if i don't go to church can i live in rural MO

[CJT]

I think the OP will have no problem whatsoever in Ava. It has got to be the friendliest town on the planet, and is a good mix of locals and outsiders. The key to fitting into "Booger" county is to accept the locals, their customs and don't expect them to conform to your ways, because they won't. Accept them as they are, and you will find yourself with a community.

If you don't wish to go to church, state your preference simply and don't make a big deal out of it.

[BAGTIC]

My wife and I moved from California (Bay area) to a small Missouri town (2,000 pop.) three years ago. We love it. The people are very friendly but a little more reserved and private that what we used to in California.

I was a little apprehensive at first because my wife is asian but there have never been any problems over religion, politics, etc.. We have made many friends here. If you are a good person you will be accepted and welcome.

[MOviaCA]

Originally Posted by BAGTIC

My wife and I moved from California (Bay area) to a small Missouri town (2,000 pop.) three years ago. We love it. The people are very friendly but a little more reserved and private that what we used to in California.

I was a little apprehensive at first because my wife is asian but there have never been any problems over religion, politics, etc.. We have made many friends here. If you are a good person you will be accepted and welcome.

That is interesting to me. Currently live in Sacramento. I find people tend to keep to themselves out here verse where I lived in Ohio. I think the good person advice goes for anywhere in the world

[kiriath_jearim]

I know that people in the Missouri/Arkansas Ozarks don't care, for the most part, what denomination others belong to. Following the Golden Rule seems to work well for anyone. But it probably helps to avoid theological discussions with some folks one meets there, especially if the talk is over denominational differences or criticizing one denomination. Some think their church is right when they baptize "only in Jesus' name" while another thinks it's correct when it baptizes in the name of "the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost", etc.

I do remember a joke about two "hard shell" Baptists (i.e. Calvinist Baptists) having a picnic together. They were finishing off their fried chicken and one of the Baptists said "Well, brother, I was predestinated to eat this last piece of chicken." The other Baptist said "Well, brother, I was predestinated to take it from you and eat it first". And so he grabbed it and ate it.

[linicx]

I didn't go to church. I don't go to church and at any time I lived in the four state corner not too far from Joplin. The name of the state didn't make much difference.

What I learned is this area considers itlself part of the Bible Belt. If you don't mind being spoon fed religion by the newspapers, the cable company and the door-to-door religious groups you'll do fine. The towns that I lived in mostly had their collective heads in the sand, and weren't partiularly progressive in their thinking. It was like living in the last century with a Wal-Mart one block over. Employees pay minimum wage, there is nothing particulaly cultureal to do except hunt, fisth or get drunk. The area is flooded with illegals, and the medical care (hospital paid and controlled HMO doctors) is pathetic. The schools are so-so. The smart students succeed. The not-to-smart students are passed from grade to grade without ever learning. If you like the mountainous area of the Ozarks, Faretteville, Arkansas is better cholice dollar for dollar when it comes to education, employment, medical care, housing and culture.

Springfield and Fayetteville have had a long standing rivalry hat goes like this: "If Springfield is the Queen City of the Ozarks, then Fayetteville is the jewel in its crown." Having spent a great deal of time in both towns, and having friends in both locations, I would choose Fayettevville every time. Missourir is not called the Show Me state for no reason. Fayuetteville is also a very progressive city whereas Sprrinfield is not.

Twenty-five years ago when I moved to Sprinfleld I was dumbstrick by the Sunday Blue Law. You could buy baby formula,but you couldn't buy the bottle or the nipple on Sunday. Why? Because an alcoholic could use the bottle to drink whiskey. The fact a drunk could cross the state line and buy booze in Kansas or Illinois or Arkansas or Oklahoma never entered the collective mind of the city fathers. They were the same ones who declared the city had no alcoholics or teen pregnancies. .But what really corked it for me was the Springfield newspaper that ran a full page Sunday spread on a hanging 100 years earlier in the city square of a black man accused of raping a white woman. At that time the black population in the city of over 100.000 was six percent. Of all the times I was in the city since, the only changes I saw were cosmetic.

[Waves5]

I wouldn't worry about it, though if you start chatting it up with the locals, don't be surprised if they talk mention it, it is a open thing in small towns. "Where do you go to church?" is what they may say. Personally I just keep telling them somewhere out of town. They it isn't brought up again.

[smithmi]

I moved to Mo from Utah. I know, I know, Mormon country. I was extremly concerned with the move because my family is mormon. I expected a lot of discussion and condemnation in Missouri but guess what. Only 2 people have asked my religon in the 14 months I have been here. Many people talk about their own religon but none have put any pressure on me or my family. These Missouri folks are the nicest people I have ever met. In fact it took all of my family off guard. We love the area (Ellington) and the people who live here. We were 100% surprised and happy about our move.
Good luck to you.

[OA 5599]

I grew up in Willow Springs (south-central Missouri, a long ways from anywhere). My parents moved to the area from Michigan when I was maybe 1 year old. We never really regularly attended church. Was I discriminated because of it? Not really, but in a small town like Willow, church is a BIG part of life. The town, with around 2,000 residents, has over 20 churches in it, including 2 quite large ones. I wouldn't worry about being discriminated against for the most part, but as said earlier in this thread, you will have to get used to seeing religious billboards quite often, and having people come door-to-door with religious pamphlets.

This experience I had is a pretty good example of how it is with religion in a lot of the Ozarks. I was in a very isolated portion of Shannon County once when I was in high school, driving down a rarely-used road to the Current River, when my car broke down. I walked a little over 3 miles to the first house, which was little more than a tar paper shack, and knocked on the door to use the phone (this was before I had a cell phone, and there would have been no service there anyway). A very nice lady and her daughter answered, and they let me use the phone, gave me a big glass of ice water (it was July and very hot outside). Before I left they did give me some religious propaganda in the form of some books about Jesus, but besides that they were very nice and were more than glad to help me. Most of the people are like that...they are very friendly and concerned with helping their neighbors, but some are just very religious.