In a rural ministry context, you can find yourself with little choice in school for your children. There isn’t a christian school nearby. Maybe disagree with some of the things being taught at the public school level. Then, one of your last remaining choices becomes the jump to homeschooling. welcome […]
Christian Leadership , Ministry , Rural Ministry , Student Ministry
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Rural Ministry: 10 Ways You’re Doing it Wrong…
I am not writing this article to make anyone upset, call anyone on the carpet, or to make anyone upset. There I said it. Now we can move on….. There are a lot of things that we do in Rural Ministry that simply do not work. Many of fall under […]
Christian Leadership , Featured , Ministry , Rural Ministry
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Rural Appalachia or Rural Indiana?
I am thankful and privileged to know a couple that have chosen this as their “Jerusalem” from the command in Acts 1:8..
Christian Leadership , Ministry , Rural Ministry , Student Ministry
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Rural Ministry: The Urgency of Evangelism
The Barn is on Fire…. The picture you see above is one that I took in September of 2010. I was visiting my mom and step-dad at the farmhouse where I grew up in Illinois. We looked out across the field and saw a little smoke, not an uncommon sight, […]
Ministry , Rural Ministry , Student Ministry
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Rural Ministry: Know the Subcultures
An important part of any Ministry is recognizing the culture around you, so that you can effectively deliver God’s message of redemption to them in a way that is understandable. Paul demonstrates this in Acts 17 in Athens when on Mars Hill. One of the challenges that Rural Ministry […]
Christian Leadership , Ministry , Rural Ministry , Student Ministry
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Rural Ministry: Know your context.
One of the most important lessons to learn early in youth ministry is to understand your context. Is your church rural, small, large, multi-ethnic, urban? That is important to answer. You do not approach a rural church with an urban mindset. It is not going to work well. The opposite […]
Ministry , Rural Ministry , Student Ministry
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Junior High Ministry Idea: CIY Believe Tour
I just returned from my third year of the CIY Believe Tour in Anderson, Indiana. It is a ministry event geared totally toward 6th-8th grade students. The worship, the teaching, visual/sensory learning, everything. It is an affordable event for almost any size church – (approximately $50 plus hotel and a […]
Ministry , Rural Ministry , Student Ministry
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Ministry Idea: Gratitude Tree
Here’s a low cost ministry idea: The gratitude tree from Celebratong Home is designed to give an experiential way to show gratitude for things in our lives. This works especially well in lessons on different ways that we worship God and on being thankful in attitude and heart. Here is […]
Featured , Redneck Tech , Rural Ministry
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Redneck Tech: Weather Reporting…
This sign welcomes you at the local food pantry in my community…
Featured , Redneck Tech , Rural Ministry
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Redneck Tech: The Makeshift Belt/Spindle Sander…
One of the things you learn in Rural Ministry is to improvise in order to make what you have do what you need it to do. I needed to sand some small pieces for a VBS craft, so this is how I made it work. It did the job very well. More […]
Ministry , Rural Ministry , Student Ministry
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Rural Ministry Idea: A New Favorite Drink…
Here is a relationship building idea that has worked well for me in a Rural Church context. Don’t take for granted that many of your students have limited exposure to other areas of the country. Some may not have much exposure to culture outside your COUNTY. This […]