Rural Ministry: Seminarians learn firsthand about Nebraska.

by Cheryl Stubbendieck

Six seminarians from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago who visited Nebraska for two weeks in September 2002 say they found an unexpected vibrancy among rural church members and a direct connection between faith and daily life. The students were in Nebraska Sept. 9-21 for a “Rural Immersion” course offered jointly by the Seminary and the rural ministry task force of the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

“We brought these students to Nebraska to show them the unique joys and challenges in working in a rural setting and they were eager to experience rural life firsthand. We hope that when they finish their education, they will be open to a call to serve in a rural area, and we hope they’ll consider Nebraska,” said Rev. Tom Miller of St. Marks Lutheran Church in Bloomfield, Neb., the task force chair. Task force volunteers from ELCA churches across the state organized and raised funds for the program, and scheduled agricultural tours, home stay visits with farm families, and discussions with rural pastors.

Antje Jackelen, assistant professor of systematic theology, religion and science at the Seminary, and her husband, the Rev. Heinz Jackelen of the Church of Sweden, accompanied the students to Nebraska. With the exception of Eric Alm, a graduate student, the student visitors are all second-year seminarians.

“They really got a sense of and a passion for rural ministry,” Antje Jackelen said. "They developed new skills in applying what they learned at seminary to a specific setting: the questions they have learned to ask, how they listen, and how they process information. Even if they end up in an urban setting, what they have learned (about ministry in a particular context) will be valuable to them. There is very, very much of value in having" this practical experience, she said.

Alm, of Rock Island, Ill., said he found the faith life of the rural communities he visited “incredibly compelling.” After a home stay visit with a farmer and his family, Alm said he “was really impressed with how vibrant and connected his faith was to what he did – his spirituality was central to being a farmer. It was very compelling – the individual and collective faith of the community is tangible. It’s part of the life here – an intimate connection with God.

“The connection in farmers’ faith between the land and God appeared to me to be the heart of how farmers see their way of life…I rejoiced in the sense of care and concern that the farmers I met had for their land, and the depth of the commitment to it out of faith in God’s love and grace,” Alm said.

Stacey Jutila of Cloquet, Minn., said she was surprised to learn about the importance of agriculture to other rural industries and businesses. “It was very evident how farming shapes the larger community in support of the economy – if farming is down, all the other (businesses) are down, too.”

The busy life of rural people was a surprise, too: “The people who are busy with a lot of things are leaders in multiple areas – the farmer who is up early at 5 a.m. is still busy at night as the head of the church council or school board. Rural people wear many hats,” she said, adding that rural churches shouldn’t overlook the leaders in their midst as possible pastors. Alternate routes to ordination that don’t require long time commitments away from the community, such as through distance education, need to be promoted, Jutila said.

Joshua Ehrler of East Dubuque, Illinois, said he, too, felt “pretty excited about rural ministry” after his Nebraska visit. “There’s an opportunity to get to know the community and individuals, and the support system in small towns is wonderful.”

Dan Doering of Washington, Ill., said he was concerned whether his preference for contemporary styles of worship would be a good fit for a rural congregation. But he found an openness to contemporary worship in the Lexington and Kearney, Neb., Lutheran congregations he visited.

Doering and the other students also were concerned that as rural pastors, they’d be isolated from clergy colleagues located many miles away. “But the opportunity is there if you make contact with other clergy a priority. I was impressed with the collegiality among rural clergy,” he said, noting that a rural pastor’s “colleague group” often includes clergy from several denominations.

In the paper required for the three-hour course, Ehrler noted that Nebraska Synod Bishop David deFreese has made spiritual care and education for clergy a priority within the synod, with a special emphasis on first call clergy.

Wendy Anderson from Caribou, Maine, said she learned from visiting rural communities and staying with farm families that she would be comfortable working as a pastor in rural Nebraska. Her undergraduate degree in animal and veterinary science would be a plus in relating to livestock producers. She and the other students fed calves, moved irrigation pipe and learned to drive a tractor during their farm visits.

Melinda Hepner of Chicago found herself ministering as well as learning in Nebraska. While visiting at Grace Lutheran Church in Lexington, she was asked to use her fluent Spanish to translate a worship service for men being held in jail. She also translated for a parish ministry associate who was called to the bedside of a Spanish-speaking woman in hospice care, who died during their visit.

“I would never have expected Spanish to be an entrance ticket to ministry in rural Nebraska,” she said. Nebraska has several communities where large numbers of Hispanics have been attracted recently, because of jobs available in the meatpacking industry. Hepner said she expected to encounter racism toward Hispanics and was surprised to learn that many longtime community members valued the newcomers, noting especially the importance Hispanics place on family.

The students themselves noted the importance rural Nebraskans place on family as well. “Of all the impressions I formed in Nebraska, the strongest was my impression of the way the people there value family—the importance they place on spending time together, working together, playing together, worshipping together, caring for one another,” Anderson said. “It seemed that everyone I met talked about the importance of their families in some way or another.”

In their course papers, the students noted the economic and social challenges rural people face, such as crop prices below the cost of production; the drought that plagued Nebraska and much of the Midwest this past year; and declining numbers of young people in small towns, tied to lack of employment opportunities. Those factors affect rural church membership as well, with many churches unable to afford the costs of a full-time pastor.

Often two or more neighboring congregations have agreed to become “yoked,” sharing one pastor but maintaining separate ministries, Doering noted in his paper. In Nebraska he encountered a more vibrant ministry model, the true “multiple point parish,” which is based on cooperation, acceptance and teamwork. These congregations also are served by one pastor, but they have a shared view of mission and ministry that draws on the strengths of each, he said. Members of the larger parish are encouraged and welcomed to participate in activities of each congregation, and the larger number of participants fosters greater success in ministry, such as mission trips.

Pastors stay in such calls longer, Doering said, because they do not get “burned out as easily.” The congregations they serve have a common vision that encourages successful ministry, rather than one where the congregations compete for the time and attention of the pastor.

The students said they were grateful for the opportunity to live with and learn from the Nebraska farm families during their visits. Doering, who works part-time as a student recruiter for the Seminary, said the rural immersion was very helpful. “So many of our students come from urban areas. Even in just two weeks, they can lose the fear they may have about their ability to work in a rural setting.”

Miller, the rural ministry chair, said the students’ comments showed the success of the Rural Immersion course. “Even if they end up serving in city churches, they’ll have an appreciation for rural ministry and the contribution it makes to the church as a whole.” The Nebraska Synod plans to continue the “Rural Immersion” course with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. For more information, contact the Rev. Antje Jackelen.
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Cheryl Stubbendieck is vice president of public relations for the Nebraska Farm Bureau in Lincoln and a member of Sheridan Lutheran Church in Lincoln.