My newest colleague on the COP, Rev. Heath Curtis of Worden, Illinois, recently elected as the Southern Illinois District President, has been an acquaintance and friend for many years already. I was a seminary student and he was in high school when I got to know him as a young member of the congregation my Dad served in McCook, Nebraska. I had lived in McCook for all of one year before heading off to Seward for college, but it was an eventful year as I met LaRena there and graduated from McCook Senior High.
Anyway, my long-time friend and now colleague-twice-over, Pr. Curtis, has recently written a book on the unique challenges and opportunities of The Small Town Lutheran Church & Pastor, self-published earlier this year (2025). You can find it on Amazon for just a few dollars, but Pr. Curtis has generously shared a free pdf copy, for those who prefer.
Pr. Curtis defines a “small town” as “a community with its own identity and just one public high school (or none at all).” Other definitions could be given, and various criteria come into play, but the fact is that a large percentage of our LCMS congregations are located in such small towns. McCook, Nebraska, was and is a small town; so, too, Wood River, Nebraska, where my Dad served prior to McCook; and Seward, Nebraska, where LaRena and I went to college. So, it’s no surprise that the description and discussion of small town life and small town congregations are familiar and resonate with me in Pr. Curtis’ little book.
Our Indiana District is no stranger to small towns, either. We have our cities and larger communities, certainly, but many of our congregations in Indiana and northern Kentucky are located in “small towns” by anyone’s definition. I’m not sure whether Seymour, Indiana, still qualifies – where my Dad grew up, where my paternal grandparents lived and died and are buried, and where my Aunt Leota will be laid to rest this Friday in the hope and promise of the Resurrection – but it was the “Small Town” that one of her native sons, John Cougar Mellencamp, sang about on Scarecrow back in the 80s. All of which is to say that we in the Indiana District, like the Synod at large, have our share of small town churches.
Typical of Pr. Curtis’ approach and style, he addresses the challenges and difficulties of small town life and ministry objectively, straightforwardly, and practically, but he doesn’t get down-in-the-mouth or go on and on about the hardships. Rather, he brings to bear the wisdom and promises of the Word of God, along with genuine pastoral insight and (appropriately) small town common sense. He gives good and solid advice on how to minister and serve the small towns in which so many of our congregations and pastors are located, not by happenstance, but by the good and gracious Will of God. There is a positive optimism that permeates the book, born not of naiveté but of confidence and hope in Christ Jesus.
I happened to read The Small Town Lutheran Church & Pastor in the days leading up to our recent Evangelism Conference, and I was struck by how many of Pr. Curtis’ points and suggestions were echoed in the excellent presentations given at that conference. That confirms my own assessment that what he has to say is not only en pointe in a practical sense, but also in harmony with our Lutheran theology. No surprise in that, but I do recommend the book to the pastors and congregations of our Indiana District.
It occurs to me, as I write this on the day we commemorate St. Joseph (19 March), that he and the holy family are in some respects an “icon” of “the small town church and pastor.” Bethlehem was “too small to be counted among the cities of Judah” (Micah 5:2), and Nathaniel wondered whether “anything good could come out of Nazareth” (St. John 1:46), but in faithful obedience to the Word and promises of God St. Joseph cared for St. Mary and the little Lord Jesus, and we know that his faith, hope, and love were not put to shame but fully realized in the great Salvation of Christ Jesus. It is in such confidence that we also live and love and carry out the works of our callings and stations, no matter the size of our towns!