Ed Kail Teaches Saint Paul Students About Rural Life and Ministry

What does a person do after they retire? They may read, write, or travel. Others, like Ed Kail, continue to share their knowledge and passion with others.

Kail (pronounced Kyle) is a leading advocate for rural churches; he was a leader in Iowa’s response to the 1980s farm crisis. In 1991, he began to teach Town and Country Ministries at Saint Paul School of Theology and was director of Course of Study for five years. He then went on to serve churches in Iowa, until his recent retirement.

Upon returning to the Kansas City area, Ed Kail reconnected with Saint Paul School of Theology. He participates in our Town and Country Ministry Committee meetings and helped organize and lead a Rural Immersion Ministry in western Kansas this summer.

Saint Paul students lived with families in the rural communities of Lyons and Nickerson, Kansas. This allowed them to experience several “day in the life” experiences of their hosts. They also reflected theologically after visiting with the churches and pastors of each town. Emphasis was placed on the relationship of church to community and how lay and professional ministries relate to their contexts. The particular locus of the immersion included rural disaster relief efforts, pastoral care needs of rural ministries, and insights into farming and agriculture.

“We enjoyed having the students here in Lyons. It was a good week,” said Saint Paul alum Rev. Brenda Davids. She even alerted the local newspaper and the Saint Paul students became front page news.

Rev. Davids explained that she appreciated the relational aspect of being the pastor at a small church. “I appreciate ‘walking with’ the families in this town through some of the happiest (baptisms, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays) and some of the most difficult (deaths, illness) times in their lives. These are the times I experience God at work through us.”

Saint Paul alum Rev. Melissa Naylor was also happy to answer questions about the rural town of Nickerson where she served. “Rev. Melissa Naylor was very open and honest about the joys and struggles that she has experienced as a rural minister,” said MDiv student Linda Jones. “I have not lived in a rural area and I wouldn’t have traded this experience for anything.”

We are so happy that Rev. Ed Kail has come back to the area to be with family and that he continues to enhance our rural ministry program at Saint Paul School of Theology!