Transforming Rural Churches and Communities

Virtually every United Methodist pastor in North Carolina has been touched by The Duke Endowment in some way. I am a 1997 graduate of Duke Divinity School, which receives support from the Endowment. After graduation, I served churches in Mississippi until 2005, when my husband and I were invited to come back to Duke Divinity and co-direct its Field Education program. The program, which places students in rural United Methodist churches for real-world ministry experience, has long been supported by the Endowment. The Field Education program has shaped future leaders and rural churches across North Carolina in profound ways. Many of the rural churches identify themselves as teaching congregations that form future leaders. The students go to them with such excitement, and they are shaped and informed by communities of love and partnership. I believe that work propelled me into the work of being a bishop; matching those students by their gifts to the missional needs of rural churches was a precursor to the pastoral appointment-making I do today.

As he included rural United Methodist churches in his Indenture of Trust, James B. Duke declared that rural communities such as the ones he grew up in form “the bone and sinew of our country.” In an age when those rural areas are more challenged than ever economically, the Endowment’s support helps our congregations make a critical difference. It is true that many rural United Methodist Church buildings and facilities have been built and birthed across our conference by the support of The Duke Endowment. But beyond bricks and mortar, the Endowment has partnered with us in so many other ways across the decades. It supports our church transformation ministries, where we equip church leaders to find healthy transformation and thrive in transitions. The Endowment also supports our Clergy Health Initiative, which since 2007 has supported our clergy with resources to engage their physical, mental and spiritual health so that they may increase their resilience and avoid burnout. At every cabinet meeting, we practice some of the breathing exercises and reflections the Clergy Health Initiative provides. It really is a sustaining gift that continues to shape our clergy.

Our faithful retired United Methodist pastors receive the generosity of the Endowment through annual checks during Advent. This practice is one of Mr. Duke’s earliest visions to support clergy leaders. Through its Thriving Rural Communities initiative, the Endowment supports us in developing leaders well equipped to help rural churches maximize their community impact. Additionally, the Endowment’s support allows some of our churches to launch and run summer literacy camps that help students improve their academic skills and increase their opportunities for a better education. It all reflects Mr. Duke’s visionary leadership over the past 100 years, his foresight in having hubs for mission, places for people to gather and live holistic lives together.

We have faced challenging times in recent years with the disaffiliation of some congregations from the United Methodist Church amid questions of same-sex marriage and ordination. The Endowment recently offered our conference and the Western North Carolina Conference individual $5.25 million grants to help address challenges posed by disaffiliation, and to help us continue spreading the Gospel message throughout North Carolina. The grant will help us support the creation of new churches, strengthen wounded churches and support leaders as they find creative and imaginative ways to help new people gather in new places.

Mr. Duke was a man of incredible vision. But I think what God has done through him is immeasurably more than even he could have imagined. His fingerprints are everywhere in the Carolinas. His infrastructure of thoughtful community-building across rural churches, higher education, health care and child welfare remains so rich, textured and hopeful. We understand that discipleship is ultimately about transforming the world. God has used Mr. Duke, and will continue to use his legacy, to bring positive transformation.