rural

Megan Hamilton retells stories of her small town through some of its least-noticed structures.

Jeff Gundy searches the past for signs and storms, for what shines and glows and glitters.

Jeff Gundy remembers an emotionally charged evening in the church of his youth.

In this lyrical essay, Jessie van Eerden reflects on her upbringing in a rural West Virginia church and wonders “if the words of our childhood faith-lives—words like worship, praise, holiness—have any real clout for us when we really stare them in the face as adults and when, out of the corner of our eyes, we see more and more brokenness in the world.”