Brian Wechsler and Jay Sanders on Rural Church Pastoring

I’m a Rural Pastor! What Now?

Do not make any changes in the first year.

I’ll never forget the sunny day that Carole and I pulled into the parking lot of the Finchford Community Bible Church in Finchford, Iowa (population: 57) with all our possessions in the back of a small moving truck. About 30 smiling, friendly, and curious (“Oh! You like to fish!”) people helped us unload and settle into the parsonage. And they were calling me “Pastor Brian!”

As we settled into our new home, surrounded by boxes, and looking with gratitude at the table piled high with groceries, I wondered, What next? I knew that preaching, visiting, and leading were needed, but how exactly should I begin?

I would have done many things differently if I had started with the 34 years of Village Missionary and Executive Director experience I have now. I could have used the experience as a parent as well. However, it just doesn’t happen that way. But if you are about to start your own wonderful adventure (and it is wonderful) as a rural pastor, let me share a few things I’ve learned.

Village Missions strongly recommends that you not make any changes in the first year. You just don’t know enough about your context and you haven’t earned enough credibility to lead through changes. Don’t make them! But what do you do?

I strongly believe that your first year, and even following years, should be summarized by the word discovery. Discovery is the “act of finding something that had not been known before.” Launch on a discovery mission during your first year. Besides the normal routine of pastoral duties, you should seek to discover three areas. Read More

5 Benefits of Pastoring a Rural Church

It was what one might think of when they imagine a funeral in the rural south. The family was devastated. For most of them, this was the first time in years that they had been in a church building. That church building was somewhat typical for houses of worship in the area. It was well-kept, well-lit, and had a center aisle extending from the double door entrance to the stage where the pastor stood. The pastor was nervous. It was his first funeral since taking the job.

That pastor was me.

It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. When I was studying pastoral ministry everything centered around the city. The city, we were told, is where you have to go if you really want to change the culture. Rural settings, it was sometimes implied, is where pastors who aren’t quite ready for prime time go to learn the trade a little more. So when I was finishing up my degree and mailing out resumes, I didn’t send any to rural churches. But none of the big city churches ever called back. A few rural churches down south did. I would eventually become the pastor of one of them.

It wasn’t my plan to be the pastor of a church with a name that I couldn’t pronounce in a town with more cows than people but I’m glad that it worked out that way. Here’s why. Read More