{"id":2332,"date":"2019-02-27T22:34:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T22:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/?p=2332"},"modified":"2019-02-27T22:34:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T22:34:25","slug":"a-future-of-hope-the-small-and-rural-congregation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/a-future-of-hope-the-small-and-rural-congregation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Future Of Hope &#8211; The Small and Rural Congregation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 34\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 7\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Academy Update From Pastor Brad Hales\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/320363705?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There is a prevailing attitude in some quarters, that if a church doesn\u2019t worship many people, receive an adequate sum of offerings, or isn\u2019t saturated with daily programming, that it is not a viable center for mission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Some believe that if a congregation is aging and struggling to do ministry in communities which are declining, then it has little hope for the future. Sadly these thoughts and opinions are based on worldly standards rather that what the Holy Spirit is doing. \u00a0Small and rural churches are the backbone of the Christian community in the United States. \u00a0Whether these congregations are found in tiny towns, the middle of farmland, residential enclaves in suburbia or nestled within bustling cities, groups of dedicated individuals gather in mission, centered in Word and Sacrament, seeing ways to build relationships and reach out to neighbors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 21\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 3\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p><strong>Join us Tuesday, March 5th at 11 am EST. \u00a0Pre-registration for this webinar is required. \u00a0For additional details or to register, please visit: \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/attendee.gotowebinar.com\/register\/4826116470152014338\">The Academy \u2013 March 2019.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For additional details on panelists, our host, and other opportunities, please visit: <a href=\"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/the-academy-march-2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Academy.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; There is a prevailing attitude in some quarters, that if a church doesn\u2019t worship many people, receive an adequate sum of offerings, or isn\u2019t saturated with daily programming, that it is not a viable center for mission. Some believe that if a congregation is aging and struggling to do ministry in communities which are &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/a-future-of-hope-the-small-and-rural-congregation\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;A Future Of Hope &#8211; The Small and Rural Congregation&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[40,14,10,7],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332"}],"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=2332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}