The Rural Parish's Unique Strengths by Brother David Andrews, CSC, JD Executive Director, National Catholic Rural Life Conference © 1998 The Notre Dame Parish Study, completed in 1986, established that almost half of American Catholic parishes are in rural areas and small towns. The rural communities across the United States are unique cultures, with unique characteristics, unique social dynamics, unique gifts to bring to the rest of the Church. That uniqueness was recognized by John Paul II: "How privileged you are, that in such a [small] setting you can worship God together, celebrate your spiritual unity and help to carry each other's burdens. [In a] small community ... a more human dimension is achieved than is possible in a big city or in a sprawling metropolis. Let your small community be true place of Christian living and and of evangelization, not isolating yourselves from the dioces or from the universal Church, knowing that a community with a human face must also reflect the face of Christ ... Dedicate [your families] anew to Christ, so that they might continue to be the working, living and loving community where nature is revered, where burdens are shared and where the Lord is praised in gratitude." (October 4, 1979, at St. Patrick's Church, Irish Settlement, Iowa) One way to identify that distinctiveness is found in a litany on rural life: You know that you're in a small town when… • the polka is more popular than the disco on a Saturday night; • Third Street is on the edge of town; • every sport is played on dirt; • you don't use your turn signal because people know where you are going; • you are born on June 13, and your family receives gifts from the local merchants because you are the first baby of the year; • you dial the wrong number on the phone and talk fifteen minutes anyway; • you are run off Main street by a combine; • you drive into a ditch five miles out of town, and word gets back before you do; • you can't walk for exercise because every car that passes offers you a ride; • the biggest business in town sells mining, camping or farm machinery; • you write a check on the wrong bank and it covers for you anyway; • the pick-up trucks outnumber cars on Main Street three to one; • you miss a Sunday at church and get a get-well card on Monday; • someone asks you how you feel and actually listens to what you say; • you might not talk to others much at Mass, but after Mass there's not a mad rush for the autos because it is good time to catch up with your neighbors. In Topics in Education, the late Jesuit theologian Bernard Lonergan pointed to three major determinants of local and regional communities. Lonergan wrote: "The influence of geography is one great determinant of what the mode of living will be. There is also the technological and economic determinant: the way people work, the tasks they have to perform in their way of life. Finally, there is the influence of heredity and historical memories, their culture, their religion." These three determinants shape a single whole, an organic way of living. In "Renewing the Earth," the American bishops refer to the organic way of living as a "web of life." That web of life might be: • A New England village centered on a green; • A ranch service town in Wyoming; • A fishing village in Louisiana; • A dairy farm community in the Wisconsin Dells. Rural communities have unique social dynamics: • Their relationships are relatively stable and permanent. • Their relationships are at once personal and functional. • Those who share the same social space share the same physical space. • These factors contribute to the distinctiveness of the rural parish. The Uniqueness of the Rural Parish As Carl Dudley writes in his book, The Unique Dynamics of the Small Church, "The small parish is not a church waiting to grow, like an adolescent child." It is not merely a stage in parish development from small to big. The small church is like the primary family group. Like the extended family, the small parish has a territorial identity with the local town. These people see each other more frequently than at church. They have other regular meetings together. Like the extended family, the rural parish carries the culture of a particular ethnic, racial or national group. In the Deep South there are Cajun, African-American and French parishes. In the West and Southwest, there are rural Hispanic parishes. Some regions have strong Polish or Czech churches. Rural parishioners know one another, they especially know their leaders, pastors, parish volunteers. By and large, it is a community of memory, focused on past achievements. In some small parishes the memory is clear: who founded the parish, how it was built, what sites were chosen. Members remember who donated the altar rail and when the crucifix was erected. The small parish's caring is genuine; it can also be severe. Often members have known each other for a long time, so hair styles and modes of attire come in for their due of critical comments. The density of bonds of blood ties, tradition and turf does not necessarily mean that the small parishioners are closed to change. Unless the small town and the rural community are appreciated in their uniqueness the Church and social planners will do a grave disservice to this large and important section of the American Catholic Church and of the country. We cannot take for granted that the big parish is the model for all parishes or that large community is the model for all. Size does make a difference. As a feature of contemporary Christian nurture, it is vital to the charge to Christians, to bring the Gospel to every location. Doing so with sensitivity involves distinguishing between the culture and religion. To fail to make that distinction would be to attempt to impose a foreign culture on a local host. Such an imposition in not merely a failure in sensitivity, it is at the same time an act which fails to live up to the Gospel. Rural cultures vary with each landscape. We need to appreciate that fact in order to appropriately plan to minister with respect to each person and local community. Further Study: Agenda for the Small Church: A Handbook for Ministry The Collegium for Rural Ministry National Catholic Rural Life Conference $10 Rural Ministry: The Shape of the Renewal to Come Abingon Press Available from NCRLC $17 The National Catholic Rural Life Conference is a membership organization grounded in a spiritual tradition which brings together the Church, care for creation and care for community. The NCRLC fosters programs of direct service and systemic change. As an educator in the faith, the NCRLC seeks to relate religion to the rural world; develops support services for rural pastoral ministers; serves as a prophetic voice and as a catalyst and convener for social justice. National Catholic Rural Life Conference 4625 Beaver Avenue Des Moines, IA 50310-2199 Phone: (515) 270-2634 Fax: (515) 270-9447 ncrlc@aol.com