How we can help

Our aims

  • To be a support & resource for Christian communities, on rural issues, ministry, & mission
  • To encourage the rural church to engage in community challenges such as education, healthcare, affordable housing, transport, isolation & poverty
  • To share good practice in being rural church
  • To provide a Christian presence at rural events (church tent at Royal Bath & West Show) & provide chaplaincy at livestock markets
  • To work with schools & parishes to create better understanding of food production
  • To offer advice & resources for linked worship /assembly material

Our offering

  • We hold an annual Rural Forum for rural clergy and lay leaders to come together, offering key note speakers and the opportunity to share experiences and learn from each other.
  • Advice & resources for developing seasonal services that reach out into the community
  • Informed speakers for services & social events
  • Facilitating links between schools & farms to create better understanding of food production & environmental stewardship
  • Study materials for Lent/house groups & parish days, which are both scriptural & contextual
  • Pastoral care for the farming community
  • Periodic briefings (some suitable for publication in parish magazines) on farming, rural enterprise, rural transport, housing, rural poverty, food justice, & environmental issues

Our actions

  • Hands-on, practical support to Somerset Levels flood-affected farmers & communities
  • Open farm school days & assemblies for primary age children & their teachers
  • Help with seasonal worship – Plough Sunday, Rogation, Lammas & Harvest
  • Outreach to farming community – farmers’ suppers, chaplaincy via markets & pastoral visits
  • Public seminar on food & faith topics

Who to contact

Rob Walrond, Rural Life Adviser

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