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Environment

There's an interesting tradition that declares environment affects character. For example, mountain people tend to have vertical relationships, rather narrow and very deep, and people on the plains tend to have rather expansive but shallow relationships. This may be too great a generalization, but think about it. Certainly, topographical barriers like mountains and rivers have historically impacted community life.

But here I want to focus on the impact of enterprise, as an environment, on culture. In a previous study (Unit 3) we noted that various kinds of economies seemed to dominate rural America. There are several different agricultures, mining and extraction in some areas, manufacturing, and so forth. Each kind of enterprise is informed by a set of values. The coal mine operator, the coal miner, the coal truck driver are going to share some common values related to operators, and so forth--everyone in their whole community is greatly impacted by the enterprise. It affects their world view, their values, their priorities. The same relationship holds true of a community that has as its primary enterprise flue cured tobacco, sugar cane growing, or rice, or wheat, or what have you enterprises. In the Southwest, the rancher, the ranch hand, the truck driver that hauls the cattle to the market, the veterinarian who takes care of the cattle, the feed store operator, on and on and on--all are impacted by the culture of cattle ranching. All will share a lot of common culture and common values because of the enterprise. It provides a kind a social environment for the community. It is crucial for you to understand this enterprise cultural environment. How about your rural place?

I am sure that you recognize the importance for a pastor to try to understand the social-economic environment in which he is located. However, during the recent family farm crisis, there were horror stories about pastors in north Missouri and Iowa and Minnesota who really did not know where they were, did not understand the economic crisis that their people were in and so, therefore, failed miserably as ministers to persons caught in this crisis (4-11). This must not be repeated.

Let me continue by adding that most of these enterprises have about them a certain rhythm. There are certain, particularly in agriculture, peak seasons and low seasons. Consequently, the pastor, in trying to understand how to do his church program, needs to understand the rhythm of the economic enterprise in order to not plan things at times that would insure failure because the people are too busy with harvesting or planting or grading or whatever other aspect of their enterprise to be involved.

Another environmental factor I want to direct your attention to is that of the very basic character of small towns. From 1980 through 1987 it was almost impossible to get me out of the house on Saturday evenings. This is because I had to listen as Garrison Keillor provided me with the latest news from Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. The "Prairie Home Companion" radio program was quite a social phenomenon. Its success was based, I think, on the fact that so many of us do have affinity for small towns, roots there, and/or some remembrances of small towns. We discovered in Keillor (4-10) someone who understood the small town environment--its foibles, its beauty, a little bit of its ugliness. There appears to be a small town environment which is pretty common, whether it's Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Georgia, Vermont, Ohio, Tennessee, or wherever.

Nine or ten of these characteristics come quickly to mind. One is a sense of place. It is our town, and I am secure here; I can manage; I know how to handle most any kind of problem that comes up. Two, there are certain well-defined roles and tasks and appropriate techniques so that you don't have to wonder what to do. You know what you are supposed to do, and you can do it. Third, there's a lot of boosterism."

"We may not be as big as ____________, but we sure are better" kind of attitude. Fourth, there are lots of wonderful stories to revel in, and some marvelous storytellers to share them. Five, there are a host of community rituals and routines that provide focus, solidarity, a kind of glue to hold the whole together. Six, there are many shared experiences that peer groups can recall and enjoy over and over and over again. (I never got to put a cow up on the third story of my school.) Seven, there are the well-choreographed interaction rituals that take place every morning at the community gathering places such as the cafe, post office or the hardware store. The news is shared. The "story" is ever current. There are wonderful characters who, to people from the outside, may seem strange, but they are ours; and they have a wisdom like the shaman of the Native Americans. Nine, class, status, power are well-defined. Folks know where they are in the pecking order." And ten, there are bonds of relationships, real and created, that stand a person well in times of crisis (4-5).

Perhaps this is the place to raise a couple of other issues that need to be addressed. One, many small towns are in trouble. We need to ask, can community culture be recaptured in them, or is a new form of community creatable, or simply will many communities become neighborhood appendages to larger communities? A second issue is that many of us today find ourselves residents of one community, working in still another, getting many of our goods and services from yet another community, and not really knowing who we are or where we dwell. We lack a sense of place, of rootedness. Is this a phenomenon that will pass as new community structures emerge or are we destined to be rather anchorless in the new world that awaits us? [It is interesting to compare the attitude of Harvey Cox toward forms of community in The Secular City (1964) with The Religion in the Secular City (1984).] Calvin Beale's article (4-12) deals with the non-economic value of rural America. You will find it to be of great interest.