Rural Mission Sunday is an opportunity to celebrate the life of the rural church and the real difference rural Christians can and do make in their communities. This year we are thinking about what it means to live out our faith in everyday life and we’ve chosen three Bible passages which we think help us to reflect on three key facets of doing that:

• The story of Jesus inviting Peter and Andrew, James and John to follow him and become ‘fishers of people’ (Mark 1:16-20) reminds us that every one of us is called by Jesus.
• When we read about the early church, gathering in people’s homes and in the temple, (Acts 2:42-47), we’re challenged to think about how we might deepen our discipleship.
• Reflecting on the tale Jesus tells of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), we discover a surprising example of the power of everyday faith.

Find out more about Rural Mission Sunday by clicking here.

‘I know modern slavery happens, but it doesn’t happen here’.

That’s the refrain of the average person in Britain. We may have read the news reports with story after story, but still we insist, ‘it doesn’t happen here’. Where does modern slavery happen? The reality is that modern slavery is anywhere and everywhere. The big city, the market town, the picturesque village; all of them are touched by this pernicious crime.

A Christian presence in every community is more than a strap-line – it is the heart of English Anglicanism. It is the expression of our obligation, as the church for all the people of the nation, to leave no community untouched by the gospel of Jesus Christ, lived out among the people of every place. Ministry and mission in the rural church is highly demanding of energy and imagination. Growth is being realised, but much more remains to be done.

Rt Revd James Bell, retired Bishop of Ripon

The Church of England has over 10,000 rural churches and on any given Sunday 40% of all the people worshipping with the Church of England can be found in these places. Even these figures hide their bigger significance for rural communities across the country as places of hope, peace and comfort, nurturing social action projects that enrich communities.

Built around 1050, St Mary’s is a beautiful church situated in Acton, a small village west of Nantwich in Cheshire. In March 2017, our group of volunteers established a café under the tower. The vision was for a weekly opportunity for people to come together and enjoy some refreshments in a caring and compassionate environment. We called our café ‘Tea at The Tower’ and our purpose was simply to establish a vehicle for outreach and pastoral care and an environment whereby a compassionate community could grow.