“3740” That’s what a student told me when I asked for his number. My wife and I had been married for only two months, and we had left the large metroplex where I had always lived so I could be youth pastor in this town of less than 600. I was stumped by his answer, because I didn’t think that was enough numbers. My new wife, who did grow up in a small town, gently informed me that meant everyone in the town had the same first three numbers to their phone. That sounded like the craziest thing in the world to me, that there was so few people that you didn’t even need to say the first part of your phone number. It was then I realize just how small this town was, but also how connected it all was.
Growing up in a large metropolitan city, we were only sort of friendly with our neighbors. I went to school in one part of town where my dad was a principal and went to church in another part of the city. There were plenty of people that we knew through the school and through church. My dad knew everyone it seemed, and in a church of over one thousand there were lots of people to know and befriend. In a metroplex of over a million people, though, it’s not unusual to go a whole day of going to the store, filling up the car, going out to eat, or to a movie, without seeing someone that is in your closest circle of friends.
In a small town or rural community, you constantly see people that you know. My life in the city was made up of mainly two groups of people: friends and strangers. Friends are people that you know well and that know you. You share life with them maybe through church, school, work, or by living close to them. These are people you can trust, you can count on, and know that they will be there for you as much as you will be there for them. But the rest of the people in a large city are mostly strangers. I didn’t lack for friends, but there were far more people that I didn’t know than those I did. They had their own group of people that they knew, and unless our lives overlapped for some reason I would never know them.
When you live in a small town you still have those same two groups of people. The third type of person in a small town is the largest of all, and is often much large than the same group in a city. Read More
Recommended:
Three Things Rural, Southern Churches Desperately Need From Their Pastors
The first article was originally titled "How a Small Town Pastor Can Have a Great Impact."
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