Since the coming of the Industrial Revolution the attention of our society has become more and more centred on matters affecting urban and suburban Britain. The Church has followed the lead of secular society in having an urban and suburban bias. The Church has ceased to be earthed in its rural inheritance.
But things are changing. People move from towns and cities into the countryside. The theology and ministry of the Church has to meet the present situation. The cross and the resurrection need to be examined in the light of our theology of creation and the natural world.
Because of his the Rural Theology Association was formed. It is an association to support people committed to the gospel in the countryside. Our theology aims to start from the grass roots - the gospel and the people.
Back in 1981, the Rural Church in England was something of a Cinderella, although in previous centuries that had been its stronghold. A group of rural enthusiasts: Meryvn Wilson, Tony Hodgson and Antony Herbert, worked with David Woodwards and the early staff of the Arthur Rank Centre (e.g. Anthony Russell) to establish the beginnings of RTA. The annual national conference was a major feature. By 1989, things had begun to change and on the eve of the Archbishop's Commission on Rural Areas, 100 RTA members gathered in Suffolk for a Conference whose report was published with the title 'God in the Village'.
Since 2000 a particular effort has been made to move the Conference around the country. Meanwhile, Local Groups have grown to a dozen and resources have been provided such as Reading Lists, this Website and what became the Journal.
Initially this was called 'Occasional Papers' and then 'A Better Country', before adopting its current title of 'Rural Theology'.
Click here for the Rural Theology Association website.
