INT141 Rural Ministry Studies Program in the Appalachian Region and the Shenandoah Valley. Sponsored by Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations, this program provides an introduction to the problems and opportunities of Appalachia and a setting for participants to consider ministry in the region. Participants live with families in congregations and work directly with a pastor. Readings, journaling, and participation in group travel seminars are integral parts of the program. In an exchange program with Dubuque Theological Seminary, three Union-PSCE students may take this course in Dubuque, and three Dubuque students may take courses in Richmond.
Students pay regular tuition fees at their own school and their own transportation costs.
Room and board are provided. Students study and experience the dynamics of rural community and church life and think theologically about rural people, the land, and the small church. The course includes field trips to farms, community organizations, the Amish, small-town businesses, and the Iowa legislature. Participants study global connections of ecology and food, rural church leadership, and pastoral issues. L. Shannon Jung, Ph.D., director of the Rural Ministry Program, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary.