January 31, 2006

How well is the rural church?

In 2005, aged 70, Rol Mitchell was the oldest person to gain a PhD in research from Charles Sturt University.

An accredited lay preacher in the Uniting Church, his research examined the significance of the church in a contemporary rural Australian community.

In carrying out the research, Rol Mitchell and his wife Dorothy moved from Albury to a country town in Western New South Wales to collect data. The town was “typically rural” with a declining population and suffering the effects of drought.

It had 11 active churches and the surrounding shire serviced 4,712 residents. A random survey posted to 20 per cent of shire residents found that people undertook a total of 84,000 hours of voluntary work each year in the community.

Further analysis revealed that 68 per cent of volunteer hours were carried out by regular churchgoers, who comprised just 15 per cent of the community.

Mr Mitchell described the church as the “beating heart” of the community and was pleased to discover its members contributing in quiet and substantial ways.

He said Country Life and the Church, the book based on his research, would be valuable for any Christian, including clergy, interested in the rural church. It also contained excellent material for students of sociology or indigenous issues.

Mr Mitchell said he had grown up on a fairly remote farm at Barellan in New South Wales and had, consequently, received little education in his youth.

At age 37 he started studying part-time to earn his Higher School Certificate, Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Social Science degree on Educational Gerontology.

By the time he completed his PhD research he had been studying for 33 years.