Dr. Charles E. Cotherman
A new book by the executive director The Center for Rural Ministry at Grove City College lays out the case for Christians to find the goodness of God in the places they are, no matter how small, out of the way, or left behind they may seem.
“Strip Mine Jesus: Hope for the Rural Church, Small Towns, and Overlooked Places” by Dr. Charles E. Cotherman ’06 explores the author’s experience as an academic and church planter in rural western Pennsylvania and his conviction that “God is at work in the places and people we see every day.”
“This book is about how to pay attention to the goodness of God right where we are. It is especially focused on how folks in small or overlooked places can lean into this attentive posture, but the principles could be applied in any community,” Cotherman said. The book is not just for pastors and ministry leaders, but “for anyone who loves God and wants to see a small town or an overlooked place flourish,” he noted.
“Our culture is really good at conveying the message that we should ‘go big or go home,’ as if there is no way to do significant things in small places. I think that's a false dichotomy. If the God of the universe is just as present in Grove City as in New York City, we shouldn't feel that our work in a smaller place is insignificant,” he said.
Cotherman knows that of which he writes. He and his wife Aimee (Myers ’05) were raised around the tiny town of Knox, Pa., and both attended Grove City College and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He was working on a Ph.D. at the University of Virginia in the affluent, bustling city of Charlottesville when he felt the call to ministry and the couple decided that they should plant a church. They assumed the work would take them to a city near a major university, but, he said, “God kept nudging our hearts to think about home.”
They moved to Oil City, Pa., a rust belt burgh along the Allegheny River, in 2016. Two weeks later they held the first Sunday morning service of Oil City Vineyard Church in their living room. Ten years later, they continue to pastor the church, which now meets in a former college gymnasium, and Cotherman leads Grove City College’s Center for Rural Ministry and serves as assistant professor of Biblical and Theological Studies.
“I know that God doesn't call everyone to a small place, but I think he calls more folks to a small place than we know. For all kinds of reasons that I describe in the book, our culture makes it hard to hear that call,” he said. “I hope this book encourages pastors like those we partner with in the Center for Rural Ministry, but I also hope it encourages anyone – including my students – who comes from or cares about small or overlooked places.”
“Strip Mine Jesus” is generating a buzz in Christian circles and has earned strong and positive reviews in Christianity Today (by Grove City College Professor of English Dr. Jeffery Bilbro) and WORLD Magazine. Cotherman also discussed his book on a recent episode of The Rural Ministry Podcast.
The Center for Rural Ministry at Grove City College seeks to bolster the partnership of College, church, and community. The Center harnesses College resources and engages faculty and students to support local pastors and churches through ministry programs, service-learning projects, mission trips, conferences, and other initiatives. For more about the center, visit ruralministry.org.