Mission: Rural or Urban

Mission, Ministry, and Christian Witness:

 Rural or Urban

Inventions of technology led to industrial and agricultural revolutions, and it developed more cities and made life in the villages better, adding buses and cars on mud roads along with the bullock carts. It brought tractors to farms, refrigerators to kitchens, and typewriters to offices. Communication and information revolution further enhanced our learning, acquiring knowledge, and the ability to communicate and move distances in a short time. It brought in new devices, some stayed and others were replaced, changing our lives and cultures and impacting our work situations. People do migrate to places, cities, and countries for better jobs and life! 

 As technology advances and the economy continue to improve or collapse, rural and urban concepts continue to change. One’s 'urban' may be another’s 'rural' and vice versa. So what is the relevance of ‘urban mission’? The proponents of the ‘urban mission’ say mission in the Bible always started in the cities. Indeed, Babel was a city under construction. Sodom and Gomorrah were cities. Apostle Paul traveled and ministered in cities. Of course, Jesus preached in villages, towns, and the city! The person relieved of the legion of demons, went around sharing the gospel in Decapolis- i.e. ten cities. Were those ten cities bigger than Jericho or Jerusalem? So what’s the debate? Let us follow the models to witness and minister to the people around us. As individuals and churches, let us reach out to our neighbors with the love of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ in deed and word whether we live in a village, town, or city. 

(This is neither a biblical study on urban vs. rural missions nor an academic paper on the subject. This is not to challenge anyone towards ministry or mission but to discuss a few challenges around the topic.  This is a small random piece culled out from personal observations and real-life reflections on the topic with practical illustrations and special reference to Episcopal Church settings. So if it does not interest you, it’s here you can stop reading further. The word 'priest' is used also to mean pastor and presbyter).

 

The urban-rural divide

Automobiles work better in cities. A bus service has no difference as to its functioning whether city or village but works better on good roads. Cell phones and computers work well in urban places than in rural but it is now essential everywhere! Average common people know that everything does not work in the same way everywhere. Farming and rearing livestock are not feasible in the center of cities while a superstore is not a wise idea in a rural village. However, certain things work everywhere. The construction process of a house and the operation of a flour mill will not have many differences whether in a city or in a village. 

Christian’s witnessing in the neighborhood or at the workplace - Urban and Rural

People know what works better and how in each of their settings, so should be our mission! Being a witness and sharing the gospel is the responsibility of every Christian but the methods and styles followed by each may vary. Certain methods of ministries work differently in cities (urban) and villages (rural). Rural or urban, only those with a passion for sharing the gospel will share it wherever they are. People working in urban offices have different lifestyles and communication technologies and they will know how to communicate the gospel to their peers if only they want to. People with a deep desire for reaching out to a lost soul will always look for opportunities wherever they live. They know their situations and what methods work better in their contexts. So what matters is one's desire for witnessing and reaching out to others in word and deed.

THE MINISTRY OR MISSION OF A CONGREGATION/CHURCH

Now the focus here is not on workplace evangelism or the neighborhood witnessing by the members of a church but on the unified effort of a church or a congregation in its ministry of reaching people around to see most of those seekers coming into the congregation. In achieving this goal, the evangelists/missionaries/ priest of the congregation have important roles (whether they are full-timers or not). In the case of Episcopal churches, these roles are expected to be handled by the full-timers appointed for the purpose. 

For example, an evangelist should be a driving force in helping congregation members (or vice versa) to start neighborhood gatherings regularly to reach others. Depending on the scope, an evangelist can handle at least 5 areas gathering every week arranged by a church member or by a few of them at a location. He also will be able to participate in the cottage meetings of the church, if there are any, mostly happening for “fellowship”. Hardly any evangelism or mission happens through such cottage meetings.

A priest/pastor of the congregation will be able to build on the ministry of the evangelist or members by ministering to the seekers and visitors who come to the Church for meetings and worship. There may be several other methods relevant to each context.

Though it is the intended design, most congregations fail in reaching out effectively to the people outside. Often evangelists and priests assume the responsibility of managing the church by attending the regular programs of the church or visiting its members, making these means the end.

Since evangelism or witnessing among the communities around is often un-attempted by most congregations, it is constantly a topic for discussions and consultations at wider forums of the church, led by those who can practice it in some way and facilitated by the leadership. Those congregations, that are actively involved in the mission, will continue to strive to inspire and influence other passive congregations to follow their models. Some who get excited will talk about various scopes of outreach ministries but eventually will fail to see any initiatives moving forward until yet another consultation. What will be some of the reasons for this vicious cycle of inspiration-failure-inspiration?  

CHALLENGES

The most important problem in certain cases may be that we have the right people in the wrong places and the wrong people in the right places. Urban-originated churches know their people and they do their ministry and mission relevantly. Rural churches know their context and do well if they have a will. Non-denominational and autonomous churches in cities can do effectively what they want to do. But urban mission as a topic for discussion is mostly for Episcopal Churches because of its own identity crisis on its natures, formats, and layers of cultures within. The leadership of such churches will struggle to make choices between the old and the new or to have a combination of both. The result of trying to stitch the old and new together can tear the whole piece. 

Let us examine some common problems or felt needs we observe among Episcopal churches as to Christian witness and mission in single or multi-cultures. (The listed points are not exhaustive).

1. When a congregation meets, what do they pray together for?

I have observed, in most churches, that the intercessory prayers are around the health, wellness, and physical needs of the members, their relatives, or friends. Our physical needs are certainly prime without which we can not even pray for others. But if the specific spiritual needs of individuals are never our concern, the church has no ministry. Those who are in evangelism or ministry may share about the spiritual needs of the people they serve or work with. Even for churches that may have many mission fields, the field missions and the congregation may function in two compartments. If spiritual concerns of people from the neighborhood or mission fields are hardly heard in the intercessory prayers of a congregation, it is a critical sign to know if the Church has a mission. If Christian witness (evangelism) is the life breath of a church, testimonies of spiritual ministries and specific spiritual concerns of the needy people will be heard all the time in its gatherings.    

2. Does every congregation have a passion for ministry to its neighborhood?

It may start with an individual in the church but ultimately the church/congregation should own it up. It should be an initiative of a team and it should be the culture of the congregation. The congregation’s vision and mission should never be dependent on a “pastor” or a “priest” who comes on rotation for a limited period of a term. 

The committee members of a congregation may have different ideas. Some are for social work and charity. Some will be comfortable supporting anything but don’t want to be disturbed by new converts joining the congregation, spoiling culture and identity! Some may say, “We can have a separate congregation for them, they will be comfortable that way. They should not grow more than us that they will overtake us!”  (These are not assumptions but realities faced by several congregations, especially in bilingual situations or cities). 

3. The Church’s passion should be the mission and the intention right

Several Churches initiate mission activities to say that they have a mission field and to show that they are involved in cross-cultural missions. This is not to discount the mission of any churches that are doing good and great. To illustrate, I would briefly mention an interaction that I have had with a travel-mate over a while during the year 2004. He belonged to an Episcopal church’s local congregation in Kerala.

The congregation wanted to start a mission field in Madurai. 

“Can you guide us to locate a missionary?”

“How about supporting a mission organization in Kerala by adopting a missionary couple in a mission field?”

“No, we would like to have our mission field.”

“Ok why Madurai, why not a nearby place to you in Kerala?”

“It should be another language and place outside but close to Kerala. Madurai is not very far from Kerala, we can visit any time, or conduct mission tours!”

 (Maybe good for social distancing!)

“How much are you prepared to pay a salary for a missionary couple?”

“See, at Madurai, in Tamil Nadu, the cost of living will not be much. Maybe 2,000 Rupees will be fine.”

“Sir, you work at a University. Are you prepared to pay a missionary family at least a salary equal to the least of the last-grade employee in your University- a peon or a sweeper on your campus? If not, are you willing to take a month’s leave, go there and live for a month to see how much it can cost the living?

Needless to say, that was the end of our long conversations and possibly of that mission initiative too. 

 4. All evangelists and priests may not fit into every particular ministry/mission

Each one has a different passion; understanding of ministry and goals based on their upbringing, training, or a personal call. Studying in the same Bible College or seminary will not make everyone carry the same mission. (Many theological graduates and teachers pursue to land up in affluent countries and many who join Bible colleges carry those personal aspirations).

The pastor who comes on a transfer may have his own goals, styles, or agendas. He may have a ministry goal or aim to keep up the status quo. Even if he has a passion for ministry and witnessing outside of the church, he will be limited by many factors and fears. Some priests with mission fervor have reflected: “Why should I start something new and go away with none to attend?” 

Some priests also may have an agenda to start a mission field during their term. Many such mission fields had been started, closed down, or died off. The next priest who comes to the place may have some other plans or personal family preferences. There may be priests who will not be interested in house visiting, interpersonal communications, and outreaches. Such people should be rehabilitated to other secretarial ministries of the Church.

5. Posting and transfers of priests/evangelists/missionaries

The posting of mission personnel should be strictly according to the need of the context and the person’s flavor for witnessing or fervor for missions. Recruitment of personnel for the mission should be according to the real need and nature of the ministry. It is important to have the right persons for the place and postings to be discussed mutually. It should not be assumed that everyone can be effective in every kind of work and that everyone is teachable or trainable for every specific ministry. The mission and ministry of a congregation should be defined and not assumed, it should be understood well by the personnel. A congregation in a city with a scope and need for multilingual ministries should get such a priest with that enthusiasm and taste for learning new languages. For a congregation where youngsters are comfortable speaking Hindi, a person brought up in North India or fluent in Hindi will only be ideal. So similar is the case of city congregations where English is spoken at least by its youth and children. This does not discredit the fact that there are more cross-cultural missionaries to the northern part of India from the south. But a three-year term is too short a time for a pastor to make that effort. If the Congregation is aspiring to start some new mission initiative, only a priest prepared for that should be placed there. Placements and appointments should not be to motivate, reward, or reprove one. For continuity and consistency of the mission work, workers especially evangelists and missionaries should be placed in the long term and not be transferred from time to time without valid reasons. It may be OK for managers, secretaries, and accountants. To engage people on a post you can place them anywhere, but not for ministry and missions.  

6. Training in Missions or Ministry

Missionaries need Mission Training, not just Bible college degrees. The trainers should be missionaries who are practitioners and actively involved in ministry or mission. The cross-cultural mission needs relevant training or orientation by those who practically know it.

7.  A Church can have its own mission organization

More than a department or a board that posts officers on rotation, the church or its congregation can have autonomous mission organizations. To illustrate, CSI has several mission organizations. The Indian Missionary Society (IMS) is the first indigenous missionary movement in India started by the Tirunelveli Diocese in 1903 to minister to the most oppressed and downtrodden communities in the Tribal Belts of India. The Diocesan Missionary Prayer Band (DMPB) is a mission society started by the CSI Kanyakumari Diocese to reach the tribes on the hills and interiors of Tamil Nadu. Urban or rural, for mission initiatives you need the right people from the leaders to the team on the field who are equipped for it. 

8. Traditional worship liturgy

A church with a traditional ritual liturgy without openness to be adaptive to have a new worship form for its new believers befitting to their linguistic culture will struggle with its identity crisis and may not effectively attract seekers. It will not meaningfully engage with another people group. A seeker or a new believer from a different faith background will be confused to make the right choice of a church to join among many diverse denominations with a wide range of teachings and practices on the forms of worship and observation of sacraments. It will be a conflict among the leadership as to which form of worship to adapt to such a new situation. 

There seemed to be a myth among the Episcopal Church leaders (who believe or have to believe in the liturgy as a great infallible tool) ‘that worship without a liturgy is a chaos’ and ‘the service, a performance’. It is not so. Having order in worship is not necessarily a written liturgy to recite. Free worship is not just the property of Pentecostals. The Baptists, Brethren, and several older churches do have orderly worship without written liturgies to repeat. Given a chance a new believer will always be comfortable with a non-denominational form of worship rather than a written liturgy recited week after week. That’s the same reason for youngsters in Episcopal churches with too few forums for expression, being passive in the church if at all they remain there. 

Not to conclude but to sum up for more discussions...

Without a passion for witnessing and mission, a church only strives to manage and exist socially with the use of spiritual vocabularies and formats. In the case of congregational churches - democratic in nature, new initiatives of its mission should always be owned by the congregation. Their mission or witnessing around can be autonomous, not dependent on every pastor who comes and goes on an appointment. 

The posting of pastors, priests, and evangelists to mission churches and new stations should be well thought through. They should be posted to help the congregation grow and to assist the mission of the church among its communities if there are any. The traditional liturgy of a church can become a hindrance in welcoming new seekers and believers. The programs of a church, its content, communications, and the format of its worship should be ‘target-oriented rather than ‘sender’ oriented, be it urban or rural. 

(The writer of this post is open for comments and invites feedback; please feel free to comment in the comment section below)

Photos used for illustration: 1. Fishermen back at the harbor, Kasimedu, Chennai. 2,3. Men and women tend cattle and follow a particular time for grazing them.  It is a semi-urban town- Kandukur, in the Prakasam District of Andhra Pradesh. 

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