The Anglican parish system has a ‘notion of a common life, in a common place for common concerns and interests, moments of exploring the possibilities of a common perspective… Rural communities have always provided an important model of how the gospel works: the focus is upon the identity and connections made around a sense of parish and place.’ The Rt Revd Alastair Redfern, now the Bishop of Derby, in Changing Rural Life (SCM- Canterbury Press 2004). So rural witness to the gospel is an holistic matter involving both church and community. Missionary hospitality and friendship unites people more effectively than theological documents or discussions about faith and order. In
small communities Christian friendship built on the importance of place can be particularly sustaining and nurturing.
Consequently, a church building in a particular place can be proclamation, the spire or tower providing a visual reminder of continuing Christian belief and witness; the old stones speaking of continuity, memory, life’s ups and downs, God’s grace. That can become the kernel of faith kept in a person’s
memory, so that when communities disperse, even to the other side of the world, it can be the place of God’s presence for people looking for the roots of their faith. The importance of place can never be overestimated.
Questions for Discussion Activities
• This section tells us that the sense of place is very important to rural mission. Imagine that someone arrived back in the village after many years of isolation. How could you help them find out about their family, their childhood home? Where might the church figure in this? So, what can the church do to help people really feel they have come ‘home’? [Suggested Bible passage Luke 15.11- 24.]
• What kinds of issues unite people in the community? Why? Or, imagine waking up and finding the church completely gone, what would be the impact on your community? How could the church get your
community to think about what is important to their sense of place?
• If you have a visitor’s book, look back through the entries and make a list of words used to describe visitors’ experiences of your church. How do these words relate to the sense of place that you have? What more could be done in your church to enhance the sense of place for visitors and the whole community, and how could that be linked to a sense of God-with-us? For more information see Rural Visitors (Acora Publishing 2001).
• This section quotes T S Eliot: ‘you are here to kneel where prayer has been valid.’ How could you enhance the sense that the church is more than an historic building or a museum, but a place where the living God is constantly at work, a God who always listens to, and answers prayer?
• Mission link: Spend some time walking around the churches in the benefice, the churchyards and the villages. Identify things which contribute to a sense of place eg tombs, memorials, bells,
headstones, war memorials, stained glass, parks, gardens, farms, historic buildings etc. Plan one or two activities, such as talks, open evenings or school visits, in which these things are highlighted as precious treasures of place and memory.
• Worship link: All Souls Day in early November gives an opportunity to hold a special service to remember those from the community who have died in the last year (or few years). These services are often very well attended by those who do not normally come to church. Use the occasion to focus on the shared sense of place and belonging that unites those who have died and those who live on.
• Community link: Are there people who remember what life used to be like in the village, perhaps before World War II? If so it would be a good opportunity to get a few people to record their memories and gather old photographs, artefacts and other historic papers. Make a display of the information collected in the church and invite the whole village to see it and to compare changes.
• Celebration link: If you undertake either the mission or community activities, take the opportunity to celebrate these activities with a special service of thanksgiving and celebration for the distinctive life and history of the community. If there is a local history group in the area see if they would be involved in helping plan the celebration.
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