ChristianWeek

BRANDON, MB—"In all countries, rural communities are becoming disenfranchised, economically and politically."

So says the Canadian Rural Church association, which recently invited more than 80 delegates to the fourth international rural church conference in the Prairies in early July.

Visitors from South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, India, Iceland, the island of Tonga and various countries in Europe gathered to discuss challenges posed to their communities by rapid globalization.

It was the fourth meeting of the International Rural Church Association (IRCA), a network of rural Christians who first gathered in England to support one another in their mission of connecting the gospel and rural life in their own local context.

"What do people in the city eat if there are no people in the country?" asks event organizer Catherine Christie, a United Church minister from Abbey, Saskatchewan. "That's where our food security comes from. Churches play a vital role in this community."

Before meeting together at Brandon University for worship, discussion and educational field trips, delegates were billeted to various rural communities across Canada to learn from a different context—following the Mennonite tradition of meeting as a "conference scattered" and "conference gathered."

"Everyone was in agreement that rural areas are now being colonized by giant multi-national corporations who set up shop based on the profitability of the land, with no commitment to its history, culture or community," says Joyce Sasse from Pincher Creek, Alberta.

Despite cultural differences, the conference highlighted the common plight of the modern farmer. "Rural communities are in similar situations in spite of a sense of isolation—there are so many people that are struggling to make things work," says Jim Appleby, a student at Lutheran Theological Seminary and resident of Pass Lake, Ontario.

Strategies discussed for struggling farmers included direct purchasing and co-operative production. "It may cost a premium to support local people, but it's worth getting to know the people who are feeding you—to see and care about them. It's a people thing," says Appleby.

The conference, attended by Pentecostals, Mennonites, Orthodox, Baptists and others, was held in the context of prayer. "We were constantly aware of God's presence and were listening to the Spirit," says Sasse.

The week-long meeting included various field trips—one dealt with native issues, another looked at persecution from a Mennonite perspective, and another focused on homelessness and charity.

"New Zealanders and Australian visitors came away with a real insight on how to relate to the Maori and Aboriginee peoples better," says Sasse. Despite language barriers among delegates from 13 countries, says Sasse, "there were a lot of laughs shared." Delegates had the chance to tell their own stories about how they are finding hope in a rural setting.

Climate change was discussed as a serious issue, as visitors from Tonga noted that many of their roads are now under water. "They also reminded us about what it is to live simply," says Sasse.

Discussion also centred around the marginalization of rural communities through "language that is manipulated to equate 'big' with 'good', and 'technology' with 'resolving all problems'."

Along with discussions and fieldtrips, Roman Juriga, director of the Orthodox Academy and the Centre for Application of Renewable Energy in Vilemov, Czech Republic presented an Eastern Orthodox theological perspective of conservation.

John Ikerd, an agricultural economist from University of Missouri and a strong advocate for the future of sustainable farms, helped to identify "the myths that the corporate world is trying to give us" in a keynote address. He called churches to "name the evils and find alternative ways of carrying on."

Ikerd says the rural church is needed to foster the moral courage and virtues necessary for true sustainability.

"If we can identify what our rural values are," says Sasse, "We can bring them back to the urban centres—there has to be a strong sense of the important of nature imparted to the larger church, but also an awareness of our pain."