“A lot of the imaginative work comes from the people themselves,” Burton told Hayden, a native Kansan, as she described the realities of church on the literal frontier. Burton described what sustainable ministry can look like in places called to sustain the rest of us. “This is where your food comes from,” Burton exclaimed.
According to the state of Kansas, if a county has fewer than six people per square mile, it’s considered a frontier county. These are the counties Burton serves in a newly created role of the Presbytery of Southern Kansas called the “Mission and Ministry Connector.” As of last January, 30 of the 46 churches within the presbytery were in rural or frontier areas. Only 12 of those had paid PC(USA) leadership.
Burton came to rural ministry only recently after serving a congregation in Wichita and has learned a few things about sustainable ministry from churches with 20 members in towns with populations in the hundreds.
The values that Hayden associates with her home state and the ones she sees reflected in Burton’s stories include “not making a big deal about yourself, humility, hard work, taking care of one another, but also minding your own business, always being willing to offer a helping hand, but not judging why that helping hand is needed.”
“The good news is that these people, they’re the ones with the imaginations,” Burton said, laughing. “They have said, ‘What do we need? And how do we make this work for us? We’re pretty capable people. If we can get the right training, then we can do a lot of this.’”
When a young retiree moved back to Chase (population 400), she recognized the need for children at Chase Community Church (membership: 13; 3% of the town’s population). She went door to door, but still no one showed up on Sunday, so she helped the church start an after-school program on Wednesdays with activities and a meal. Now they have 20 kids who regularly show.
A similar situation happened in Pratt, Kansas, where Pratt Presbyterian Church hosts a children’s ministry on Wednesdays for the children of the town. At Cherryvale First Presbyterian Church, the church hosts a dinner twice a month and serves anyone who wants to come. When Burton broke bread with that community, she felt it was a special grace for retired cafeteria workers from the elementary school living on fixed incomes to be served in such a way.
Fulfilling the baptismal vows to children or feeding the stranger are not the only ways Christians on the frontier get creative. They also organize how they provide for the proclamation of the Word, even if only a few can gather or train to lead.
Tribune Presbyterian Church hosts Bible study before worship on four lectionary texts. One member then takes the same study to the senior center and shares the Word of God with others later that week.
Burton finds hope in the witness of pastor-less churches that aligns with the Book of Order F-1.0202, part of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
“Christ calls the church into being, giving it all that is necessary for its mission in the world, for its sanctification and for its service to God. Christ is present with the church of both spirit and word. Christ alone rules, calls, teaches and uses the church as He wills.”
“I like to talk about that with churches,” said Burton, “because Christ has given the church everything it needs to be the church, and sometimes that includes a pastor, but sometimes it doesn’t.”
Listen to the two episodes of the “New Way” podcast with the Rev. Catherine Neelly Burton.
Beth Waltemath, Communications Strategist, Communications Ministry, Interim United Agency (Click here to read original PNS story)
Let us join in prayer for:
- Ginger Harris, Associate for Lending Services, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program
- Jimmie Hawkins, Director, Office of Public Witness-Washington, Interim Unified Agency
Let us pray:
Glorious God, we praise you for your faithfulness. We pray for those who are searching for you without success that they will find peace in you. We thank you for the faithful. We ask that you continue to encourage and challenge them to accomplish your work as you lead them. In the name of our Savior. Amen.
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