Episode 160: The Future of the Church May Lie in Rural Congregations - Jonathan Spronk (Part 1)
"I think the future of the church, especially as we're getting into more of a post-Christian culture, the future of the church is not big churches…And most of the churches already are pretty small, but I think they'll probably get a little bit smaller. And so we're going to need to plant more churches, but we're going to have to figure out a way to plant churches that can sustain themselves at 50, 60, 70 people." -Jason Ruis
Summary of This Episode
Welcome to the Messy Reformation Podcast where Jason and Willy are joined this week by Rev. Jonathan Spronk, the senior pastor at First CRC of Oskaloosa, IA. He has been in pastoral ministry for 15 years, and previously served at Austinville CRC in Iowa, whose current pastor was on several episodes ago. Jonathan is an Edgerton, MN product, who initially planned on a career as a meat scientist.
While attending South Dakota State University for a Masters, he and his new bride attended Volga CRC, and things began to change as that congregation–in a good way–got their loving hooks in the young couple. When that church had a pastoral vacancy, it made an impression on him of the need for faithful pastors in rural congregations. A nomination to be an elder was a bit of a wake-up call to the gifts others saw in him, and ended up leading him to pursue an MDiv at Calvin Theological Seminary.
The contexts of rural ministry and rural churches is a major focus in this episode. The late Pastor Tim Keller is known for having promoted a city-centered approach to ministry–the city is where ministry will be focused in the future and what pastors should be trained for. Yet Jason’s experience in the last decade is that the future of the church seems to be swinging the other direction, towards small and shrinking churches. Pastors need training for planting and learning how to sustain ministry with around 50-70 people. With many people moving out of cities and commuting to work–at least in the Midwest, the church has to pay attention. Jonathan agrees, especially for the amount of rural Christian Reformed churches that form the backbone of the denomination. When these are where many pastors have the opportunity to land for their first call, it would be wise for seminaries to train towards that.
"The backbone of, I would say, in North American Christianity, but certainly the backbone of the Christian Reform Church is still a lot of rural churches." -Jonathan Spronk
Jason brings up the necessity of having to learn the culture of a church and context, which doesn’t happen just over a one-year period, but he’s still learning things after five years. Pastors should be constantly studying their congregations to learn their fears, motivations, and what lies beneath the surface for ways of doing things. Jonathan points out that rural ministry likely will have an effect on when certain ministry seasons are emphasized that may be different from less agriculturally-involved areas. That being said, even in rural contexts, ministry is not the same in every location. The number of people involved, the influence of ethnicity or background, the connection to Christian education can differ and takes some learning and adapting.
Jason asks the question that’s on most of our minds, though: what is a meat scientist? Jonathan clearly still has a passion for this, and explains how it’s the science involving nutrition, quality eating experiences, judging by evaluating carcasses and pieces of meat, teaching how to cook various meats and cuts. While this passion not only gives him a job fallback if ever needed, he has also been able to incorporate it into his ministry at the church and classis levels as well as for hospitality and outreach.
As Jonathan continues to use his background as a hobby, Jason points out there are benefits for pastors and everyone to have those. Secular leadership research sees it as “good for the soul” and helpful to the mind to decompress and make connections. Jonathan wholeheartedly agrees and shares how he’s found the ability to take time off, combine hobbies, enjoy creation and time with family. It’s not only been good in the moment, but provided him with cherished memories and opportunities to invite other people in.