Grove City College, a Christian liberal arts and sciences college in western Pennsylvania, seeks a five-year grant for its Project on Rural Ministry (PRM). This effort will convene pastors who minister in denominationally diverse but geographically and demographically similar contexts to receive and share accrued wisdom concerning the practice of ministry in rural settings. The PRM will form three cohorts of 10 pastors each who serve rural and small town congregations in the Agricultural, Rust Belt, and Appalachian regions served by the college. Key program activities include: an opening and closing conference for combined cohorts; participation in a virtual network with clergy peers; regional single-cohort meetings; customized single-church site visits by consultants specializing in social work, entrepreneurship, and Christian ministry; and the provision of student interns and service learners who will respond to pastors’ requests for more concentrated resources based on their communities’ needs. To sustain this work, Grove City College will seek to establish and extend the work of the PRM by funding an ongoing Ministry Institute to foster engagement between college, church, and community. Project details may be reviewed at www.ruralministry.org.
The Project on Rural Ministry
Grove City, Pennsylvania
University/College
Presbyterian