So, Ismael Garcia, my ethics professor in
seminary, told one of his classes about a medical doctor, who decided
to work in a big city because he could get a better salary and a more
prestigious job. Even though the doctor knew that he was needed in the small towns, where they had no medical professionals, he didn’t care.
Ismael was a masterful teacher, and he had us all
worked up, booing the doctor, decrying the injustice. Then he turned
around and said, “You hypocrites! All of you pastors do the same thing.
You’re all going to bigger cities. You let these rural churches
flounder. You won’t give them any time.”
Yeah, he laid on the guilt pretty thick. And it
worked, at least in my case. When we were looking for calls, I was
encouraged to take the associate pastor position at some large,
prestigious church, but instead, I decided to go to a small
congregation in rural Abbeville, Louisiana.
Now, I’m not going to tell you that it was easy.
I’m not going to regurgitate the romantic mythology that people will
love you more at a rural church, or that the appreciation they lavish
upon you will far outweigh the lack of salary, because it’s not really
true. It was difficult. I regularly experienced culture shock, and we
would constantly escape to New Orleans to get a bit of city life in our
souls.
But, now that many seminarians are looking for
their first calls, I do want to urge you to look at a country church or
two. At least, don’t completely write them off. If you have a spouse
who can manage it, and if your student loans responsibilities aren’t
too much (and if you’re Presbyterian, the BOP might be able to help you
out with that), it is at least worth a look.
Why?
(1) You might like it.
I met a wonderful, gifted pastor in Iowa a few months ago who lived in
California most of her life, and she loves her country church. As I
listened to her story, I wondered if it was a surprise for her to
figure that out. Even if you don’t like it, you might find out some
things about yourself that you didn’t know before.
(2) It will give you opportunities that you can’t get in larger cities.
It’s the big fish/small pond thing. I was quickly placed in leadership
positions within the city and within the denomination. It allowed me to
gain a lot of great experience that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.
Plus, other clergy were very good at mentoring me, whereas in larger
cities, new clergy go unnoticed.
(3) You can develop your preaching skills.
We all think that we’re naturally gifted and talented orators when we
come out of seminary. But, in reality, any art form requires practice
to do it really well. You just won’t get that practice if you’re at a
really large church, preaching four times a year. What people often
don’t realize is that it doesn’t matter if you learn by preaching to a
thousand people or fifty people. What matters is how many times that
you do it. Serving a small church will give you the opportunity to
write and preach on a consistent basis.
(4) They need you. Seriously.
We’re in a crisis time in our denominations. In the PCUSA, forty
percent of pulpits are empty. They are in rural areas, where it’s
difficult to attract good candidates. You could give a congregation an
opportunity to celebrate communion on a regular basis, or to have some
consistent care, which they haven’t had for a long time. It is a
sacrifice, but it’s for a very good cause.
Now, to denominational leaders, in order for this
to work, we can no longer assume that a person went to a really small
church or a rural pastorate because he or she was a low-quality
candidate. Because, you know that’s what too many people are
thinking. Can we resist that temptation? If seminary students decide to
go to a rural parish for a first call, can we make sure that we don’t
discriminate against them for giving up some prime years of their lives
for the good of the denomination? If we see two people looking for a
job, one who’s been on staff at a large prestigious church, and one
who’s been a solo pastor at a rural church, can we stop making
assumptions about who might be more qualified?
(This article reprinted with permission from Carol Howard Merrit from her blog - TribalChurch.org, January 5, 2009. Carol is pastor at Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., and author of Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation)
Conversations on Urban Collaboration Initiated in
Genesee Valley Presbytery from the Synod of the Northeast webpage at www.synodne.org). The Rev. Judy Hay, pastor of Calvary/St. Andrew Presbyterian
Church and Rev. John Wilkinson, pastor of Third Presbyterian Church, are ably
leading this vision and effort.