Rural Renaissance

At a time of unprecedented change and ongoing crisis within the rural community, and agricultural restructuring in particular, CRC promote effective engagement of rural churches with their communities where support is needed. The Rural Churches Steering Group seeks to gather and disseminate best practice in rural church initiatives; provide expertise to church leaders and partners in the region in the area of rural work from a Christian perspective and be a focus for theological reflection. It also provides training, and has acted as a catalyst for specific rural initiatives such as:

• The Farming and Rural Business Project, which aims to improve the take-up of services for farm and rural business support.
• Sowing the Seed, report on church and rural renaissance highlighting the distinctive nature of rural church social action and suggesting ways in which the rural church can and does interact with community, now available online from this website;
• The North Yorkshire Tourism Initiative, established to promote the spiritual, cultural and heritage interest of churches;
• Rural Church Support Network supporting rural churches and those engaged in rural work and mission.

The Revd. Elizabeth Clark and the Revd. Leslie Morley, who both advise the church on rural matters, have written a paper on issues around food production and consumption, fair trade and local trade. You can see the briefing paper here.

Get Involved with the rural work of CRC.