Despite densely populated cities like Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, and Salt Lake City, Colorado and Utah are still very much rural in nature. Much of our local ministry takes place in small towns located outside our metropolitan circles. Whether it is ministry on the plains and prairies, mountains, subrural populations, or in the many tourist towns of Colorado and Utah, rural communities and their residents are important to God.
As an organization, there is a temptation to evaluate opportunities by the metrics of size, scope, and return on investments. Believing that large cities are more important than rural towns is a secularized perspective that does not hold up to biblical values or historic precedent. Nazareth, Galilee, Bethlehem, Bethany, and Cana, just to name a few, are all examples of small towns that made a huge impact upon God’s redemptive history. When it comes to lost people, Jesus challenged His disciples to do more than look at the natural; He challenged them and us to see lost people through the eyes of the Spirit.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:36-38).
One of the things that makes the Great Commission great is its unwillingness to consider any person, town, or city too small or insignificant. In God’s perspective, there is no such thing as “flyover country.”
Many of our rural churches are the only gospel and/or Spirit-filled witnesses in their communities. With 64 percent of our Network churches being rural in some way, we must be intentional in embracing the cultural and geographical obstacles of our region.
This collaborative page outlines our strategy to strengthen and expand our rural presence in Colorado and Utah. It is my prayer that it will awaken something within your own heart to help in some way, shape, or form. If we are to be truly effective in reaching lost people in Colorado and Utah, we must see our urban, suburban, and rural churches coexisting, collaborating, and working together.
Contending for community,
Gene Roncone
Rocky Mountain Ministry Network
District Superintendent/Network Pastor (aka “helper”)
Find out more about the RMMN's Go Rural Initiative by clicking the accordion tabs below.
Why Rural Ministry Is Important to the RMMN
With most of Colorado’s and Utah’s population being in cities like Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, and Salt Lake City, there is a temptation to focus exclusively on those population centers. However, the rationale for the Network’s continued focus on rural communities is rooted in a few powerful realities.
Read more about why rural ministry is important to the RMMN on pages 4-7 of a PDF outlining our rural vision at this link.
Our Context and Theater of Rural Ministry
Assuming that all rural ministries share the same culture, needs, and focus would be a mistake. Not only does rural ministry differ from region to region, but it also differs from church to church. When it comes to Colorado and Utah, 64 percent (105) of our total churches (165) are rural in some form and exist in four basic ministry contexts.
Read more about the four common theaters of rural ministry in the RMMN on pages 8 of a PDF outlining our rural vision at this link.
Strategy One: Subsidizing Rural Warriors
To better sustain our gospel presence in Colorado’s and Utah’s rural communities, we must assist our ministers, both young and old, by connecting them to financial partners who can subsidize their income.
Read more about RMMN's strategy to subsidize the income of rural missionaries on pages 9-11 of a PDF outlining our rural vision at this link.
Strategy Two: Church Partnerships
Strategy Two of the Go Rural initiative is to empower rural churches by leveraging the power and resources of our Network community. This will be accomplished by asking our Network churches to voluntarily contribute to a Rural Grant Fund at the Network office. That fund will then assist rural churches with micro-grants between $500-2,000 to provide outreach and ministry expansion opportunities in their communities.
1. Read more about how the partner fund works on pages 12-14 of a PDF outlining our rural vision at this link.
2. Apply for a micro-grant by submitting an online application at this link.
3. Make a modest monthly pledge to the parent fund at this link.
Strategy Three: Perpetual Financing
Strategy Three of this initiative is to maintain a Go Rural investment account that provides a perpetual source of revenue through interest income for grants and modest re-deposits back into the fund to ensure it continues to grow.
1. Read more about the Go Rural investment fund, investment strategy, rationale, grant categories, and get a link to an explainer video on pages 15-20 of a PDF outlining our rural vision at this link.
2. Watch our explainer video at this link.
3. Apply for a grant from the Go Rural investment fund at this link.
Strategy Four: Creating the Go Rural Task Force
Strategy Four will create a Go Rural leadership community that consists of three teams that will steward the initiative. Those teams are the Presbytery, Bidget and Finance Committee, and the Go Rural Task Force.
Read more about why rural ministry is important to the RMMN on pages 21-24 of a PDF outlining our rural vision at this link.
Strategy Five: Planting Rural Micro Churches
Strategy Five of the plan will be the birthing of Rural Micro Churches. A micro church is a small community of believers (between 3-20 people) who meet regularly in a home (or other venue) to study God’s Word, establish life-giving relationships, build a sense of community, grow in faith, reach their community, and plant other micro churches. The GO Rural Task Force will seek to identify communities that are promising opportunities for a micro church and then seek to establish works and partnerships with existing churches that will oversee these works in those communities.
Read more about why rural ministry is important to the RMMN on pages 25-27 of a PDF outlining our rural vision at this link.
Closing Thoughts
Jesus was born and raised in a rural setting. Even though His world offered the great urban centers of Rome, Jerusalem, or Alexandria, God chose to use a rural setting to accomplish His redemptive plan. Jesus ministered in rural settings and used rural metaphors to teach spiritual truths. Several of His parables emphasized the importance of planning ahead and making preparations before taking on a significant task. The rural parables of the builder counting the cost (Luke 14:28), the king accurately projecting the needs of war (Luke 14:31), the farmer storing grain (Luke 12), and the virgins who were wise enough to plan for evening travel (Matthew 25) are just a few. We would be wise to do the same as it pertains to reaching the rural communities of Colorado and Utah.
The Lord told Habakkuk, “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it” (2:2 ESV). I have done the same in the hope that we may have focus and intentionality in reaching our rural communities. Should the Lord tarry, I pray that those who follow us may find our financial and strategic foresight to have given them more opportunity than obligation.
Read more about the RMMN's Go Rural Initiative in a PDF outlining our rural vision at this link.