Flyover Church
How Jesus’ Ministry in Rural Places Is Good News Everywhere
by Brad Roth
Pub DateAug 13 2024
Herald Press
Christian



Netgalley and Herald Press have provided me with a copy of Flyover Church for review:



There is a presence and work of Christ in rural communities. From there, how do we lead?

As a result of tensions unleashed in and among our churches over the past few years, skepticism, breakdowns of trust, declining church attendance, and uncertainty around community ministry continue to linger. We are more tempted than ever to operate from a scarcity mindset. It doesn't matter how small or far-flung a place is, God's loving, redemptive work is happening everywhere.


Author Brad Roth, who wrote God's Country, approaches rural ministry in Flyover Church in a way that recognizes its soul-deep similarities with church everywhere. He offers a hopeful perspective on the distinct challenges and opportunities rural communities face. This book presents a vision for rural ministry based on Jesus' ministry and bountiful work in Mark's gospel. Throughout the world, pastors and leaders will be encouraged to approach ministry from a place of God’s abundance.


I give Flyover Church five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

When young people are leaving their small communities and moving to the city, are rural areas still important? In this era of mega-churches, are the small rural churches even still alive, still relevant?

Roth has a passion for the rural church. He has served in small communities and calls on his and other pastors' experiences to explore the importance of the rural church. He writes about the social interactions (you know everyone in the town) and about a slower pace of ministry. I really liked his section on Gelassenheit, the Anabaptist spiritual posture of yielding to God in all things, learning to do less for Christ rather than creating an impressive agenda of ministry events.

Roth writes of his insights in the context of the gospel of Mark. In addition to rural spirituality, he has some good general insights on topics like evangelism and deep listening. There is a resurgence of small community living as some are moving out of the urban pressure so this book is a timely one.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review

I enjoyed this book. It's a nice change of pace and a nice change of metrics. It's a good reminder for all of us in whatever rural places we find ourselves, but I would say even more than that.

I'm not quite in a rural church; more sub-rural, right on the edge of suburbia but not quite on the edges of town enough to call ourselves rural. And yet, I remember a time in my congregation when we were known by the things that Brad talks about in this book. I have, over the past couple of decades, found myself longing for these things that have gone missing as we've "grown" and "contemporized" ourselves. Somehow, we went from a church of 500+ where everybody knew everybody, right down to knowing when you were driving in so-and-so's neighborhood (even our teens could direct you to nearly anyone's house) to a new-life-fledging 100 or so where folks come in and out so often, it's hard to keep track any more. And while there's something in that...there's something I miss in that, too. I guess I just have a very rural heart. At least when it comes to church. (Maybe other things.)

One confession about this book: I don't really remember it. I enjoyed reading it. It is well-written. I nodded along and agreed with much of it. There are several places in which the word play and sentence structure are downright delightful. And yet, every time I picked it back up to take another chapter, I found I could not really remember much about what I had previously read. It's one of those weird books that speaks something to my heart, but exists as some kind of vapor - something I will remember having enjoyed and having been filled by, but something that loses itself somewhere. Maybe in the kind of wistfulness that I expressed in my preceding paragraph.

Nevertheless, I recommend the read. It's a good and valuable one.