Boundaries, pastors to change July 1 in six area churches

The members of six area United Methodist congregations will be realigning next month.

The Terril and Graettinger churches, which are served currently by Revs. David Kruse and Michael Shaffer respectively, are among the six. In addition, members of the Everly and Royal United Methodist churches, currently served by Revs. Annette Ruhs Kruse and James Stevens respectively, and the Zion and Langdon churches of rural Spencer, which are served by Ruhs Kruse and Kruse, will be partnering as of July 1.

As church boundaries readjust, the realignments will also mean new pastors will be serving each of the congregations. Several of the new church pairings will be of a "yoking" formation, in which congregations will share their ministers, as well as his or her salary.

It's a trend occurring across the nation.

There were 922 United Methodist churches in Iowa 30 years ago. There are 824 currently.

"When people look at rural churches and small town Iowa churches, they have a tendency to think nothing happens here. But one of the things I treasure about serving in rural Iowa is the knowledge and the realization that there is some amazing ministry that happens in these churches," Ruhs Kruse said. "I think that this part of Iowa is ripe for some wonderful growth in these small churches. ... People are finding out that numbers are not what it's always about. Relationships are important."

"The United Methodist Church in Iowa has found that closing churches is not always the best decision," she continued, "because sometimes it's your smaller member churches that have some of the most vital ministry that takes place. At one time, the United Methodist Iowa Annual Conference may have considered closing some of our small churches. But now they're starting to say, 'Wait a minute. What kind of ministry is happening there?' And, we're actually seeing some revitalization in our smaller churches because of the vital ministry that's happening there."

The Clay County-based pastor pointed to the two churches she currently serves at as examples of the "vital ministry" being sought by church leaders in Iowa today. The 47-member Zion United Methodist Church added 11 new members to its rolls last month. The 273-member Everly United Methodist Church, which struggled to get a Sunday school program going last fall, had Clay Central-Everly freshman Kari Kahl and her family step forward to take responsibility for directing the program this past school year. According to Ruhs Kruse, both illustrate pieces of what's happening across the nation in small, prospering churches.

"Those are the kinds of things that tell you that closing our doors is not the answer. Rather, it's just learning to do things a little differently," the pastor said.

Meanwhile, the writing was more or less on the wall a year ago that things needed to change at each of the area churches which currently find themselves in the midst of the realigning process. Several things -- such as dwindling finances and member numbers -- helped to prompt the upcoming change.

A lot of study, prayer and deep thought were also included throughout the process.

Final approval of all the northwest Iowa church realignments was authorized recently by Bishop Julius Trimble and United Methodist cabinet members.

"First of all, they had to make sure that all the ducks were in a row and the reasoning was sound, because financial reasons cannot be the primary reason for realignment. There has to be other extenuating circumstances," Ruhs Kruse explained of the process. "When the mission and ministry of churches line up, that's the primary reason for realignment. Once the bishop and cabinet are satisfied that the mission and ministries of the churches are lining up and that it makes sense for them to realign, that's when they give final approval."

Determined to continue catering to area families spiritual needs, all six of the churches find themselves currently in the midst of a transition time now.

"As this process has worked itself out, they've all kind of gone along school lines, so that it will make it easier in the long run," Ruhs Kruse said.

As of July 1, the Everly and Royal United Methodist churches will be served by Rev. Jo Frahm Watkins, whose husband was also recently appointed to serve as the nearby Lake Park United Methodist Church's pastor. The rural Spencer congregations housed in the Zion and Langdon church buildings, meanwhile, are to be served by Rev. Diana Pollard, a part-time local pastor.

"These are all churches that have been together for a number of years," Ruhs Kruse said. "So, it's not easy that their relationships are changing. Probably the biggest change will be learning to work with new people and working with new pastors all at the same time."

The church realignments and bishop appointments will also mean Ruhs Kruse and her husband, who've lived in Everly the last two years, will be relocating. As of next month, she will serve as pastor at the Bowman Chapel and the Guthrie Center United Methodist Church, which are both located in Guthrie Center. Rev. David Kruse will serve as the minister in Dexter and Redfield.

"We're excited about our new ministries and we're sad. Two years isn't a very long time, but we feel like we've forged some relationships with people here that are going to be hard to let go of," Ruhs Kruse said. "But, we're excited for everybody because we think the potential for all these churches is tremendous."

"This has the potential to really break some things loose for these churches to really have even more new life. I just think it's exciting for them," she added. "They all seem to be approaching the new relationships and new possibilities with positive attitudes, and trying to let go of any negatives and just focusing on the possibilities. That says a lot about the people and it says a lot about the ministry in these congregations."