Rural Revival: Growing Churches in Shrinking Communities

Most of the sixteen million Southern Baptists were classified in a recent news article as living in either suburban, small town, or rural areas. Phillip B. Jones, director of the Strategic Planning Support Team of the North American Mission Board, stated: "Most Southern Baptist congregations are small and are located in small towns and rural areas. Over a third are located in rural or open country." He also observed, "Slightly less than a third are located in small towns and villages of less than 10,000 population."Can rural churches experience significant growth? The answer is a resounding, "YES!" This book defines and applies the four major factors that distinguish growing churches from the rest of the pack.A companion volume to "Rural Pastor's Handbook: A How to Guide to Leading Your Flock". The handbook is designed to help you, the rural pastor, improve your prayer life and your preaching, grow your church, and deal with the day-to-day opportunities and problems that you will ultimately face.