community elders, whole Masai community together turn to or reject Christ.

This aspect of working with whole communities may come as a surprise to many evangelical Christians today with what has become a traditional emphasis on personal salvation and individuals turning to Christ. However, I suspect it was how many communities in England where originally evangelised. If we look at scripture we see that the great commission in Mathew 28v19 also implies working with communities rather than individuals:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

The word for who is to be made disciples is clearly “nations” and thus Jesus is not referring to individuals but rather groups of people or a community with their own identities. In fact the Greek word that is used here is “ethnic” from which we get our word ethnic i.e. a community of shared values and culture rather than a political state.

Now I know from a career working with rural communities in Shropshire, Cumbria and Yorkshire that each rural village and community is different and has its own shared values, understanding and belief structures which will be different from a neighbouring village, that may be just a couple of miles away. This is possibly one of the reasons why it’s difficult for different villages to work together as multi parish benefices and why it’s unlikely to find people from village willing to travel to another community to worship. As many rural clergy will tell you it is like pushing mud up hill and more often than not we are better off finding ways for people to gather in their communities to worship.

Now if the emphasis is on bringing a community to Christ rather than an individual how do we go about this in rural England particularly, if the community has become alienated from the life of the local church?

If we are first to seek the Kingdom of God, our first priority must be to observe and listen to the community and discern where God is already at work. I.e. where are there signs of his Kingdom emerging? Where are captives being set free, where is love being sown rather than hatred, where are people finding ways to love and serve there neighbours and who are the people of peace, that Jesus in Luke 10 tells us to connect with.

One way to do this is to follow the footsteps of Vincent Donovan by this I don’t mean by making a trip to Africa. What I mean is that we must leave our church buildings and church community and engage with the wider community where they are at, rather than expecting people to come in to our buildings and to join our communities. I.e. church starts with the church community going out rather than expecting the wider community to visit our buildings and to join our communities.

A good example of this is the “Church About the Dale” project. This is an ecumenical project based in Wensleydale. Here different churches have worked together; have purchased an exhibition trailer which they take to the local agricultural shows. Besides providing children’s activities and literature on various support services such as the Farm Community Network, the space provides an opportunity for people from churches to listen to the stories of the local community and to connect with people in their environment rather than expecting them to come in to a church building.

In a similar way the Church on Show stand at the Great Yorkshire Show provides an opportunity for thousands of people each year to connect with Christian spirituality in a friendly and welcoming context without the need to visit a church because the Church has come to them.

If we are to work with communities rather individuals we may first have to find ways in which communities can gather together around shared experiences and understanding and baptise these activities for Christ. If we look at English history and culture stretching back over the years we find that the seasons of the year are profoundly important. It’s something that is imbedded in our culture and is a key driver of our conversations which are often about the weather and the changing seasons.

The changing seasons are also intrinsically linked to Anglican churches year and the seasons of the pagan calendar which predated it and can still be found in the traditions of the Sami people of Scandinavia.

Unsurprisingly there is a pattern of community events connected with the changing of seasons. In fact this pattern is reflected in the historic quarter days and festivals which are often associated with our community gatherings and celebrations.

· Christmas: December 25 (Christmas parties)

· Lady Day: March 25 (Around Easter)

· Feast of John the Baptist/mid-summer: June 24 (Village fates and well dressing)

· Michaelmas: September 29^th (Harvest festivals and rush bearing)

In addition to this are other traditional community/ church gathering points which fit neatly in-between.

· November (bonfire night and remembrance)

· Feb (beginning of spring – Mothering Sunday

· May (Whitsun May Day etc.)

· July/ August (Agricultural shows traditional Lamas or first harvest)

It’s therefore possible for churches either to be present at community events and shows, thereby providing an opportunity for dialogue, service and discussion or to organise events outside their buildings, which connect with the wider community and their interests and concerns.

If these events are arranged on a regular basis is possible to build on the quarterly festivals by adding extra events so there are eight to twelve community/faith events for people to gather around. Gradually a pattern of regular worship and fellowship by the whole community can be established and whole community can together respond as one to Christ.

For example a year could include the following

January	Plough Sunday blessing of the agricultural year.
February	Candlemas or Saint Valentes Blessing of Married couples and those in Love combined with a village Dance
March	Easter services Palm Sunday processions with donkey and the blessing of cattle as they are turned out of their barns for the summer grazing
April	Out-door Lambing Service
May	Parish /Rogation Walk / Blessing of May Pole linked to Trinity Sunday or Pentecost
June	Well Dressing / services by the river linked to Fest of John the Baptist and open air baptisms
July	Village/ Agricultural show service and church stand
August	Summer Barbecue, Garden Party social fund raising event for the Farm Community Network, RABI, Addington Fund etc. ending with compline.
September	Harvest service and supper
October	Pet/ Animal blessing and service of St Francis
November	Remembrance/ All souls/ Light party
December	Christingle / carol singing around the village nativity on a farm.