ministry in the small town

i am going to try and write this blog in a way that tries not to be judgmental and to say that one church is better then another. i am going to attempt to show that ministry in the small town while not for everyone is fitting for jenny and myself.

as soon as we arrived here 10 months ago i noticed that people knew about our church already. our church is known for a few different areas.
1. tlc-this is the preschool that our church offers. there are about 50 3-4 year olds that run around here being taught by 5 teachers. many of these families do not attend church here but many have enrolled there kids in tlc and have started to attend because of this event.
2. care-n-share-the weekend before thanksgiving we have a free thrift store. almost all that attend this are not from our church.
3. barn bash- music festival that attracted 1500 this past year

these are just three things that we are known for in our community. now in the city, even in a small city like greenville sc there are a multitude of churches (granted it is in the bible belt) so it is harder to distinguish one church from the other. with having churches on every corner it is a little harder to convince someone to come to yours. in pulaski we do not have that problem. with as much outreach as we do. more people come here from word of mouth.

small town ministry in a way is like cheers; everybody knows your name. it is easier to run into someone that you know in a small town.

as for youth ministry, i doubt there there is a teen at pulaski high school that does not know my face and maybe possibly my name. with about 500 students 7-12 grade. it is easier for me to distinguish them as well. in greenville each high school i went into had about 2000 students 9-12. therefore in pulaski it is easier to pick out a face, establish a relationship with this student and see him on a regular basis even though he does not attend church.

small town does not take away the ministry possibilities. there is a community food bank. we as a church have partnered with it rather then having a pantry of our own because people in our area are more apt to go to the food bank anyway. same idea with clothing. we even though not in the inner city still have many people living in poverty right here. the job market here is not the best, and the jobs that are available are minimum wage.

so while one might think that the small town is an exciting place to be in ministry, it suits me perfectly.