What is the Regional Mission Initiative?

The Diocese of Iowa’s Regional Mission Initiative (RMI) is an immersive program to support and strengthen our lay and clergy leadership in small churches to address the challenges facing our shrinking, rural communities.

We will be hiring three area missioners to work intensively with cohorts of up to nine congregations each in three geographic areas of our state, over a period of three and a half years. The three missioners will work directly with a network of existing lay leaders and retired and/or part-time clergy leaders in those regional areas to:

Find new ways to invest in the health and welfare of their towns to sustain vibrant community in the midst of depopulation realities
Provide coaching in relational work to develop new partnerships within their local communities
Companion and nurture new expressions of church where there is no current Episcopal presence within an hour’s drive
Encourage and support creative public projects to be more visible as a progressive, inclusive faith tradition
Support ongoing leadership formation and discernment for ordination, including robust Christian formation for all ages and lay ministry training
Discern and develop sustainable leadership options to best serve their vision and mission
Gather and share information and resources across the regions and our diocese

The missioners will each gather up to three members from each of the eight-nine small churches in their region in a cohort of mutual learning and support. Cohorts will engage with rich theological formation and spiritual practices, alongside community organizing methods, and asset-based community development. They will draw on data-driven research and learning modules developed at Iowa State University as part of the Rural Shrink Smart Initiative funded by the National Science Foundation and other tools to build new partnerships to strengthen the networks of relationships, interactions, and resources within the community.

The Regional Mission Initiative is hope-filled path to meeting a real and pressing need for our small and rural churches. Most of those already had been living into a primarily lay-led, clergy-supported model of church, and more are moving in that direction quickly out of necessity. Many have been served one to two Sundays per month by supply, retired, part-time, or non-stipendiary clergy who cannot be easily replaced when their time of service comes to an end. The time that clergy have with congregations has focused primarily on worship and pastoral care, with less time available for ongoing discernment with candidates for ordination, formation for all ages, lay ministry development, and community engagement for mission. These will be the main focus areas for the Regional Missioners, supported by the network of clergy who have been serving these congregations faithfully in part-time or supply capacities, and working collaboratively with the lay leadership to clarify their vision and mission and make needed changes to their structures in light of their changing contexts. We believe that the RMI will support our congregations' ability to thrive and to be vibrant and vital participants in the mission of God in their communities into the future.

Why is the RMI needed in Iowa?

The prophet Jeremiah told the people, “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (29:7). As people of faith, we believe there is no area of life, no institution, no set of local circumstances, no set of economic, social, or racial demographics that does not affect us and that we cannot impact. Thus, the need and opportunity we seek to address with this initiative is this: How can our faith communities, working alongside others, seek the welfare of the city and sustain a thriving and vibrant community in the midst of depopulation realities in rural Iowa?

Almost all of our small, rural towns across Iowa are losing population. While population losses have slowed due to fewer people migrating out of small towns and cities since the pandemic began, rural areas continue to shrink overall as deaths far exceed births¹. Rural Iowa also continues to lose school-age children and working-age adults as workplaces and schools close.

Our small churches in Iowa have given voice to several things that are important to pursue, including recognizing how situations are changing in shrinking communities as they lose many of the assets that had previously sustained the quality of life in their towns. Iowa State University’s Rural Shrink Smart project has studied small and shrinking Iowa communities that have been able to protect or improve the quality of life for their residents even as they lose population. The project is producing modules to equip a broad constituency of organizations and individuals to address quality of life, social capital, economic development, and other opportunities for growth in small towns. ISU researchers have found that, “Some communities continue to thrive as they lose population because they adapt and stay focused on quality of life, community services, and investing in the future of the town. Rural smart shrinkage is achieved through this dedication towards adaptation to population loss and devotion to mitigating the negative effects of population loss.” ² Our Regional Missioners will each work with the nine congregations in their region to engage with businesses, non-profits, and city and county leaders to improve the quality of life in their communities.

One of the many factors that ISU identified in smart shrinking towns is that, “residents in smart places tend to rate their towns as more trusting, supportive, and tolerant (versus mistrusting, indifferent, and prejudiced), indicating they are more likely to accept controversy and depersonalize politics on divisive issues.” ³ Unfortunately for many of our small towns, the other reality in Iowa is that politics has become so divisive that city council and school board meetings across the state regularly are tense and angry. As part of their mission to invest in the health and welfare of their towns, the cohorts will receive training and coaching on theological reflection in the public square, civil discourse, developing intercultural competency, and dismantling racism.

In addition, the Smart Shrinkage research indicates that socializing is an integral part of life in resilient towns. “Most residents work outside town and many have lost their local school to consolidation, both of which limit opportunities for interaction and community cohesion. Resilient places promote socializing by hosting small-scale weekly events like farmers’ markets and food festivals, concerts and music events, and adult recreation leagues.” ⁴ We believe that with some shifting of focus, our churches are uniquely able to offer their facilities for cultural and social events that can help create community connections and relationships that will strengthen their town’s social networks.

Peters, David, Rural Iowa at a Glance: 2022 Edition, Iowa State University
Kyra Troendle, Investigating Social Networks in Support of Rural Shrink Smart. 2023, Iowa State University
David J. Peters, Sara Hamideh, Kimberly Elman Zarecor, Marwan Ghandour, Using entrepreneurial social infrastructure to understand smart shrinkage in small towns. Journal of Rural Studies, Volume 64, 2018, 39-49
Peters, D.J., Community Resiliency in Declining Small Towns: Impact of Population Loss on Quality of Life over 20 Years. Rural Sociology, 2019, 635-668

“We believe that this Thriving Congregations grant is essential for the long-term sustainability of our small rural churches and will deepen their capacity to be strong and faith-filled community partners in their towns, and beyond that, could be a useful model for transformation for congregations in small towns across the United States.”

— The Rt. Rev. Betsey Monnot, Bishop of Iowa