Matt Smethurst: Don't Hate on Rural Ministry [Video]

Laboring away in their little non-strategic locales, rural Christians reach few influencers and probably do not impress Jesus. Bless their heart.

Though never put so baldly, some of today's "in the city for the city" rhetoric might at times give the impression that rural ministry is a bit second-class. In a new roundtable video, Collin Hansen sits down with Stephen Um and Jared Wilson to discuss the realities and peculiarities of ministry in rural, suburban, and urban areas.

"Since our world is becoming more urban, there is an undeniably strategic need for healthy gospel churches in cities," observes Um, pastor of Citylife Presbyterian Church in Boston and co-author of Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture, and the Church [interview]. Nevertheless, he insists, just because cities matter does not mean they matter more. Keep reading

I live in rural western Kentucky, on the outskirts of a small university town, which is also the county seat. The area has lots of churches. At the same time 70% of the population is unchurched.