I would like to recommend a post from Matt at Catching Meddlers – an excellent summary of Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures
Previously, I had considered the emerging movement to be taking place primarily in cities, but I agree that building missional communities does not depend on the location of any particular congregation. In rural / small town settings there may be a greater potential to build effective relationships and community. However, I also recognize that it may be more difficult to build a different type of community in a setting where relationships may tend to be more stable and long standing.
What do you think?
- Have you had experience / witnessed the emerging movement in the church in rural / small town settings?
- What is the potential for the emerging movement in rural / small town settings?
Rev. Andrew Conard 
6 replies on “Emerging Movement in Rural Congregations”
The point about stable & long standing relationships is very true. A Church has to be willing to restructure the way they think about things and be open to change.
Matt – Thanks for your response, and again for the original post. 🙂 I think that being willing to restructure and open to change may not be easy regardless of the setting in which a congregation exists.
Andrew
Have you seen Sanctus? It’s based in Dover, Arkansas — not too big of a place.
DogBlogger – I have not seen Sanctus. Thanks for passing along that information 🙂
Andrew
DB – I hadn’t heard of this either, could you share more about Sanctus? Is there more than the site on 7villages – I couldn’t make out too much from that.
AC – By the way, I just read your profile and see that you have a BS in Biology. That was my undergraduate degree as well. Cool. 🙂 Unlike you, I went to grad school in the science for a couple of years before heading off to seminary.
Matt – Cool – thanks for sharing!