2005 Archives
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2nd Opinion: Rural churches face unique options_32105
Posted: 3/18/05
Rural churches face unique options
By Gary Farley
In 1950, most rural Southern Baptist churches were very different from what they are today. Most shared a preacher with one or more other congregations. Most did not have worship services every Sunday. Most met in a one-room church building. Most drew their congregation from their immediate neighborhood.
A few members in that day recalled how much the church had changed since 1900. All-weather roads, electricity, nice materials for Sunday school and screens on the windows would have been on most lists. In parts of Texas, the emergence of the oil industry, the expansion of railroads and highways, and the growth of towns had changed the distribution of people during the first half of the 20th century. This impacted rural churches both positively and negatively. Members of a rural church that dates from the 1850s can find in the old church minutes a very different picture of how the church operated then. It may have been biracial. It practiced church discipline for those who violated the church covenant. It probably met only once per month. It may not have had a Sunday school until the 1870s.
And if one reviews records of Baptist associations across this same period, one will learn churches have waxed and waned. Some have died. Many have been born. The Baptist movement has continued through many changes, both internally and externally. Again and again, churches and associations of churches have responded to change. Today, many rural and village congregations are confronted by declining population bases or racially changing populations.
03/18/2005 - By John Rutledge
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