What Is Shaped By Place In Pastoral Care In Rural Communities

This reflection paper formulated from information provided in the book, “Practicing Care in Rural Congregations and Communities” which was written by a group of pastors with input from student pastors from rural churches and their congregations. I will address the four questions assigned. The first inquiry will be on how care is shaped by “place” including theological reflections and caring tasks, the second on how engaging the rural community may differ from urban communities, the third on how care intersect with leadership, and the fourth on how care functions sensitively to diversity. I will use the term “team” to indicate the group of pastor who wrote the book. The first reflections centers on how care is shaped by place. Place is

The team has indicated that people develop relationships with places, emotional attachments that form their sense of who they are. When people share a common area cultures are developed. Places define what matters, where energy and resources are invested, place is further defined as a complex space interrelated between earth, built structures, and human relationship.
The place is important in pastoral care because of its presence in storytelling, which is essential to pastoral care. In utilizing place in pastoral care, the team writes that the pastor must use the threefold approach to thinking about the aspect of a place as presented by the British geographer Keith Halfacree in understanding stories. These approaches are identified as “formal representation”, “references residents, and the day-to-day lives of the people living there. (Pg. 24) These approaches provide avenues for understanding the function of place in the life of the individual receiving

The team writes that personal issues are always also social issues that require leadership to organize and mobilize the church and community toward ongoing healing and transformation. Part of the intersection involves the theology that guides leadership in a congregational place. In rural setting, the church members and the pastor’s vocation practice public leadership. They do it by using a style that demonstrates care and respect. As leaders, the pastor learns to embrace the thoughts and opinions of their parishioners, and become a contributing factor in the equation not the solution. They follow their own instruction and attend to their own spiritual well-being and care. As pastors, our leadership styles, like lay leaders, express certain values and have the capacity to foster a caring leadership in others. Pastoral care and leadership is not just limited to the congregation, it extends to individuals who are in our communities of faith, paying attention to the dynamics and cultural contexts that sometimes diminish life for our