Journals
The Association's journal, Rural Theology, free to all members, is now published twice a year and studies relevant issues in depth. Recent issues are available online to members, as detailed below. As well as new subscriptions, some old back numbers are available - please contact the Secretary via the website link. A Newsletter is also sent to the members quarterly, and is usually available on this website shortly after publication.
The Editor of Rural Theology is the Revd Canon Professor Leslie J Francis. His editorial team can be contacted via:
Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, Institute of Education, The University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL.
See below titles and abstracts of journal articles. Logged-in members can view the entire articles in PDF format.
Volume 5, Part 1, 2007
In this issue:
- Children and communion: listening to churchwardens in rural and urban Wales
- Interpreting statistics on church attendance: why more will mean less
- Jesus and hinterland
- Mobile mission bases in the countryside: a caravan in the market square
- All types are called, but some are more likely to respond: the psychological profile of rural Anglican churchgoers in Wales
- RESEARCH REPORT - Learning from prayer requests in a rural church: an exercise in ordinary theology
- RESEARCH REPORT- Psychological type profile of volunteer workers in a rural Christian charity shop
Volume 4, Part 2, 2006
In this issue:
- Belonging to rural church and society: theological and sociological perspectives
- The invisible countryside of the New Testament
- Sacred place and pilgrimage: modern visitors to the shrine of St Melangell
- The old rectory: the Church of England’s sale of its parsonages
- RESEARCH REPORT - Views on baptism and confirmation in the Church in Wales: are rural clergy different?
- RESEARCH REPORT- The effectiveness of a lunch club for the elderly: a rural case study
Volume 4, Part 1, 2006
In this issue:
- A pure church? Ecclesiological reflections from the Gospel of Matthew
- RESEARCH REPORT - Burnout and the practice of ministry among rural clergy: looking for the hidden signs
- Church closure and membership statistics: trends in four rural dioceses
- Extended communion: a second best option for rural Anglicanism?
- Local festivals in two Pennine villages: the reactions of the local Methodist church congregations
Volume 3, Part 2, 2005
In this issue:
- God in creation: a reflection on Jürgen Moltmann’s theology
- Social capital generated by two rural churches: the role of individual believers
- Terrain, architectural style and theology: chapel design in Pennine hill village
- The extended parish
- RESEARCH REPORT- Psychological type preference of rural churchgoers
- Reviews
Volume 3, Part 1, 2005
In this issue:
- Ploughing a different furrow: faith, farming and the market
- Deployment of the churches’ ministry: Anglicans and Methodists in a rural diocese
- Rural Anglicanism: one face or many?
- Theological reflections on rural change
- RESEARCH REPORT: Ideas of the holy: the ordinary theology of visitors to rural churches
Volume 2, Part 2, 2004
In this issue:
- Israelite Wisdom and pastoral theology in the rural church
- Enabling collaborative ministry in rural Anglicanism
- Is the rural church different? The special case of confirmation
- The priesthood of creation: the Hulsean Sermon 2004
- RESEARCH REPORT: Do introverted clergy prefer rural ministry?
- Book Reviews
Volume 2, Part 1, 2004
In this issue:
- Encountering New Age spirituality: opportunities and challenges for the rural church - John Drane
- What is a funeral for? - J Hugh A James
- The rural idyll and the kingdom of Christ - Anne Richards
- Blackshawhead: a local case history in rural church categorisation - Lewis Burton
- RESEARCH REPORT: I was glad: listening to visitors to country churches - Keith Littler, Leslie J Francis, Jeremy Martineau
Volume 1, Part 2, 2003
In this issue:
- Ordinary theology for rural theology and rural ministry - Jeff Astley
- Psychological type and biblical hermeneutics: SIFT method of preaching - Leslie J. Francis
- Is the rural Church different? A comparison of historical membership statistics between an urban and a rural diocese in the Church of England - Carol Roberts
- Anglicans and Methodists in the countryside: convergence and divergence in Church structures - Lewis Burton
- RESEARCH REPORT: What rural churches say to non-churchgoers - Keith Littler, Leslie J. Francis
- Book reviews
The Journal up to 2003
Issues 49-60 are summarised here; some articles are available to download.
