Rural, small church pastors: are they a beleaguered bunch?

James E Urish

Etd

Rural, small church pastors: are they a beleaguered bunch?

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

James E Urish. Rural, Small Church Pastors: Are They a Beleaguered Bunch?. Covenant Theological Seminary. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/c0c78aa3-95b3-4b62-ac25-f5b2fafc6785.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

J. E. Urish. Rural, small church pastors: are they a beleaguered bunch?. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/c0c78aa3-95b3-4b62-ac25-f5b2fafc6785

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

James E Urish. Rural, Small Church Pastors: Are They a Beleaguered Bunch?. Covenant Theological Seminary. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/c0c78aa3-95b3-4b62-ac25-f5b2fafc6785.

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

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James E Urish

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Abstract

This study compares large (above 150 members) and small NAPARC (North American and Reformed churches) churches in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. Pastors of small, rural churches have a complex of frustrations or difficulties which make their ministry more difficult than larger church pastors. These factors include finances, leadership conflicts, background differences between pastor and spouse and the current church/community he serves, isolation, lack of denominational support, size (of the church he pastors), loss of specific calling, and lack of support from literature to address his demographic setting. At the extremes of the survey sample one could see evident differences in the frustration they faced. Finances, leadership conflicts, lack of denominational support, and loss of calling all affected the smallest pastors, while these were not such a frustration to larger church pastors. In addition, the rural pastor did have some differences in the way he responded to the survey, though the results were not conclusive. Isolation, his wife's background, and finances all weighed more heavily upon him than the non-rural pastor.

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