A Moment for Mission
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.” —Matthew 18:20, CEB
Rural Life Sunday is one of United Methodism’s five special Sundays providing opportunities for annual conference offerings. Rural Life Sunday calls us to celebrate the rural heritage of The United Methodist Church, to recognize the ongoing crisis occurring in rural areas of the world today and to affirm the interdependence of rural and urban communities.
Partners for Sacred Places partnered with the Duke Endowment and UNC Charlotte Urban Institute to extend its work to value the local economic impact of rural churches, specifically United Methodist churches (UMCs) in rural North Carolina. The research shows that rural Methodist churches contribute to economic life in a significant way:
- Rural United Methodist churches support jobs and local businesses.
- Congregations are community hubs, providing a variety of flexible and affordable space that encourages neighbors to come together to solve problems, serve and be served and build social capital.
- Congregations are important supporters of early childhood education and provide valuable childcare services in areas underserved by childcare centers.
- Congregations counsel, support and make referrals for individuals and families struggling with a range of issues.
- UMCs are also magnets for visitors, attracting on average 195 visits to their towns or locales each week. In fact, only half of these visits (53%) were for worship activities, while the other half were by individuals attending an event or participating in a program. Churches support their community outright by employing, on average, 1.4 full-time employees, and 4 part-time employees. They purchase goods and services from a network of local small businesses and individual vendors, supporting an important community economic ecosystem.
Children’s Message
Materials Needed:
- a small basket or container of harvested fruits or vegetables (e.g., apples, carrots, corn, etc.)
- several empty baskets or containers (one for each child)
Gather the children at the front of the room and show them the basket of harvested fruits or vegetables. Explain that these represent the bountiful blessings of rural life, such as the delicious food that grows on farms.
In Matthew 18:20 (CEB) Jesus said: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.”
In rural communities, people often work together to grow crops and gather the harvest. This teaches us the importance of teamwork and coming together as a community.
Show the children the basket of harvested fruits or vegetables and ask them to name their favorite ones.
Invite the children to imagine that they are the farmers and they have gathered the harvest. Pass around the basket and allow each child to pick one or two items to hold.
Explain to the children that just as farmers share their harvest, we can share the blessings of friendship with others.
Invite the children to take turns placing their chosen fruits or vegetables from the shared harvest into one another’s baskets. As each child places an item in someone else’s basket, remind them that they are building a special harvest of friendship.
Emphasize that when we gather together with friends and support one another, we are following Jesus’s words in Matthew 18:20 (CEB), “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.”
Offertory Prayer (From Discipleship Ministries)
God of love and compassion, we ask you to dedicate the tithes and offerings we bring to worship. We do this in the hope that you will do more with them than we could ever do on our own to heal the brokenness and division in our world. Remind us that the work of reconciliation does not get removed from our list because we put something in the offering and that mission field is within our arms’ reach. This we pray in the redeemer’s holy name, Jesus the Christ. Amen (Matt 18:15-20)
Newsletter Nugget
On a date set by each annual conference, Rural Life Sunday calls the church to celebrate the rural heritage of The United Methodist Church, to affirm worldwide the people and communities who work with and on the land by raising food and fiber, and to recognize the ongoing crisis occurring in the rural areas of the nation and world today.
A Prayer for Rural Life Sunday:
O Lord, you have given us the gift of land.
May we ever protect and preserve it.
O Lord, you have given us the gift of water.
May we keep it pure and safe.
O Lord, you have given us the gift of air.
May we keep it pure and fresh.
O Lord, you have given us the gift of plants and trees.
May we ever use and protect them justly.
O Lord, you have given us the gift of birds and animals.
May we preserve and enjoy them.
O Lord, you have given us care of the earth.
O Lord, we accept the care of these gifts as our sacred stewardship.
Amen.