Rural churches make up a tremendous percentage of congregations across the US, and they are comprised of diverse groups of people in less-populated geographical areas. They offer a richness of close-knit community that’s not often present in larger urban or suburban churches. At the same time, these churches face challenges unique to their settings.
Following up on recent research about the rural church, Fresh Expressions US – an Ascent partner - will host an online summit called The Rural Revival Summit, April 21-22, 2023. It will focus on specific issues related to evangelism and disciple-making in rural contexts and also consider how the church can engage on challenges like the loss of healthcare, closing economic opportunities, and others. When registration for the event opens, you can find information at https://freshexpressions.com.
Fresh Expressions is also producing a special six-session podcast series, “The Rural Revival Podcast,” which will be available at https://freshexpressions.com/category/podcast by mid-April 2023.
As part of our prayer initiative, Ascent is asking for everyone to join us in prayer for this and our other main initiatives. Specific ways that you can pray for Reaching Rural Churches include:
1. Pray for an increased focus across the Church on rural North America.
2. Pray that the Holy Spirit would bear fruit from Fresh Expressions’ efforts at the Rural Revival Summit and Podcast and from other efforts to come in the future.
3. Pray for clergy and lay leadership across Ascent partners to wisely discern how to move forward in this initiative.
You can also commit to pray over these Ascent initiatives with us by joining the movement at https://www.ascentmovement.org/prayer.
More information and resources are available to share with your church, family, and friends.