Resources
- SIGNPOSTS KEY Resources for Rural Mission & Ministry
- Library of Rural Good Practice
- Worship Resources
- Country Way
- Where To Turn For Help
- Making Connections
- Book Stall
- How Best to Use
- LFiRC - Life & Faith in Rural Communities
- Resources for Rural Places of Worship
- Rural Evangelism
- Profiling Tools
- Rural Worship Training
Advent
Agencies
Agriculture
All Saints
All Souls
Anglican
ARC Sunday
Ascension
Baptist
Candlemas
Celtic Material
Children
Children & Youth
Christingle
Christmas
Church Administration & Management
Church Bells
Church Buildings
Clergy
Clypping
Commissioning
Communities
Community Development
Community Engagement
Community Life
Community Services
Congregational Federation
Creation
Cricket
Crisis & Loss
Easter Sunday
Economy
Ecumenical
EFCC
Energy
Environment
Epiphany or New Year
Ethics
Evangelism
Finance
Flood
Flower Festival
Food
Gardens
General Worship Resources
Good Friday
Harvest
Health
Holy Week
Horses & Riders
Housing
Justice & Trade
Lambing
Lammas
Land
Lay People
Leadership
Learning
Lent
Maundy Thursday
Methodist
Migrant Workers
Milking
Ministry
Mission
Multichurch Ministry
Older People
Open Farm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Partnership
Pastoral Care
Pentecost
Pets & Companion Animals
Plough Sunday
Policy
Prayer
Remembrance
Research
Rogation
Roman Catholic
Rural Issues
Rural Officers
Saint's Days
Salvation Army
Schools
Seasonal Calendar
Sheep Shearing
Shepherds
Small Churches
Spirituality
Stir up Sunday
Summer
Theology
Training
Transport
Trinity Sunday
Unitarian
Urban Rural
URC
Visitors & Tourism
Vocations
Water
Well Dressing
Wilderness
Woodland
Work
Worship Liturgy & Services
Young People
Library of Rural Good Practice
This Library of Rural Good Practice is a selection of real-life examples and case studies drawn from the rural networks and partners of the Arthur Rank Centre. To a large extent the areas included are in response to research carried out in 2010; identifying the major areas where help was wanted by rural church practitioners – lay people, ministers and training providers. The online Library is just one of a number of new resources being made available by the Arthur Rank Centre as a result of this research. Read more...
“It’s good to talk – but you don’t really understand my situation.” From my conversations with many in ‘front line’ parochial ministry, this is a not-uncommon yet largely unspoken feeling. True, every situation, every ministerial context is different, unique perhaps. But some are more different. In these situations it can…
On Sunday 29th May 2011 the Ironstone Benefice in Oxford Diocese held their monthly benefice service at Holy Trinity Church, Shenington. It was a very different type of service to the norm and it was very well attended - with about 100 people, including a number of young families. Part…
Local churches of many denominations are increasingly being encouraged, or obliged, to engage in some form of appraisal of their surrounding community and their own congregation. The underlying purpose of this is to provide a firm foundation for longer-term planning for community-based mission. The three key elements of this are:…
Introduction to the project Divine Inspiration began in July 2006 and is funded by English Heritage and the Diocese of Coventry. It acknowledges that church buildings are held in trust for all people to explore and enjoy, of all ages and any spiritual persuasion. They are full of potential for…
Rural churches are benefiting from Foundations21 in a variety of ways. It is being used by rural clergy, Readers and lay ministers for sermon and service preparation. Individuals are using it because they live in isolated places, maybe because there are no regular small groups to join. Some Christians who…
Fresh expressions of church are by no means limited to suburban or urban locations, although there are considerably fewer rural examples. However the Fresh Expressions website does contain quite a few specific examples of rural Fresh Expressions of church, as well as more general material related to fresh expressions of…
GROWING THE RURAL CHURCH CONFERENCE - 6th-8th March 2012 This conference was run at Scargill House in North Yorkshire. (And coordinated by Andy Ryland - Rural Officer for the Diocese of Ripon & Leeds - you can contact him below.) Each day had a different focus feeding into the overall theme…
The Diocese of Bath & Wells, School of Formation, has developed a training resource for their rural churches – especially those that are relatively isolated and with poor access to services and facilities. This is currently delivered as a course spread over two half-days, generally involving all the Christian communities…
The general Mission Shaped Ministry programmeMission Shaped Ministry (MSM), from Fresh Expressions, is now a major training programme to help prepare individuals and teams for pioneer ministry in fresh expressions of church within a mixed economy church. Lay people & clergy are encouraged to participate as individuals and as teams.…
“Hey, Miss! What you doing here?” The words of one young boy entering his local church for the first time and seeing a face he knows. His class is visiting the church as part of the R.E. curriculum, and he’s never been inside this strange looking building before ... but…
A case study from Wolds Valley Methodist Church, Weaverthorpe, North Yorkshire The Sherburn Circuit of the Methodist church is a completely rural group of churches. There is no town within the group of chapels. The Circuit and its villages flourished in the days of labour intensive farming communities. At its…
Fosse Deanery, in the Diocese of Coventry, covers a large area of rural South Warwickshire while also overlapping with the strategic market town of Stratford-upon-Avon. The deanery employs a half-stipend Coordinator for Children’s Work and Faith Development, who resources children’s work across the Deanery in three main ways. First, parishes…
People often see life in the countryside as a ‘rural idyll’. Country living suggests peace and quiet, beautiful scenery, a healthy and relaxed lifestyle. However, for many, working or living in the countryside can be difficult for one or many reasons. One problem can lead to another, leaving some feeling…
Exploring the Context Like much in Rural ministry Steps is hard to define - it isn’t a home group and it isn’t a discussion group. In a sense Steps is Steps, Christians supporting each other in The Way. It can be hard for people in larger congregations to understand the…
CSRM is a facility for those engaged in rural ministry providing a unique way of enhancing their ministry by using the “little grey cells” to good effect. CSRM bends over backwards to meet your needs, from a single period of sabbatical study to a DMin. Most of our students study…
The Effective Christian Presence and Enterprise Project (ECPE) was a collaboration between The Churches Regional Commission for Yorkshire and the Humber (CRCYH) and Faithworks. Working with 19 innovative groups and individuals in the region, the project asked how Christian presences can be more effective in engaging with communities in ways…
