Why Plant Churches in Small Towns?

“What? Why?”

That was the first response I heard from someone learning of the Acts 29 Rural Collective, whose focus is churches planting rural churches. Like most other people, they assumed effective church-planting strategies should only (or at least primarily) focus on metropolitan areas.

Sure enough, this was the response I received when I told people I wanted to plant a church in a small town. Instead, I was encouraged to head to the city where there would be more to do, more opportunities, more people to reach. For all but a few I spoke with, small-town ministry was not just an afterthought; it was never a thought.

Few ministries prioritize church-planting efforts to easily forgotten places. The assumption is that those living outside large cities have already been reached with the gospel, and that small towns are idyllic locales free from the brokenness that ravages cities.

Small towns are seeing churches close and divide when they need to be witnessing churches planted and multiplying.

The needs of rural communities, however, mirror those of big cities. Both populations experience crushing poverty (16.6 percent in rural communities versus 17.2 percent in large cities), racism (vestiges of the KKK and redlining remained part of “small-town America” long after the Civil Rights Act), and the need for better community development.

While Acts 29 helps churches plant churches in cities, they also understand the spiritual plight of small towns, forgotten places, rural communities, and secluded villages. Should we plant churches in major cities? Yes, but not at the expense of small communities, since small towns and rural communities are under-gospeled. Read More

Related Articles and Podcast:
To Every Village
Planting in a Small Town
Identifying Leaders in Small Towns
The Rural Reality: An Interview With John Hindley
Pastoring in the Forgotten Places [Podcast]