The Rev. Roger Speer’s team of undergraduate students and faculty from The University of the South is heading to Birmingham, England, this August to present his latest findings on rural church revitalization at an international academic conference.

Speer is a longtime minister currently serving church communities in Cowan and Beersheba Springs, Tenn.. His research, titled “Challenging the Narrative of Decline in Rural Church Communities,” will be featured at the International Association for the Psychology of Religion conference at the University of Birmingham.

Speer, who grew up in rural West Virginia and has spent his career serving churches across the American South, believes it’s time to rethink how we define health and success in rural faith communities.

“Too often, vitality in a church is reduced to numbers — how many people are in the pews or how much is in the offering plate,” Speer said. “But those metrics don’t capture what makes a church meaningful or enduring.”

His research suggests a different framework: that the presence of community engagement — not clergy salaries or building size — is a key driver of long-term church vitality. By applying scientific methods under the guidance of Dr. Christopher Silver at Sewanee, Speer’s work aims to give voice to small churches often overlooked in institutional assessments.

Unlike many studies in this field, Speer’s approach is grounded in data collection governed by an Institutional Review Board and avoids anecdotal evidence. The study is still in early phases, but its implications are already drawing attention. He hopes this UK presentation will inspire further collaboration, especially with leaders facing similar questions in rural areas around the world.

“The story we’re telling isn’t about loss — it’s about reframing what matters,” Speer explains. “Rural churches aren’t dying. They’re adapting. But we need the right tools to see it.”

As rural communities across America continue to face challenges — from school and hospital closures to depopulation — Speer believes the church can still be a force for stability, belonging, and hope. His work, he says, is ultimately about equipping leaders with ways to rediscover that role.

The trip marks Speer’s first visit to Birmingham, a city with its own deep spiritual and working-class history. While most of his time will be spent at the conference with Dr. Silver and their team of three Sewanee undergrad psychology students, he looks forward to experiencing a new place and connecting with others who care about faith, place, and people.

“My hope,” he says, “is that this research encourages ministers and communities to see their context not as a deficit, but as a sacred asset.”

To learn more or to add your rural church community to Speer’s growing list of future research sites, email <Speerra0@sewanee.edu>.