Rural is different: rural is special

Abstract

Those of us who live, work, worship and minister in the countryside know all too well that rural is different, that rural is special. Yet for us country folk there remain so many frustrations that secular policies may be driven by an urban agenda and shaped by urban perceptions. Health care provisions, public transport, post offices, and retail distribution, to name but a few vital areas, so often seem to be planned with the urban economy in mind. It is tempting, too, to imagine that even the church may be driven by an urban agenda, say in terms of emphases in recruitment, selection and training for ministry, in terms of the design of liturgy, in terms of theories about lay leadership, and perhaps even in terms of reader ministry