Town & Country Church Institute

The Town & Country Church Institute (TCCI) of United Lutheran Seminary is dedicated to teaching and learning about rural and small-town ministry (defined as churches in open country to towns of up to 10,000 population). Courses in rural sociology and ministry began in 1926 on the Gettysburg campus of United Lutheran Seminary, and TCCI was founded in 1981. Students may earn a Specialization in Town and Country Church Ministry by completing four courses.

Classes include:

• Rural and Small Church Ministry (CS123, 3 credits)

Seventy-one per cent (71%) of all congregations in the United States have fewer than 100 people in average weekly attendance (63% in ELCA). Forty-four per cent (44%) of all congregations are in rural or small-town settings (47% in ELCA). Explore your reaction to social change, conflict, community patterns, and opportunities for mission in rural places and small churches, including Appalachia and other regions. While readings, presentations and discussions frame the course, there are options for ethnographic field research and development of mission plans in a setting you choose. Fulfills Church in Society requirement in the MDiv and MA Professional tracks.

• Equipping the Saints: Rural Church Administration (CHA 312, 3 credits)

Preparation for administration, community-building and outreach with small-membership congregations (<100 average worship attendance) located in open country to towns of 10,000 population. Counts toward Specialization in Town and Country Church Ministry. Fulfills Equipping the Saints (Church Administration) requirement, or Praxis option, or free elective in the MDiv and MA Professional tracks.

• Environment and Religion in Northern Appalachia (CS429, 3 credits)

An intensive course sponsored by the Appalachian Ministries Educational Resource Center.  Meeting at a retreat center in Western Pennsylvania, the class explores ecological spirituality and grassroots ministry in a region deeply challenged by industrialism. Included are day trips to ecological sites of historical significance and congregations engaging in the ministry challenges of the region. Discussions, presentations, reading, and writing assignments guide students to critical discernment wherever they are called to serve.

• Church in Society: Reading Your Context (CS 121 OL, 3 credits)

A course that presents frames and methods to prompt our thinking and speaking about ministries in their distinctive places, varied social patterns, and glorious assortment of traditions. Drawing on Congregational Studies and Ethnography of Religion, students collect observations in the field and bring them into small group discussions in the class. The course also guides participants into wider perspectives on trends and concerns that impact ministry today; and the course invites students to share their discernment of their vocational pathways in response to the challenges and opportunities of varied social conditions. The course is asynchronous within weekly units but includes options for small group zooms. Fulfills Church in Society requirement in the MDiv and MA Professional track (Deacon Ministry & Lay Leadership), Public Theology option.

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Contact TCCI Director Gil Waldkoenig