Rural Developments
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Churches are naturally a focus for rural life |
Even after all these years, The
Archers has got it about right.
A notable feature of the radio
series – along with the annual
Christmas pantomime and
occasional shower scene – is the
amount of activity that takes place
around Ambridge’s parish church.
You get a similar picture (without
showers) from a DVD produced by
the Revd Phil Dew, a Methodist
minister in Cumbria. A passionate
advocate of rural ministry, he set
out to ‘inspire ministers and
congregations in rural areas to
see the potential and possibilities
of their situation.’
There is indeed a lot of
potential, says the Revd Graham
Jones, National Rural Officer for
the Methodist Church and the
United Reformed Church. He
points to recent research
undertaken by Coventry University
in partnership with the Arthur
Rank Centre. Churches, it
concludes, offer not just their
buildings as important spaces for
community activities but, crucially,
they nurture people who tend to
get involved locally.
Church
members often sit on the
parochial council, for example, run
toddler groups or help the elderly.
At a time when the Church often
feels vulnerable or marginalised,
says Graham, the Faith in Rural
Communities report confirms the
value that the Church brings to
non-urban contexts.
Nationally, too, as well as
locally, the Church plays a
significant role in rural affairs.
National Farmers Union President,
Ben Gill, asserted that ‘the
Church is the only institution to
come out of the Foot and Mouth
debacle with any credibility.’
Through the Arthur Rank Centre,
says Graham, it remains
supportive to farmers now
suffering from the massive failure
of the government’s Single Farm
Payment scheme.
But rural communities are not
all about farming. The Centre is
encouraging churches to host Post
Offices in areas where their future
is threatened and campaigns, also,
on behalf of migrant workers.
Graham insists that they are not ‘taking our jobs’ but are frequently
exploited. Trade justice, too, he
adds: though the Church has taken
it on board as an ‘international’ issue, it has failed to see it as a
local matter also. How, he asks,
do we support the production and
sale of local produce? What do we
wish to say about the impact of
supermarkets on farmers and
shoppers alike?
With the new Arthur Rank
report, says Graham, the Church
can demonstrate to government
what Phil Dew knows in practice – that it is an important player in
the rural setting, not on the
periphery of community life but at
its centre.
MORE INFORMATION
The Faith in Rural Communities
report can be found at
www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk/publications
Phil Dew’s free DVD, Turning the Tide?, is available
directly from Phil.
Tel: 01539 624275
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