Assuming that all rural ministry has the same culture, needs, and required focus in common 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, there are basically four different kinds of rural ministry settings in our Network:
1. Prairie/Plains Rural. Small towns or communities scattered through the plains and isolated by geography, distance, or access to larger centers of commerce. Burlington, Colorado, and Hurricane, Utah, are examples of this kind of rural community.
2. Subrural. Communities located just outside the suburbs of metropolitan areas but not close enough to be considered part of a metropolitan cluster. The terms “exurb” and “exurbia” have also been used to describe this type of rural community; but due to their initial association with wealth, it now makes them more confusing than helpful. Greeley, Colorado, and Logan, Utah, are examples of subrural communities.
3. Mountain Rural. Small towns or communities that are scattered through the mountains while being isolated by geography, distance, or access to larger centers of commerce. Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and Heber City, Utah, are examples of rural mountain communities.
4. Tourist Rural. Once thriving, mining, logging, trading, or geographically unique towns that have been revived as tourist, gaming, or outdoor enthusiast destinations. These small towns tend to have a small population whose work is connected with the particular tourist economy that may exist there. Vail, Colorado, and Park City, Utah, are examples of rural tourism.
It is important to remember that these categories are general in nature and their parameters are not always easily delineated. For example, there are several rural mountain churches that are as equally rural tourist. In Utah, there are rural communities where the Mormon presence is so deeply ingrained that they feel more like a mission field possessing a religious culture that is far more prevalent than a rural culture. There are even subrural communities near the Denver Metropolitan areas that are looking more and more like suburbs with each passing decade. The value of these categories is not found in their absolute nature but in helping those of us in Colorado and Utah appreciate their diverse cultures and needs.
NOTES
1. My minister friends who are familiar with rural ministry in Colorado and Utah helped me refine this list of rural categories represented in our Network. A special thanks to Joe Archuleta, Joe Berry, Lonnie Campbell, Rick Carlson, Bob Cook, Don Henderson, Darryl Johnson, Larry Kettle, James Naron, Chris Peterson, Steve Pike, Charlie Stoumbaugh and Terry Yancey.
2. The word exurb (a combination of the words “extra” and “urban”) was coined by Auguste Comte Spectorsky in his 1955 book, The Exurbanites, to describe the ring of prosperous communities beyond the suburbs that are commuter towns for an urban area.