Site
Contents
 |
General Information about the Area Office
North Indiana Conference Office
South Indiana Conference Office
Prayer Guides
(Courtesy of the NIC Prayer Team)
Area United Methodist
Foundation
For resources to assist your congregation in welcoming guests,
click here
Seashore District Volunteer Center VIM project -- Completed
Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodists together |
May/June 2004 |
Action plan proposal aims to strengthen rural congregations
By Linda Bloom
A UMNS Feature
Although rural United Methodist churches make up a little more than a third of the denomination's membership, those congregations account for half the overall membership loss in recent decades.
To reverse that decline and provide other support to rural churches, an action plan to implement the denomination's National Comprehensive Plan for Town & Country Ministries was approved by the United Methodist General Conference meeting in Pittsburgh.
The goals of the action plan are to develop, support and affirm effective ministries in rural cultures and contexts and develop, strengthen and sustain effective leadership for town and country ministries.
Directors of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries heard specifics about the plan during their March 22-25 meeting in Stamford, Conn.
The Rev. Alan Rice, a district superintendent from North Wilkesboro, N.C., and a member of the planning team, told directors that more than half-20,203 of 35,670 - of United Methodist congregations are rural, which means they are found in areas with less than 200 people per square mile.
Between 1982 and 2001, however, membership losses in rural congregations accounted for half of the denomination's total loss of slightly more than one million members.
Last updated on May 17, 2004