Jul 21, 2020
This is the first episode in a new series, called Faith-Based
Programs & Their Impact on Rural Communities, which we’re doing in
collaboration with and supported by The Duke Endowment, a private
philanthropic organization that serves North Carolina and South
Carolina in four distinct grantmaking areas: health care, child &
family well-being, higher education, and rural United Methodist
churches. Michelle chats with Robb Webb, Director of The Duke
Endowment’s Rural Church program area, and with Kristen
Richardson-Frick, Associate Director of the Rural Church program
area. Webb discusses how churches can be more than just places of
worship and instruction. Their physical assets can eventually be
used for a variety of purposes, including women’s and children’s
shelters, retail spaces such as
church-run coffee shops, and even as commercial kitchens, according
to Webb. Richardson-Frick relates how pastors are seeing signs of
hope during the COVID-19 pandemic as more worshipers congregate
through online platforms than previously gathered in pews on Sunday
mornings. She also describes how spiritual leaders have pivoted to
offer counseling and other key services online in order to maintain
appropriate social distancing. Webb also sees signs of hope. For
example, he notes, churches recognized that local farmers needed
support as the restaurants they supplied struggled, and so they
reached out to buy food from farmers for needy local residents. He
also discusses an exciting program called Hope Restorations, in
which local ministries help men who have worked through addiction
obtain certification and training in construction and who then can
work on houses the church buys for needy local residents. This
episode is sponsored by The Duke endowment, www.dukeendowment.org