Four New Rules about Rural

Recently I read a book from Shannon O' Dell called "Transforming church in rural America." This is a great read for rural pastors. In September there will be a group of pastors headed to Arkansas where Shannon pastors to meet with him and have a round table discussion. Shannon took a church in a community of 400 people in rural Arkansas and today they reach over 2,000 people through multi-site campuses. It is truly unbelievable how God is using him to reach rural America. In his book, Shannon shares four new rules about Rural.

1. Small does not have to mean boring
2. Rural does not have to mean lack of innovation
3. Excellence is not found in the detail or design of the building
4. Success is not found in the building size.

I remember when I announced five years ago that I was leaving Des Moines and headed to Montezuma Iowa. I had some people call me out and tell me I was crazy. Small town churches won't grow. They are stuck in tradition. It was career suicide. I knew though as soon as I visited Montezuma and Community Hope that this was the place for our family. I knew that God was bigger than many of the mindsets that people had about rural churches. We have seen some of that over the past five years. We have seen growth and lives changed for the kingdom of God. I also know God is not through and the best is yet to come.