Intro to Small-Town Church Culture

Growing up in the town of Stromsburg, NE, I was surrounded with all of your typical ideals and traditions that a small town in Nebraska would hold; hard work, friendliness, discipline, family, and faith. Faith is something that has become of the utmost importance in my life, and largely due to the environment I was brought up in. Stromsburg has six different churches, ranging in denomination from the Covenant, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, and Evangelical Free churches. I grew up going to the Evangelical Free church in Stromsburg, but as I thought about this project, I began to think about the culture of a small town and, as I mentioned above, the ideal and tradition of faith in the community.



I guess growing up I had never really thought too much about why people in small towns go to church, or, why it seems like EVERYONE in a small town goes to church on Sunday. So this project somehow sprung this idea up in my head and I am very excited to investigate this unique culture that I was brought up in, but never really noticed much in the past twenty years of my life. This seems strange to me, as a community with only 1,241 residents would have six churches that are full of people every sunday of the year, and I would never even think about its importance in the role that it plays in the culture of a small town in Central Nebraska.

Perhaps this idea of how religion plays into the culture of small-town, USA communities can be seen in many different ways, including songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0sYnro_3Rc&ob=av2e

I'm sure there are many other songs that potray the importance of church in these small town communities, and I think this is something that will be very important to consider in throughout my investigation of this culture, as to why small town communities identify so heavily with church as part of their culture. Is it a true ideal that they hold and believe in themselves? Or is it something they do because the vast majority of our country puts small towns in this broad stereotype of friendly people who go to church on Sunday? Why is church such a large part of small towns in the US and Nebraska? And, specifically, Stromsburg, NE?

In order to obtain insight for these questions I will interview various friends from my community to get their ideas on why church is so important in small towns, and why they think nearly everyone in a small town attends a church, even if it may not be the most important aspect of their lives. To say the least, I am very curious about this unique aspect of a small town culture, and I am very excited to see the answers that are revealed throughout the remainder of this project.

Works Cited:
http://www.stromsburgnebraska.com/about.asp