With one-third of rural areas in the United States living in persistently high poverty, churches are some of the most prolific—and often only—sources of resource-provision in rural places. This paper qualitatively examines the complex role that churches play as resource providers in rural areas. Further, we examine the ways churches are helpful and/or harmful in meeting the needs of those experiencing vulnerability. We fuse hegemonic Christianity with social exclusion and neoliberalism to argue that rural people may not only experience ostracization and othering, but can also lose access to already-limited resources in rural areas as a result. Using community-based action research, ethnography, 47 semi-structured interviews, and research participant-driven photography from a town we call Gordon, we find that while churches are important resource-providers, they perpetuate hegemonic Christianity, hold exclusionary power, and act as critical gatekeepers for resources. This often results in ostracization and jeopardizes resource provision for those most vulnerable. This is a critical finding that demonstrates the complexity of resource provision, church influence, and rurality. We highlight participants’ suggestions for ways to expand services in rural places without solely relying on religious organizations.

中文翻译：

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救世主和服务：新自由主义剥夺、霸权基督教、社会排斥和农村教会资源供应的界面☆

由于美国三分之一的农村地区长期生活在高度贫困中，因此教堂是农村地区最多产（通常也是唯一）的资源供应来源之一。本文定性地考察了教会在农村地区作为资源提供者所扮演的复杂角色。此外，我们研究了教会在满足弱势群体需求方面有帮助和/或有害的方式。我们将霸权基督教与社会排斥和新自由主义相结合，认为农村人不仅可能经历排斥和他者化，而且还可能因此失去获得农村地区本已有限的资源的机会。使用基于社区的行动研究、民族志、47 次半结构化访谈和来自我们称为戈登的小镇的研究参与者驱动的摄影，我们发现，虽然教会是重要的资源提供者，但它们使霸权基督教永存，拥有排他性权力，并充当资源的关键守门人。这通常会导致排斥并危及为最弱势群体提供的资源。这是一个重要的发现，证明了资源供应、教会影响和农村的复杂性。我们强调参与者关于在不完全依赖宗教组织的情况下扩大农村地区服务的方法的建议。