When the Tui Calls: Rural Ministry – Origins and Futures

The Tui (Parson Bird), with its tuft of white feathers at the neck, is highly adaptive, has a distinctive call, is protective of its domain, is an imitator of song and speech and is an enduring example of survival and adaptability.

This essay on rural ministry reflects on its long evolution, its current challenges, and its continuing viability for the future in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Bennett highlights some key issues and opportunities for rural ministry today, including:

* Maintaining identity as a rural community and church
* Being forums for wider community discussion on current issues
* Re-vitalising the church’s ministry of hospitality
* Ensuring those responsible for worship leadership are well-trained
* Ensuring that worship gives expression to what is actually happening in the rural community
* Developing strategies for on-farm, at-home visits or sub-regional get-togethers
* Offering theological college students short residential stays to help them understand time-work-seasonality relationships, and how rural people view life and society.

“The work you have in your hands is an invaluable insight into the roles that faith and Christian ministry offer to rural life, born not only out of Bill’s experience, but also with the depth of the history of the life of the Church in word and sacrament. Bill provides the Church today with a pathway back into our history that will help us to identify the roots of our ministry in rural life that enables us to navigate our present and near future.” From the Foreword, by Bishop Andrew Hedge