When it comes to planting and revitalizing churches, rural America is a forgotten field. It faces a variety of demographic and economic challenges, and the rural pastorate often means bivocational ministry in small congregations. In consequence, rural ministry is not an option for many would-be pastors.

Gerad Strong thinks it should be. I’ll be talking to him about effective ministry in small rural churches in this episode of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Gerad Strong served as lead pastor of Bethel Church in Rapid City, South Dakota, before becoming director of Discovery and Development for the Church Multiplication Network in Springfield, Missouri. He pioneered Bethel’s use of multisite models to serve rural churches in his region, and is author of The Forgotten Field: Using Multisite Models to Reach and Revive Rural Communities with the Gospel, published by Baxter Press.

P.S. This podcast is cross-posted from InfluenceMagazine.com by permission.