Rural
churches face clergy shortages, aging members
Associated
Press, January 11, 2003
Dwindling
congregations and clergy shortages are plaguing some rural churches in
western Kansas, regional leaders say.
"The
question is, how are we going to do ministry in five, 10, 15 years?"
said the Rev. Pat Ault-Duell, district superintendent of Hays District of
the United Methodist Church.
Officials of
the 12 United Methodist churches in Rush and Ness counties met last month
to discuss the conditions of all the congregations.
Four of the
churches, in Rush County, belong to one parish and share two ministers.
Only one of the churches, Ness City, has its own pastor, while Alexander,
Beeler and Bazine share one pastor and Ransom, Brownell, Utica and Arnold
share one-and-a-half pastoral positions.
"We've
been a long time getting into problems facing the ministry in rural areas.
It's affected by the way agriculture has changed, the economy and
population changes," Ault-Duel said.
Some churches
are in better shape than others, but all face declining attendance and the
aging of their membership -- a pattern common throughout the region
regardless of denomination.
Paxton Jones,
deputy regional minister of Central-High Plains District of the Christian
Church in Kansas, said most of the 33 churches in his district are small.
Hays, Great Bend and Garden City have more than 200 members, but most have
fewer than 100.
"Churches
in rural Kansas are going to stay that way," said Jones. "Like
local communities, they are declining in numbers."
Roman Catholic
churches are also confronting challenges.
"What
happens in rural communities reflects in the churches," said the Rev.
Bob Schremmer, vicar general of the Dodge City Diocese.
Shifting
demographics have presented fresh challenges, such the merging of a
"graying Anglo" population with Kansas' youthful Hispanic
population. The change has provided greater diversity of language and
culture, Schremmer said.
A
restructuring program in 1997 closed some small Catholic churches in the
diocese, but officials are trying to keep the remaining 49 open. Some
parishes share pastoral care, and a shortage of priests is making it
difficult to serve all churches, he said.
However, he
noted, "It's not a problem peculiar to the Catholic Church."
Jones said
such shortages will only worsen as members of the clergy grow older, along
with their congregations.
"Half the
currently serving clergy will be retired in the next 15 years," he
said. "We're not replacing half of what we need in terms of death and
retirement."
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