I will be creating a new blog focusing exclusively on Rural Church ministry.  The launch date is January 1 and will highlight multiple authors and contributors.   (Hopefully some names you will recognize)  I would like to thank all of you who have stopped by Rural Route Church over the past couple of years.  I’ll see you in January!

This is my first born son.  He likes reptiles, amphibians, and all things that slither.  He is a budding herpetologist and recently turned into a teenager.  Even though he likes to spend inordinate amounts of time with snakes. . .we still like him.   As a part of my fatherly responsibilities I like to take each one of my kids on a trip of their choosing.  Caleb picked a place called “Snake Road”.   We were blessed that  Scott Ballard (Herpetologist / Illinois Department of Natural Resources) asked us to come along with him to “tag” endangered Green Water Snakes.   

This is a Cottonmouth.  We saw a bunch of these guys as we walked along Snake Road.

That is not a stick in the water.  It  is also a Cottonmouth (about 4 feet long).

This is Scott showing us what we came for. . .  a Green Water Snake.

This is a Green Tree Frog.  Pretty huh?

The day would not be complete without seeing a baby Cottonmouth.

We saw 20 snakes, a bunch of frogs, one toad, an empty turtle shell, walked over 4 miles, got a one day biology lesson from Illinois’ leading Herpetologist, and basically had a GREAT day.

With 27 miles and a whole county behind us we were able to smile in the knowledge that God’s people donated over $7,000  to our local Crisis Pregnancy Center.  We are already planning for next years “Run Pastor Run” event.  We are praying that we can top the $10,000 mark, include at least 5 more ministers, and focus more attention on the vital ministry of Tomorrow’s Hope Crisis Pregnancy Center.

Thank you to our runners/walkers:  Jon Smith, Fred Shakelford, Corey Cain, Jim Twilbeck, Carthage Dye, Ken Wells, Grant Ostrom, and Scott Shepherd

Problem: Our local Crisis Pregnancy Center is underfunded.

Solution: Nine pastors and ministers!

Question: What can nine ministers do?

Answer: Run (relay style) across Henry County.

9 guys asked their churches to sponsor them in their attempt to run across Henry County.  The effort raised awareness of the Crisis Pregnancy Center’s mission/ministry and garnered over $7,000.00.  If I stood alone in this effort I would have raised only $701.00.  Collectively we were worth far more.  Cooperation works!

It would be cool if there were a denomination that. . .

1.  Debunked the myth that rural churches were not worth pastoring.

2.  Connected academia with rural churches so that future pastors and leaders would see how GREAT rural ministry can be.

3.  Invested REAL dollars in the lives of students (future pastors).  Invested $$$ in  churches in the effort to revitalize, resource, and connect current rural leaders.

Oh there is such an organization.  Click HERE!

Read about it here!

Sunday is relentless.  It never fails to either sneak up on the small church pastor or arrive just in time.  Either way a pastor has to be, is supposed to be, . . .okay, is rarely adequately prepared for Sunday.  Its not that pastors don’t try to prepare, its just that every Sunday seems filled with shock and awe after six days of shock and awe.   How does a pastor prepare himself to preach, administrate the surprise air conditioning problem, deal with someone’s “brand new idea” about how to reach more people for Sunday School, teach in place of the missing Sunday School teacher, counsel with a wayward teen (with Biblical accuracy), and listen to five different complaints that range from dissatisfaction over the bulletin cover to some sister’s outrage over the kid who colored the front of the hymn book red?

Sunday is relentless!  By the time many small church pastors stand in the pulpit to do the job God called them to do they have also been the church counselor, youth minister, outreach director, complaint department, administrator, children’s minister, and education director.  Before they step foot in the church these men have also been daddies, husbands, and fix-it-up men.

While the pastor tries to be all things to all people, he knows Sunday is coming.  It looms over his head as he is pulled away from the study of God’s Word again and again to take care of this, that, and the other.  The truth of the matter is that, unless the pastor pulls all that stuff off with a smile on his face, he jeopardizes the success and tenure of his pastorate.

Sunday is relentless!  It comes. . . ready or not.  Even more relentless than the coming of Sunday is the relentlessness of the call of God to “Preach the Word”.  Pastors will continue to wear all the hats people put on their heads because they can’t wait to stand behind that pulpit and say. . . “Thus saith the Lord”.   They will continue to be 10 people rolled up into one, live on the edge of poverty, and pay the high price of ministry because they are called to preach the Word and love God’s people.

1.  Doctor Hiram Baker: (from Little House on the Prairie)  He is the only doctor I know that takes chickens as payment.

2.  Dr. Pepper: The only doctor that can provide 16 oz of pure thirst cure!

3.  Dr. Thunder: The cheaper generic version of Dr. Pepper for those of you on a budget.

4.   Galen “Doc”  Adams: He was the Doctor on Gun Smoke.  I think this alone qualifies him.

5.  Dr. Suess: You could, you should, set the date. . . . the appointment line is open late.

6.  Dr. Cliff Huxtable: (Better known as Cosby)  An OBGYN that could deliver a baby, fix whatever was going on in his family, and make us laugh so hard we blew Dr. Pepper out our noses. . . . all of this in 1/2 hour.

7.  Dr. “Bones” McCoy: (Star Trek) Just in case you want to go where no man has gone before.

8.  Dr. Doogie Howser: Because kids work cheap!

9.  Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Frankenstein: One visit is usually enough.

10.  Rug Doctor: This is the only Dr. we could find that still made house calls.

Debt is killing pastors.   Rural small church pastors are especially at risk because of the small pay packages that most rural churches can afford.  Lets just say that pastor Billy is just graduating Seminary.  Billy accepts a call to a small rural church.  Billy is excited about his first pastorate but struggles EVERY day because the financial struggle takes a heavy toll on his family.  Billy has consumer debt, student loan debt, and the every day bills we all have.  Oh yeah. .  . Billy also has two kids and a wife to take care of.  Billy’s wife is taking care of the kids at home because the cost of day care would exceed her income.  Here is what Billy’s  income to debt ratio might look like.

1.  Billy, like many of his church members, has more credit card debt than he should.  $200.00 per month

2. Billy has a mortgage b/c the church doesn’t have a parsonage and even if they did have a parsonage Billy and his wife prefer to live in their own home.  (Pastors like privacy and equity as much as the next guy.)  $850.00 per month.

3.  Billy, like most of his church members, has two car payments.  $400.00 per month

4.  Billy’s utilities shake out like this:

A.  Electricity = $110.00 per month

B.  Gas = $45.00 per month

C.  Phone / Internet = $75.00 per month

D.  T.V. = $60 per month

E.  Cell Phones = $70.00 per month

5.  Billy is still paying for his and his wife’s student loans:  $300.00 per month

6.  Since Billy and his family like to eat they go to the grocery every week:  $600.00 per month

7.  Fuel for the cars:  $240.00 per month

8.  Car Insurance:  $70 per month

Total Expenses:  $3,020.00 per month or $36,240 per year

Pay package for a Tennessee Church running 50 -100 people in Sunday School:   $41,785 per year

$41,785.00 – $36,240.00 = $5,545.00

$5,545.00 represents what is left out of Billy’s pay package to purchase health insurance, ministry reimbursement, ministry tools, and continued education costs.

Billy’s options: 1.  Billy’s wife reluctantly works two jobs.  One to pay for day care and one to pay bills.  2.  Billy works another job (if his church will let him) but this takes time away from ministry.  3.  Billy is forced to resign and go to a suburban church with a suburban pay package.

High attendance Sunday at Cottage Grove met and exceeded our goals and expectations.  Sunday School is one of those non-abstract entities that pastors, churches, and denominations use to chart how well we are doing. . . numerically speaking.  It is a pretty straight forward process.  People show up, we count them, and then we display the results on the tote board in the vestibule.   Cottage Grove’s tote board has not had three digits on it in a long time.  101 people came to Sunday School at Cottage Grove Baptist Church yesterday which is pretty good considering our town has 96 inhabitants.  It was GREAT to see the classrooms full.  It was encouraging to see the parking lot fill up and the people file into church.

I wonder what it would be like to see three digits on the board on a Sunday that wasn’t high attendance day, Easter, or Christmas?  I wonder what it would be like if God’s people were as intent on inviting people to church next Sunday as we were for the “big day”?  Every Sunday is a “big day” in my book.  Every Sunday is an opportunity to learn, grow, and worship.  It is important for all of us to recognize that those digits on the tote board represent real people.  I’ll be prepared to preach to one or 100, but three didgits was nice for a change.