RALEIGH – Churches are often among the most visible and enduring institutions in rural North Carolina, and a program from the NC Rural Center is helping congregations turn that presence into community action.
During a recent appearance on Carolina Newsmakers, NC Rural Center President and CEO Patrick Woodie discussed the organization’s Connect Church initiative, a program designed to help rural congregations better understand the communities they serve and develop projects that address local challenges.
Woodie said churches are a fixture across rural North Carolina.
“You can’t go to a crossroads of rural North Carolina and not find a rural church sitting there, sometimes more than one,” Woodie said.
But many rural congregations have seen membership decline as populations age and shift. The program aims to help churches rediscover their role in the community by focusing on local needs and opportunities.
Each year, about 25 churches are selected to participate in a cohort program that includes training, coaching and seed funding to help launch community-focused projects.
“We take them through a particular training, a curriculum that helps them think about and really understand the community in which their church is located,” Woodie said. “Learn about the demographics, learn about the local economy, learn about the forces that really are driving change.”
Participating churches receive guidance from coaches and financial support to help develop initiatives that address challenges close to home. Projects can range from community outreach programs to efforts aimed at addressing local economic or social needs.
Woodie said the program encourages congregations to think carefully about what they want to accomplish.
“A lot of times success is talking them out of doing something, or at least helping them understand all the things that would be involved in trying to do something,” he said.
The effort has helped some congregations rediscover their purpose and expand their impact beyond traditional church activities.
“They’re taking their faith outside of the church and really living it in their community by making a difference in the lives of people in their community that may not be part of that church congregation,” Woodie said.
The program has grown significantly since it launched about seven years ago with support from The Duke Endowment. Recently, the Rural Center received additional funding from the Lilly Endowment to expand the model nationally.
Under the new initiative, organizations in several states will adopt the Rural Center’s training model through a “train-the-trainer” approach. The first national cohort includes groups from Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Missouri and Montana.
Woodie said the Rural Center recently hosted those organizations in North Carolina for their first round of training.
“We think we’ll learn a lot from them, and we think they’ll learn a lot from us,” Woodie said.
While the program expands nationally, the Rural Center will continue working directly with churches across North Carolina. Woodie says the goal is to help congregations build lasting projects that strengthen both their churches and their communities.
“We’ve seen a number of those projects really take off and be sustainable over many years,” Woodie said. “And to really give purpose to a church and to a congregation — and hope for the future that they can grow that church and that faith community.”
