Small-Town Ministry

In 2007, Christopher and Linda Barnes moved from Chicago’s suburbs to tiny Wellington, Mo., to pastor St. Luke EFC. Christopher remembers one evening in particular, walking from the church to the parsonage: “I was enjoying the smells and the stars and everything else and thinking, Why didn’t I do this before? I think there was a time in my ministry when I was afraid of going to a small town, afraid of being the only staff member, afraid of it being small. But I’ve really enjoyed it and wish I’d done so 10 years earlier.”

photo credit: Don Fuhr