Venue

Zoom

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The Virtual National Gathering of UCC Rural/Small Town Churches and Ministries:

Gathering Dates: February 9-11, 2023 (Thursday, Friday, & Saturday*
*On Saturday, encourage congregations to gather together in church, potluck style and
participate in joint communion across the denomination.)

Time: 4:00 – 7:00 pm EST

Theme: Nourishing the Seeds of Faith (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Contact: Rev Roberto Ochoa, UCC Minister for Ethnic Inclusion, Rural and Small Churches – ochoar@ucc.org

In the Fall of 2019, UCC General Minister/President Rev John Dorhauer received a letter from a UCC pastor in a rural setting disappointed in the lack of congregational and pastoral presence during General Synod.  The pastor felt that rural congregations and ministers felt isolated and disconnected from the national setting.

John responded by referring the letter to Rev Dr Chris Davies, Team Leader of Faith INFO and requested Rev Roberto Ochoa, who was responsible for congregational support and resources for Faith INFO contact the pastor.

That contact led to the beginning of a movement to reach out to rural identified congregations and all those interested in rural ministries.

In December 2020, Rev Roberto was paired with Rev Dr Bonnie Bates, Penn Northeast Conference Minister to present a workshop about the state of the UCC rural/small town churches in the denomination for the virtual AM 21 Conference.

Topics relevant to the rural church settings were explored in several UCC Thursdays for the Soul webinar series hosted by Roberto.

During the virtual General Synod of 2021, a workshop was presented by Roberto, Bonnie, and Rev Dr Marc Stewart, CM Montana/No Wyoming.  It resulted in the creation of the Coalition for UCC Rural Ministries for all those interested in rural ministries from every setting of the UCC.  The Coalition has met monthly since 2021 and has been hosted by Bonnie Bates and Roberto Ochoa for the purposes of listening and collaborating with best practices for the rural local church and pastoral leadership.

A special report by CARDD on WHERE OUR UCC CONGREGATIONS CALL HOME: RURAL, TOWN, SUBURBAN, AND URBAN CONGREGATIONS researched and authored by Roberto Ochoa found that over 60% of UCC congregations were in communities with less than 25,000.  https://www.ucc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022.vfw_.pdf  (p 55-57)

Two primary goals of the Coalition for UCC Rural Ministries has been to have a national gathering of UCC rural churches and pastoral leaders and to organize for recognition by the National Setting of the UCC.