Rhode Island: A small place of small places

An easy way to annoy a Rhode Islander is to ask him if he is from Providence. Don’t get me wrong. If you ask me that question, I do appreciate that you know Rhode Island is a state and that you can name our capital and largest city.

A local mentality

But the problem is that 80-90% of Rhode Islanders are most definitely NOT from Providence. There are 7 other cities and 31 towns in the state. There is no real county government in Rhode Island, so these are all independent municipalities. Many of these municipalities are more than 200 hundred years old. Rhode Island is not merely Providence and its suburbs. There are years and generations of history and accumulated identity in all 39 cities and towns.

“This “small” thinking can be frustrating to a pastor or church planter with a “big” vision.”

This idea is mind-boggling to out-of-staters. After all, Rhode Island is the second most densely populated state in the US. It is sandwiched between Boston and New York in the massive northeastern megalopolis. When driving through the state, it can feel like you are passing through one continuous housing development from Massachusetts to Connecticut.

But there are invisible boundaries separating one town from the next. Many towns have their own school systems and rec leagues, Christmas tree lightings and parades, art festivals and theaters and restaurant weeks. They are not simply lines on a map. To a certain extent, they are distinct communities.

Rhode Island is a small place stuffed with small places.

When out-of-staters move to Rhode Island they chafe against the “Rhode Island mentality” – that overpowering reluctance to drive further than 15 minutes to do anything. Then after five years of eating the same chowder, new residents slowly come to agree that nothing worth doing is more than 15 minutes away.

But what about churches?

This “small” thinking can be frustrating to a pastor or church planter with a “big” vision. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if people would just get over themselves and drive to us?

But if we want to reach every diner nook and stone wall cranny of Rhode Island with the Gospel, we probably need to consider the missional strategy of the infinite God coming to earth as a tiny baby. Maybe we need to wrap the big Gospel in a fun-sized package and deliver it directly to all the small places in Rhode Island.

Randall Curtis is a native Rhode Islander and serves as the Rhode Island regional coordinator for the Baptist Convention of New England.