From the Urban to Rural Study Partners for Sacred Places partnered with the Duke Endowment and UNC Charlotte Urban Institute to extend its work to value the local economic impact of rural churches , specifically United Methodist Churches ( UMCs ) in rural North Carolina . This work , designed to build upon Partners ’ previously mentioned study of urban congregations and to fill in some gaps in the organization ’ s knowledge , focused on United Methodist churches in the state of North Carolina due to the Duke Endowment ’ s strong partnership with rural UMCs and UMC ’ s deep rootedness in rural North Carolina . The relationship already fostered by the Duke Endowment was essential to reaching these congregations . This approach differed from Partners ’ approach to the urban study , which focused on cities where the organization had a presence – making it possible to open the urban study to congregations of all faiths and all denominations .
Methodist congregations in North Carolina have deep roots in their communities , with some congregations dating back to the 1700s . The faith tradition considers social outreach and community-building to be an integral part of its mission , and has historically made contributions in the areas of education , health care , economic development , etc . Building on their mission and connection to their communities , Methodist churches , now part of the United Methodist denomination continue to practice social outreach , particularly to marginalized community members .
For the rural study , Partners and UNC Charlotte conducted extensive interviews with leaders of 87 rural churches and then monetized and assigned a numerical value to six areas -- including individual and family impact , an area not monetized in the urban study . Since the urban study , tools and approaches to measure individual and family impact have become available , which has made monetization feasible .
Limitations As with all research , the study ’ s methodological and analytical limitations warrant mention , particularly related to the study sample . Congregations included in the study were selected by conducting a random sampling of rural United Methodist congregations eligible for the Duke Endowment ’ s Rural Church program . These churches were then asked to participate . The findings , therefore , speak to the congregations that chose to participate in this study and do not represent the characteristics and activities of all rural churches . Further research is needed to understand how United Methodist churches might differ from other rural churches in terms of their willingness or capacity to engage with the broader community . Additionally , several aspects of this study are specific to North Carolina , including some of the value multipliers used . Thus , generalizing these findings to rural areas outside North Carolina should be approached with some caution .
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