Engaging the theology of mission in rural ministry

Shafer, Travis L.

Etd

Engaging the theology of mission in rural ministry

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Shafer, Travis L. Engaging the Theology of Mission In Rural Ministry. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/450b7435-0668-498d-85d8-7d3b3969b31d.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

S. T. L. Engaging the theology of mission in rural ministry. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/450b7435-0668-498d-85d8-7d3b3969b31d

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Shafer, Travis L. Engaging the Theology of Mission In Rural Ministry. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/450b7435-0668-498d-85d8-7d3b3969b31d.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

Shafer, Travis L.

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how pastors of rural congregations lead their congregants to have missional impact in their communities. The assumption of this study was that pastors and congregants in rural ministry need to engage their communities with the gospel. This requires the use of the theology of mission. It was assumed that missional theology would prove to be a helpful tool in aiding pastors and congregants in rural ministry contexts to engage their communities redemptively. This study utilized a qualitative design using semi-structed interviews with four pastors who have experience in rural ministry. The interviews revealed seven challenges common to rural ministry: limited resources, lack of pastoral leadership, oversaturation of churches, congregations struggle when the community struggles, defining the role of the congregation in the community, confusion over theological language, and defining the role of the congregation members in evangelism and outreach. The literature review and analysis of the four interviews focused on how the theology of mission can help inform and equip pastors of rural congregations to engage their communities with the gospel. This study concluded that rural pastors often feel isolated and ignored. It also concluded that rural ministry is an area that needs attention from the wider church. Rural ministry is often over-looked, and this results in large areas of the United States being unreached by the gospel. If the church wants to remain faithful to the commands of Jesus Christ, the church must go intentionally to rural, suburban, and urban contexts to make disciples. To address these challenges, this study identified practices that should be implemented by rural pastors, congregation members, seminaries, and denominations.

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