BARRIERS TO ADULT LEARNING AND TRAINING IN RURAL CHURCHES 1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose
This study aims to identify the barriers that prevent adult Christians in rural churches from learning and participating in training that benefits them and their churches. It draws together the available literature and uses data from the Rural Life and Faith project survey.
1.2 Background
Of England’s population in 2005, about 9.6 million people lived in rural areas [1]. The rural population of England is on average older than the urban population and the proportion of elderly in the rural population is increasing more rapidly, too [2].
There are estimated to be 13,000 churches and chapels in rural England, and many of these are recognised as small. Denominations use various ways of defining rural and small; e.g. Methodist churches of 20 members or less are considered small, where for Baptist churches the figure is 40. (The largest rural denomination, the Church of England, does not provide a definition of small.) The average age of churchgoers is steadily increasing –more marked in rural congregations. Average church attendance is decreasing across the denominations, but with little difference between rural and urban locations [3].
This has profound effects on the way rural churches are equipped and enabled, and how the members engage in their church’s activities. The situation of rural churches is made potentially more complex by a two-fold process across many denominations: • Reducing the numbers of ordained ministers • Rationalising church numbers, by closure or merger into larger groups of churches.
2. Contexts of Learning and Types of Barrier 2.1 Contexts of Learning
Three main contexts for lifelong learning are recognised [4], and adult Christian learning may occur in all of them: • Formal – institutions or bodies primarily dedicated to teaching and learning, mostly
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