The Rural Voice, 1987-09, Page 30j°FIN RURAL LIFE WORKER
KING:
T
by Joseph Howlett
wo years ago, the United
Church of Canada started
a campaign called Ventures
'n Mission to raise money for special
projects to be administrated by the
church. One such project was the
appointment of a rural life worker to
the London Conference of the church
in October of last year. The success-
ful candidate for the position was John
A. King, a dairy farmer fail., the vil-
lage of Hickson in Oxford County.
The basic function of a rural life
worker is to offer emotional support to
members of the rural community, par-
ticularly farmers, who are suffering
the hardships associated with tough
economic times. To further this goal,
King is organizing self-help groups in
communities in the nine southern
counties of Ontario, from Oxford to
Essex, which make up the area served
by the London Conference. For his
work, he receives a modest stipend
plus an allowance for travel.
King applied for the job because
he wanted to remain active after trans-
ferring the responsibility of running
the family farm to his two sons, and he
thought he would be useful at this kind
of work. Indeed, King's qualifications
make him an excellent choice for the
job. He is a reflective, articulate man
who has worked for various agricul-
tural organizations and has been very
active in the United Church as well.
Raised on a farm which has been
in his family for four generations,
King graduated from the University of
Guelph in 1950 with a degree in agri-
culture. He took on the job of assis-
tant agricultural representative with
the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture
and Food in Woodstock. After work-
ing for the ministry in that capactity
for two years, in Woodstock, Strat-
ford, and Alliston, he returned to
Hickson and bought the family farm.
King has also been involved in the
Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the
Ontario Dairy Herd Improvement
Association, and the Crop Improve-
ment Association in Oxford County.
In 1984-85 he was the president
of London Conference, earning the
distinction of being the first layman to
hold that office. Before then, he was
chairman of Oxford Presbytery.
After almost a year as a rural life
worker, King says he is somewhat
disappointed by the results he has to
show for all the effort he has put into
the job. Often, he adds, he's frustrated
inadvertently in his work by the peo-
ple he is trying to help. Farmers are,
as a breed, proud and independent, he
notes, and even when their prospects
are bleak they will not go to other
members of the community or to their
church for support. Moreover, King
says, the ethics of his job prohibit him
from approaching an individual to ask
if he needs help.
But even though many farmers are
finding it difficult to make ends meet
these days, King is optimistic about
the future of farming in Canada, and
suggests that farmers are not earning a
decent living because of the politics
involved in the production of food.
What can farmers do to improve
their circumstances? King tells the
following story about a small group
of Mexican farmers who improved
their lot through a co-operative effort.
When King was president-elect of
London Conference, he and 11 other
presidents were sponsored by the
United Church to attend a workshop
28 THE RURAL VOICE