By Olivia Massucci · Staff Writer
The Center for Rural Ministry (CRM) at Grove City College has recently formed partnerships with Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OKWU) and Taylor University to further support local churches and connect students to the community through rural ministry.
Last year, CRM received a $5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Ministry in Rural Areas and Small Towns Initiative. Grove City directed some of the grant money to other institutions to help launch their rural ministry centers.
“Through contacts in the Christian college and rural ministry world, we identified three schools that might be kindred spirits that have the same vision and mission as we do and that are located in rural places,” CRM Academic Director Paul Kemeny said. “And so, we reached out to Oklahoma Wesleyan and Taylor University.”
CRM chose OKWU and Taylor University because they are serious Christian colleges in rural settings that already have a Christian ministry major like Grove City’s Biblical and Theological Studies major.
“It had to do with their location, and it had to do with affinity for rural ministry and some connections around some Lilly work that we had been doing already,” CRM Executive Director Charlie Cotherman said. “But we felt like they shared our heart for it.”
The institutions applied for the grant last spring, and Grove City awarded the grant July 1. For a two-year period, each of the schools gets a grant, and assuming all goes according to plan, they will receive a follow-up grant for another two years.
“I think it is going to help us generate new ideas, because these partners have some great ideas, and as we put our heads together, I think we’re all going to do better at meeting the needs for resourcing local churches and pastors and connecting students to ministry in our region,” Cotherman said. “So, I think we’re all going to grow from that.”
Cotherman highlighted the collaborative and community-minded approach that the college is taking with rural ministry.
“We can’t be the one-stop solution for all of rural America, so why don’t we work with other colleges and other places to serve those communities?” he said. “We see it as a kingdom-minded posture.”
Kemeny hopes that the CRM partnerships will help to support Grove City’s foundational Christian mission by being part of the local community through ministry.
“As a Christian school, there’s a great opportunity that providentially fell into our laps, the generosity of the Lilly Endowment to give us five million to advance this project. So, it’s pretty exciting,” Kemeny said. “What I hope it means for the future is that we can further drive down into the DNA of Grove City College, our Christian mission.”
Grove City College plans to form a third partnership with Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., and has already had several meetings to discuss the possibility.
“I hope that we can learn from each other what’s working well and make adjustments to what we’re doing in light of other schools’ experiences,” Kemeny said.
