By Masaki Ova I  The Jamestown Sun

Steve and Hazel Behrens grew up in larger cities in South Dakota. But they both started their careers in ministry in smaller churches and continue to serve in smaller communities.

The Behrens currently serve in rural churches for the United Methodist Church in surrounding communities. Steve serves as a pastor in Steele, Robinson and Tuttle, and Hazel serves as one in Medina, Streeter and Tappen. Hazel is the first female pastor at her current post.

Steve has a parsonage — a home provided by the parish or church to a pastor — in Steele, and Hazel has one in Streeter where she might stay for a few days during the week.

Steve has been a pastor for 24 years, and Hazel has been one for 16 years. Steve is from Sioux Falls, and Hazel grew up in Watertown.

Being in the United Methodist system, the Behrens are sent rather than called, Hazel said. Most pastors are sent to different locations in the United Methodist system during the spring, and most changes take place in June and July. The Behrens serve in a United Methodist conference that includes North Dakota and South Dakota.

“We move in June and July, but they start moving people around after January because there are some that are retiring and some that asked to be moved,” Steve said.

The Behrens said they don’t anticipate being moved within the next year because they have only been in their locations for three years, and Hazel said the United Methodist system tries to keep pastors in the same place for five years.

Pastors in most small-community churches also serve as a pastor in town, Steve said. Pastors will often visit people in a hospital if they know somebody in the community is sick and visit people in nursing homes. Steve said he attends other community activities such as ball games, plays, band concerts, graduation parties and bridal and baby showers.

Hazel said larger churches seem to be more focused on meetings. Steve said in larger churches, pastors go to more committee meetings, sometimes two or three times a week, and that makes it harder for a pastor to develop relationships with individuals even though they still do.

“You have to designate a lot of the activities, whereas in rural ministry it is very much hands on because usually the pastor is it,” she said.

Hazel said the biggest challenge in rural ministry is keeping stability in the small churches. She said younger people are moving to cities and not many are coming back.

Steve and Hazel said traveling is a challenge for rural pastors. They each travel about 60 miles on Sunday for worship services.

Steve said connecting with people in each other’s communities is also difficult. For example, Steve might be at a potluck gathering with other community members that Hazel can’t be a part of because she is busy at another event in a different town.

“And when my church is having big celebrations, he can’t be a part of them,” she said.

The Behrens will preach in each other’s churches once a year, so they can get to know community members in each other’s churches. This also allows community members to see each other’s spouse.

Steve said it is also difficult to find ways to connect with each community where they serve. He said it is easier for him to connect with people in his communities because most children in the three towns he serves go to Kidder County School.

“I don’t need to be involved in three different activities in town,” he said.

“The demands of each — nursing home visits, sermon preparation and the logistics of distance — make it difficult for me to be as involved in community things than I would like to be,” Hazel said.
Hazel said rural attitudes that have developed over the years make it difficult to welcome new people, which also makes it difficult to make the changes that new people bring to any ministry.
“When you have been seeing the same people for the last 25 years in church and new folks start coming, it always means changes,” she said.

Steve said that problem happens in large churches, too.

“It is a challenge, and it is a challenge for the churches to stay relevant to the younger people in the community but not alienate the older folks and turn them away,” he said. “You want to find that happy medium where the younger people find is relevant and they want to be involved in but the older people don’t feel like this isn’t my church and they don’t know what is going on.”

Steve said he enjoys talking to and interacting with people on a one-to-one basis. He said he enjoys small-town ministry because he gets to know the people in the community and interact with them. He said he prefers to be a pastor in smaller churches.

“They still know and they still have a feel for their people,” he said. “I have never ever desired to be in a large church in a large town. I like to be able to get to know folks.”

Sun Assistant Editor Masaki Ova can be reached at (701)952-8451 or by email at mova@jamestownsun.com