Description: The rural church is facing a crisis. Churches are struggling to find pastors, and many are being closed by denominations that would rather focus their resources on urban ministries. As a result, rural communities are becoming a spiritual wasteland where people are unreached with the gospel, and a gospel-driven church is no longer present to give them the hope of salvation. Today, there is a need for a new theological vision for rural ministry that sees rural ministry as an expression of the Great Commission and an outgrowth of God's character. The purpose of this book is to develop a theological vision for rural ministry by describing how the theology of God's character and purpose gives purpose, vision, and perspective for rural churches and communities. It serves a clarion call for a new vision for the spiritual transformation of rural communities that is grounded in an understanding of God and his desire for the salvation of rural people.
Brief description: Jason R. McConnell has served as the senior pastor of the East Franklin Union Church and Franklin United Church in Franklin, Vermont since 2004. He also serves as co-director of the Ockenga Fellows program and a mentor on the Doctor of Ministry Program at GCTS and a mentor for the Cross-Cultural Ministry Practicum at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. He is the general editor of Beholding Beauty: Worshiping God through the Arts.