Maybe it\u2019s because of his dark eyes that crinkle just slightly at the corners when he smiles, his impulse to thoughtfully consider questions, or his instinct to let quiet moments linger. Maybe it\u2019s his willingness to provide details about his life that are sure to invite curiosity and respect, in fairly equal measure.<\/p>\n
Cavaleri is an Iraq war veteran, a father to a little girl, and husband to Molly, an associate professor of tree physiology. He\u2019s ministered to prison inmates and is a recovering alcoholic. He\u2019s a published poet and rural pastor. But mostly, Cavaleri is someone who seems willing to listen to whatever someone wants to say, even when that something is barely anything at all.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s listening that Cavaleri credits most for his success as pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, a small ELCA congregation situated in Michigan\u2019s Upper Peninsula, in a village that took its name, South Range, from the now-defunct copper mines nearby.<\/p>\n
In a time when the need for rural ministers is growing, but the supply of faith leaders\u00a0is declining, Cavaleri goes wherever he is needed, whenever he is needed, to provide faithful guidance and support in the village.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe church has been here since 1904; the people live and die in it. There are people in my church that have been here 90 years. That\u2019s not something you really understand until you\u2019re there,\u201d Cavaleri said.<\/p>\n
The demands of rural ministry are different from those urban and suburban pastors face. A 2018 Pew Research study shows that since 2000, the population has declined in most of the nation\u2019s rural counties. And though the number of U.S. residents living in poverty has grown overall, it\u2019s highest among rural residents, whose average annual income is about $35,000.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, the number of Americans who identify as churchgoers is declining as well. A 2020 Gallup poll showed that 47 percent of Americans belonged to a house of worship. It\u2019s the first time the number has dropped below 50 percent in the eight decades since the group began asking the question. All of that is coming at a time when the number of faith leaders serving rural areas is on the decline.<\/p>\n
So, what makes a pastor serve in the middle of nowhere? \u201cIt\u2019s always about the people,\u201d Cavaleri said. \u201cI will always hold close to my heart the importance of people.\u201d Even when you don\u2019t know those people well at all.<\/p>\n
![\"South](\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2022\/06\/GraceLuthChurchSouthRangeMI-Full-Width.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Praying and hoping<\/h3>\n
It was February 2018 when Arlene Flancher <\/strong>got the phone call every child of aging parents fears.<\/p>\n Her father was in an ambulance, being rushed to a hospital 100 miles away from South Range. Worse yet, Flancher, who lives in the Twin Cities, was facing the seven- hour drive to her parents alone, since her husband was unable to travel after a surgery.<\/p>\n She can\u2019t remember much about the drive.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re just hoping he\u2019s still alive, right?\u201d said Flancher, who is a program coordinator for Luther\u2019s Innovation Team. \u201cYou\u2019re driving on these empty roads. It\u2019s the middle of winter. It\u2019s just you and the trees, and that\u2019s it. You\u2019re hoping the phone doesn\u2019t ring, because if it rings it\u2019s bad news, but you are almost desperate to talk to someone.\u201d<\/p>\n When she arrived, she met her mom, a sibling, and a few other family members, and the horrible waiting began.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was bad coffee, and I remember being terrified, thinking about what was happening in that operating room,\u201d Flancher said. \u201cHis whole life was in the hands of the anesthesiologist, the surgeon, the person running the bypass machine. They\u2019re cracking his entire chest open. I worked in hospitals for 15 years; I know what can go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Then without flourish or fanfare, Cavaleri, who had only been at the church a few months, walked into the waiting room and toward Flancher\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first I was like, \u2018Who is this guy?\u2019\u201d Flancher said. \u201cBut Mom stood up, gave him a hug, thanked him for coming. To this day, I have no idea how he found out.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I thought about this more after the fact, but his vibe and his energy were kindness and love and support. You just knew that he was there, not for himself, not so he could say, \u2018I drove 100 miles to get here.\u2019 He was there because he was<\/p>\n called to be there and sit with us, in the midst of our suffering. He was the light of Christ there in that room.\u201d<\/p>\n Cavaleri, Flancher said, took his cues from the family.<\/p>\n And once Flancher\u2019s father was returned to his room, Cavaleri\u2019s gifts became especially apparent.<\/p>\n \u201cWatching my parents respond to him, even though they didn\u2019t know him that well, they were so relieved and comforted by him. I will remember it forever. I will remember Micah as we stood around my dad\u2019s bed, and he asked if he could pray for Dad. I don\u2019t remember exactly, but I\u2019m sure we were probably all touching my dad.<\/p>\n \u201cHis calm presence was just so lovely, and it clearly meant a ton to my parents. I\u2019ll always be profoundly grateful for his presence in those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n Flancher said the incident caused her to reflect\u2014who would she notify if the situation was reversed, and she was in crisis?<\/p>\n \u201cFor rural pastors, relationships are the most important thing,\u201d Flancher said. \u201cFor any pastor, sure, but for rural pastors especially. They can bring hope and God\u2019s love in those difficult moments. That\u2019s the most important role for a rural pastor, and maybe to train others to do the same thing. Pastoral care is probably the most important.\u201d<\/p>\n Cavaleri made the drive, he said, because it was exactly what he needed to do.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have said they find me genuine. They believe that I believe what I\u2019m preaching, and I do. You gotta be hands on. You shovel snow off the roof, or clean tables after meals, or drive 100 miles to sit with someone who just needs comfort.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to work side by side with people. Being a part of Grace Lutheran, every day is a gift. It\u2019s a life-giving experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Care in, and for, rural communities is what Jon Anderson \u201985 <\/strong>M.Div. <\/strong>calls an \u201congoing historic project.\u201d<\/p>\n As director of rural ministry for Luther Seminary, Anderson echoes what others say about the important roles faith communities play in far-flung regions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rural congregation often operates as an anchor for many rural communities, and that sense of place is very important to people. In rural communities the church has the ability to make a difference in the life of a community in a dramatic way, by forming community and by caring for people in need,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cIn a rural community, you need to let people know you love the people, you love the place, and you love Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n He said rural is \u201cmessy\u201d because there are so many different meanings to what rural is\u2014agrarian, ranching, mining, fishing, and the like. But that\u2019s rarely how people see it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe often tell one of two narratives about rural people. Either it\u2019s ideal, or on the other side, there are a lot of people who feel like it\u2019s all going to pot, that everything is dying,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThe truth is if you\u2019ve seen one rural community, you\u2019ve only seen one. Some are thriving, some are dying, but every situation is unique.\u201d<\/p>\n So, too, the solutions to finding faith leaders to serve those areas, Anderson said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re running experiments to try to figure out what the answers to that might be,\u201d he said. From brief immersion trips to lunchtime learning sessions for pastoral candidates considering rural ministry, Luther is working to find solutions to the shortage.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also need to find ways to be better about finding and developing local leadership,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cWhere we can find laity to do ministry, or perhaps recognize a call to service.\u201d<\/p>\n When that call came for Jaime Decker \u201821 M.Div.<\/strong>, she did everything she could to ignore it.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in confirmation, and my pastor tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I had ever thought of being a pastor,\u201d Decker said. \u201cHe thought I would do well.\u201d<\/p>\n But in high school, Decker had no intention of becoming a minister or staying near her hometown in southeastern North Dakota.<\/p>\n \u201cI went to North Dakota State University in Fargo with pre-med in mind,\u201d she said. \u201cI was never planning to move back to this area. I was planning to broaden my horizons.\u201d<\/p>\n Decker made plans, and God laughed when she met and fell in love with a farmer from southeastern North Dakota. \u201cYou can\u2019t move the farm, so \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Decker found herself living in Gwinner, a 90-mile drive from Fargo.<\/p>\n Still, ministry wasn\u2019t what she saw in her future.<\/p>\n \u201cI ran from that call until about three years ago,\u201d she said. \u201cThen, I felt this stirring. I wasn\u2019t sure what it was, but I was being called to something else.\u201d<\/p>\n Even after Decker started to wonder what might be next in her life, she still resisted ministry. A female pastor at church repeated what had been said to Decker\u2019s younger self.<\/p>\n \u201cI totally freaked out at first. I was thinking, \u2018Why did she say that?\u2019 But then I sat with it a little more and the Holy Spirit kept coming back. Finally, I decided to stop running and I said, \u2018OK, how do I do this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The first step was becoming what\u2019s known as a SAM, or a Synodically Authorized Minister. SAMs receive training, but not full-blown seminary, and can perform necessary ministerial duties including offering communion. Then Decker decided to follow the call even farther.<\/p>\n It was far from easy and anything but absolute.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I definitely had fear,\u201d she said. \u201cI had fear of what people are going to say or think because I\u2019ve been in this community for almost 20 years. That was a really hard part for me. Even to tell my husband and my own family that \u2018Hey, I\u2019m feeling like I\u2019m supposed to go into seminary and become a pastor.\u2019 I was so afraid. Some people said, \u2018I totally see that in you, it\u2019s about time,\u2019 and other people were like, \u2018Are you sure?\u2019 I just had to trust and let go.\u201d<\/p>\n Decker said right from the beginning, she worked to let people know she was learning and was eager for any help anyone would give.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom my own side of it, it was very challenging to step into a leadership role in the church, with it being my people\u2014people I\u2019ve lived with for 20 years; they\u2019ve known me in different roles. I feel like I\u2019ve been very honest with people and say, \u2018I don\u2019t always know, but I can find out,<\/p>\n or we can work on this together, or we can sit with the uncomfortableness of not knowing.\u2019 There\u2019s a lot of trust you\u2019re asking of people.\u201d<\/p>\n Decker said looking back she sees where her time as a stay-at-home mom, church volunteer, and school board member helped prepare her for her role as pastor.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing from school board to ministry, there\u2019s a lot of connection there. I was the first female on the school board in a number of years; it had been male-dominated for \u00a0some time. And I was 20 years younger than the men there. That was an anxious moment for me, it took courage and vulnerability. So does ministry.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest thing for me was to let go of the fear, let go of thinking I had to be perfect and know all the answers and do everything in the perfect way. Showing people that this ordinary girl from our town is showing her vulnerability, is being open to making mistakes and learning from those, walking with them in this journey and not knowing exactly where it will lead. Fear was holding me back, and I had to let that go.\u201d<\/p>\n Decker said she still doesn\u2019t know all the answers, but she\u2019s become a lot more comfortable with the unknown, because of the opportunity it could create for others.<\/p>\n \u201cThe longer I\u2019ve been in it, the easier it is and the more I\u2019m able to laugh with people and laugh at myself. I try to use that as encouragement for other people. I was feeling called; for others, if they are feeling called to do something, I just want them to say forget the fear.\u201d<\/p>\n She said often church is perceived as a place where perfection is the only option. Decker doesn\u2019t see it that way.<\/p>\n \u201cGod has a sense of humor because God put me here, and I think maybe that\u2019s my ministry: for people to see me and accept calls when they come. The relationships here are everything. Ministry in a rural setting isn\u2019t a one-size-fits all. There are a lot of challenges and a lot of blessings.<\/p>\n \u201cThe beauty that often gets overlooked when someone thinks about \u2018rural\u2019 is the people, the amazing people. It might be small, it might be freezing cold here in North Dakota, but it\u2019s the people who keep you here and keep you doing the work.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The need for pastors in rural areas continues to be a call not everyone can answer. Those who do say the ministry is life-giving and fulfilling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"issue-summer-2022","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThey that dwell within<\/h3>\n
![\"Jaime](\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2022\/06\/IMG-2765.jpg\")
Letting go<\/h3>\n