Recently Lifeway Research released the 2025 Rural Churches Today study that not only documents many helpful descriptions of rural ministry, but also raises good questions about ministry anywhere. This comprehensive survey of over 1,000 pastors serving rural areas and towns with populations under 10,000 was co-sponsored by the Rural Church Institute at the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, the Rural Home Missionary Association, and the Center for Rural Ministry at Grove City College.
One of the important elements the survey uncovered is how these pastors feel about the work of ministry in the local church and who is doing it.
How Is Ministry Getting Done?
We often talk about what ministry work is getting done in our churches, but it is also helpful to consider who is doing it. Among rural pastors, 53% agree they often feel like their congregation looks to them to do most of the church’s work, and 1 in 5 strongly agrees.
We can argue that a pastor’s role carries some important responsibilities such as preaching, teaching and equipping, and that pastors should be setting an example to the believers in their churches through serving, but Scripture never puts the majority of kingdom work on the pastor. Every believer has God-given gifts that can be used in the work of the church.
As a church leader, when you feel like you’re having to do all the work, it is worth stepping back and asking why you’re feeling that way. Often some pride has crept into your own thinking, leaving you with the desire to do all the “vital” work yourself. That self-centeredness has kept you from asking someone else to join you. Other times, you simply haven’t empowered your people to take ownership of the church’s ministries.
I often feel like our congregation looks to me to do most of the church’s work.
Among Rural Protestant Pastors
19% Strongly Agree
34% Somewhat Agree
27% Somewhat Disagree
19% Strongly Disagree
1% Not sure
Who Is Leading What?
Many churches haven’t articulated what their core ministries are, so it’s easy for leaders and members to be stretched thin pursuing new ministry ideas. While developing an exact rank order of ministries could quickly become counterproductive, agreeing on two to four ministries that are vital can be helpful.
The survey showed that rural pastors often have other leaders who lead or help lead member care (87%), community service ministries (83%), women’s ministry (82%) and kid’s ministry (80%). Less than 3 in 4 pastors have others helping lead adult small group Bible studies (72%), teen ministry (63%) or evangelism (61%).
While all of these percentages are majorities, the average church is missing lay leaders for two of the seven ministries listed on the survey. Either the congregation doesn’t have those ministries or the pastor is wearing these hats too. While there may be some oversight responsibilities for the pastor across ministries, it is wise for them to find and equip others for individual ministries.
How Will You Build Up the Body?
Among all the challenges within rural congregations, the most common, according to pastors, is developing and empowering lay leaders (60%). Typically, this lack of development is due to a failure to equip people. Christ, as head of the church, has a design for how it should work. “From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part” (Eph. 4:16).
The whole body needs to catch the vision of building up members and helping them grow. This includes raising up leaders. The goal is not to have names on an org chart; it is to have members effectively doing their parts. When individuals are working as God has gifted them, leading them becomes easy.
How Do You Identify Success?
We asked the representative sample of rural pastors what they consider to be the signs of ministry success, using a list developed from qualitative discussions with small groups of rural pastors. Almost all of them (98%) say members showing care is a sign of ministry success. These demonstrations of loving others require God working in their hearts to care and their being obedient to act. Ninety-seven percent of pastors say they are seeing this regularly.
This doesn’t suggest their congregations are perfectly hitting the mark, since 36% also indicate their congregation is challenged by being inwardly focused, but regular examples exist that can be celebrated and used to encourage others who are still learning.
Another sign of success for almost all rural pastors is broken relationships being healed (94%). It is common for people’s stories to include some damaged relationships that haven’t been restored.. Matthew records an additional teaching point from Jesus after sharing with his disciples how to pray: “For if you forgive others their offenses, our heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses” (Matt. 6:14–15). Just over 3 in 4 rural pastors see broken relationships healed regularly (77%).
Pastors also look for church members to consistently be present (94%), and 9 in 10 say this is happening regularly. While many pastors have lowered the bar in their own mind of what attending regularly means, there’s agreement on the need to show up. A local church cannot function as the body of Christ when the body parts aren’t connected.
When members step into leadership, 93% of pastors consider this a sign of ministry success, and 3 in 4 rural pastors see this happen regularly (77%). This is both a challenge in many churches and a cause for celebration. The more time believers spend with God and his Word, the more likely we will see people willing to do what the Bible says.
People typically won’t step into a task that somebody else or nobody else is doing. They need to be personally invited, and they often need to see the work modeled for them. After they are shown how to do it, they are much more likely to step in.
The top four signs of success for rural pastors are all reflections of the shared work of ministry. So much of what a church wants to see begins with love for others, and God transforming lives. This naturally impacts others in our community, which is reflected in the final three signs of success: seeing new commitments to Jesus Christ, becoming a trusted part of our town’s life, and seeing attendance growth.
The angst that pastors feel about being expected to do all the work of ministry is a clear sign we are forgetting to cast God’s vision for how the church is to function. When every member shares the work, the whole body is better for it.