Devon Churches Rural Forum

Travelling Congregations or Fixed Provision? Assessing Models of Rural Ministry

The abstract for this paper reads ...

This article identifies a research question about the way in which rural churches offer worhsip, the question being, "which is more effective as a way of delivering worhsip: a travelling congregation or fixed provision?" It is a question about which much has been assumed, but on which little research has been done. The article emplys the method of particpant observation, by which the question is located and researched within a specific local context, the multi-church benefice of Teme Valley South. Numerical data were collected over a four year period , and on the basis of these data it has been possible to describe the extent to which people did and did not travel to attend worhsip. The implications of what was observed are considered and carry far reaching consequences for the Church.

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