{"id":1753,"date":"2018-07-16T20:26:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T20:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/?p=1753"},"modified":"2018-07-17T16:13:59","modified_gmt":"2018-07-17T16:13:59","slug":"small-and-rural-churches-the-hope-of-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/small-and-rural-churches-the-hope-of-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Lutheran Week &#8211; Small and Rural Churches: The Hope of the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The NALC is committed to the renewal of all our congregations, working to develop and deliver resources that challenge and open the NALC to the work of the Holy Spirit in our ministry and mission. \u00a0During Lutheran Week in Denver, the Mission Festival is designed to inspire and serve as a resource to congregations. This includes specific \u201cbreak out\u201d sessions on a variety of topics. \u00a0Pastor Brad Hales is excited to present the topic: &#8220;<b>Small and Rural Churches: The Hope of the Future&#8221;<\/b><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Small and Rural Churches: The Hope of the Future- \u00a0It&#8217;s not about the size, but the relationships. And the small, rural church is truly vital today because of these relationships. \u00a0Come and experience how these congregations can grow and witness even more by deepening their relationships with Jesus, one another and the community. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1663 size-medium alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Brad-Hales-300x240.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Brad-Hales-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Brad-Hales-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Brad-Hales-1024x819.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Pastor Brad Hales<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the Director of Domestic Mission and the senior pastor at Reformation Lutheran Church in Culpeper, West Virginia. \u00a0Previously, Pastor Hales served as the chair of the Renewal Team, New Starts Team, and Dean of the Virginia Mission District of the North American Lutheran Church. Through the power of Jesus, Pastor Hales has helped to renew several older congregations in discipleship, outreach and mission. In 2009, his present congregation was given the \u201cBest Practices Award in Senior Adult Ministry\u201d by the National Council on Aging. Pastor Hales has also authored multiple Bible studies and resources, including, \u201cA Covenant of Aging,\u201d published by Sola Publishing. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0For more information about schedules, hotel information, or to register today for Lutheran Week \u2013 please visit: \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenalc.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2018 Lutheran Week.<\/a> \u00a0For additional information about other breakouts and presenters, please visit: \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/tag\/mission-festival\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2018 Mission Festival.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NALC is committed to the renewal of all our congregations, working to develop and deliver resources that challenge and open the NALC to the work of the Holy Spirit in our ministry and mission. \u00a0During Lutheran Week in Denver, the Mission Festival is designed to inspire and serve as a resource to congregations. This &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/small-and-rural-churches-the-hope-of-the-future\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Lutheran Week &#8211; Small and Rural Churches: The Hope of the Future&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6,20,22],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SubSlider-Img-2018-Convocation-High-1600x900-1200x661.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}