Research in Rural Ministry from Across the Pond

ABSTRACTThis paper evaluates a recent study on rural ministry emerging from the USA and assesses its relevance for the rural Church more widely, with specific reference to the UK. The study has the challenging subtitle, ‘moving from anecdotal assumptions to data-derived opportunities’. It is the work of someone who grew up in the farming community and worked as a farmer before becoming a rural minister and then undertaking serious academic research into the connections between rural living and rural ministry. The paper argues that there are two groupings of lessons to be learned from this study. It is worth giving serious attention to research conducted in other cultural contexts and it is worth encouraging others to invest in research of this nature. The rural Church needs such research and the rural Church can benefit from it.KEYWORDS: ResearchRural ChurchMinistryMissionUSA Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsMalcolm GrundyThe Revd Canon Dr Malcolm Grundy, grew up in a small rural village, was Team Rector in a market town, and an archdeacon with an area covering the western side of the Yorkshire Dales. Until recently he was a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at York St John University.