Rural Faith Communities

Five people sitting at a large table, talking with eachother. Two other large tables can be seen in the background with other people sitting around them and talking.

Jun 23, 2025

Faith and Community Gathering Brings Leaders Together to Discuss Energy Issues

Faith leaders, advocates and community partners gathered at Open Table United Methodist Church in Raleigh on May 29, 2025, to reflect on conversations started at the 2025 Emerging Issues Forum, focusing on energy.

Audience members sit at tables, with one person shown prominently in the foreground

Mar 20, 2023

Faith and Community Leaders Collaborate on Common Issues at Annual Conference

Nearly 80 faith and lay community leaders from around the state gathered in Greensboro for the Faith & Community Conference on Feb. 28.

Jun 28, 2022

Engage!: Collaborative Community and Organizational Capacity Building for Mutual Learning

IEI's rural faith team supports faith communities for increased community engagement and collaboration through a process that assists them with identifying and understanding the root causes of community issues, developing community action plans, and implementing those plans.

Close up African American male hands typing on laptop keyboard

May 25, 2022

3 Things You Can Do as a Rural Faith Leader to Address the Digital Divide

We’ve been talking about faith leaders and digital inclusion for a while at IEI, and there’s been even more exciting opportunities (and funding!) to help you as a faith leader help folks connect to each other, to services they need, to jobs, and more.

May 25, 2022

Institute for Emerging Issues receives $2M grant from The Duke Endowment for rural faith communities program

IEI has received a $2M grant from The Duke Endowment to continue its successful Faith and Community Initiative for another five years.

Apr 27, 2022

Moving Forward: Questions and Practices for Remembering and Grounding

Rural Faith Senior Fellow John Dempsey Parker offers some ways faith and community leaders can reflect on what’s needed in their communities right now.

Feb 25, 2022

2022 RFCAI Faith & Community Conference Summary and Upcoming Engagements

A recap of the Rural Faith Communities recent work and a look ahead to spring gatherings.

Feb 21, 2022

An organization rebuilding homes and restoring hope is expanding across eastern North Carolina

This article has been republished from EducationNC.

Sep 30, 2021

Faith and Community: Rural Clergy Mental Health

In the fourth episode of “Faith and Community,” Bryan Hatcher, President of CareNet and Hanna Broome, Presiding Elder of AME Dunn-Lillington District discusses rural clergy mental health.

Sep 16, 2021

Faith and Community: Rural Food Ministries

In the third episode of “Faith and Community,” Justine Post of the Conservation Fund and Michelle Osborne of RAFI-USA discuss rural churches' food ministries and how to strengthen community engagement through innovative partnerships and community projects.