TCCI began in 1981 at Gettysburg Seminary, as an effort to make sure there were course offerings and field training for students preparing to serve in rural and small town churches, and to provide consultation and the resources of the seminary for the judicatories and congregations in those places.
In the mid-1920s, Professor Harvey Hoover began teaching “Rural Sociology” in the Pastoral Theology department at Gettysburg Seminary. Subsequent professors including Bertha Paulssen, Russel Hale, Mary Paula-Walsh and Jack Rodgers continued courses in the sociology and practical theology of the “town and country church.” In the 1930s, Hoover started an annual consultation for rural pastors at the seminary. The tradition of service to rural and small town ministries continues with this blog and the other activities of the Town and Country Church Institute.
Click on the page entitled “Concentrated Studies” to view the current program of studies in rural and small church ministry at Gettysburg Seminary.
