Shrinking Smart

 

 

By Steve Matthews – Senior Missional Consultant, FaithX

Throughout September, FaithX blogs have focused on our mission statement: We Help Congregations Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times.  It is a mission statement we take seriously, and this month we have explored this mission through these lenses:

  • Navigating our political landscape
  • Responding to climate change
  • Recognizing the potential for homelessness in our neighborhoods

This week, we are addressing the issue of declining communities – and by declining communities we are referring to those towns that are actually shrinking in population.  Communities decline in population for many reasons.  Climate migration is happening as people move from areas where the threats of wildfire or hurricanes or floods is rapidly increasing, and sometimes people move from an area because of loss of employment opportunity or because the cost of living is considered too high.

For the sake of this blog, let’s consider what shrinking communities look like in the small towns of Iowa. In 1900, Iowa’s rural population was just shy of 1.7 million, with almost three-fourths residing on farms or in small towns. However, with the exception of the 1990s, Iowa’s rural population has declined in every census over the last 110 years.  By 2010, only 36 percent of Iowans remained in rural areas. Sixty-nine counties recorded population loss between 2010 and 2020, according to U.S. census data (from The Gazette).

Is this the end of small-town Iowa?  Researchers at the Iowa State University and the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa are exploring how “quality of life” impacts people living in small shrinking towns and how faith communities might respond in the face of falling populations.  They are involved in on-going research about what it means to Shrink Smart, and what quality of life looks like in shrinking communities.

Two important findings from their research suggests that:

  • Shrink-Smart towns have diverse social linkages; more participation in local projects; and belong to more organizations.
  • Shrink-Smart towns are better-kept, more open to new ideas, more trusting, and viewed as safer places.

Dr. Kimberly Zarecor (Program Researcher) says, that rather than looking outward, trying to lure more families and employers to sparsely populated rural areas, communities have a greater shot at success by building a stronger identity and sense of belonging in a community.

This research feels salient for all of us who find ourselves living in challenging times.  Whether we live in shrinking towns or not, local congregations have a role to play in nurturing life-giving communities.  We can continue to focus inwardly, or we can choose to engage our neighborhoods by embracing and encouraging diversity, becoming more involved in local leadership and projects, joining in new life-giving initiatives sponsored by civic organizations and non-profits, and working with local authorities and neighborhood associations to nurture safer towns.  We can contribute to a sense of belonging in our towns, and can’t you imagine this will benefit our faith communities as well?

Through our data resources and consulting, FaithX has the capacity to help your congregation identify specific ways to nurture vitality and possibility in your community- no matter what the challenges.  We can be found at The FaithX Project and reached at info@faithx.net.