Two churches in the TVP church planting initiative - one that has particularized and one that is still in the planting stage - are facing leadership transitions due to the pastors’ need to step away from ministry for the time being.

According to an article published by Barna Group a little over a year ago, “Even amidst the pandemic, church planting remains a priority for many churches. Half of pastors (53%) agree strongly that their church is committed to starting new churches and planting new campuses.”

After several years of outreach, events, and Bible studies, Woodlands Gathering officially launched Sunday morning worship on November 27, 2022. During this first service, the church also held their first baptism.

Some highlights from 2022 include the particularization of Grace + Peace, 29 known conversions, one full year of the Rural Church Development initiative, and the first year of Redeemer Athens.

“What a joy it has been to first visit and then become a member at Grace Presbyterian Church. I have become immersed in the Word of God and Jesus Christ through this experience, growing in faith literally every day."

In less than a year since Curt Stapleton and his family moved to Athens, TN, Redeemer Athens reached the point of holding Sunday morning worship. “I’ve been speaking to students through Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) at the local high school and Young Life College at Tennessee Wesleyan. I’ve met in the same restaurants and talked with many people within our sphere of influence.”

On August 21, 2022, Grace+Peace celebrated their particularization service. It was clear that God had raised up the right men at the right time to lead Grace+Peace and serve the community, so the church was ready to particularize.

The first time Benjie Slaton, pastor of Grace+Peace, visited Ooltewah in 2018, he wanted to figure out just what the community of Ooltewah was. “I was coming from San Antonio, and all of my ministry experience had been in Texas."

As we continue to work toward planting twenty churches in ten years that both reach the lost and see communities renewed through the power of the gospel, I couldn’t be happier to have announced Travis Vaughn as our new executive director and now Matthew Bryant as the new fundraiser for this work.

In the last six months, Corey Pelton has been hard at work building connections in the rural areas of north Georgia, western North Carolina, and east Tennessee. His work will help develop churches, nourish pastors, and build community in areas that are often passed over when it comes to church planting efforts.

Part of Corey Pelton’s work is to come alongside the pastors who are already leading churches in rural areas, whether they are Presbyterian, Baptist, or another denomination. “I don’t want to just gather PCA people,” he says.

Brad and Beth McRee are one couple at Lakeway Presbyterian who have been equipped to join Pastor Chris Talley in ministering to the church and the Morristown, TN community.

As Curt Stapleton and the new core group continue building the base of Redeemer, Curt’s found ways to meet people in the community.

We are excited to introduce Travis Vaughn as the presbytery’s new Executive Director of Church Planting. Travis comes to us from Atlanta where he was the executive director of Metro Atlanta Collective...

Grace Presbyterian Church in Jasper, TN entered a new season of growth with help from the presbytery’s revitalization program. Erik McDaniel came to Grace before the presbytery had established the current revitalization plan...

When the Tennessee Valley Presbytery began developing our current church planting strategy, we also took time to assess the need for church revitalization. Largely guided by Andy Aikens, pastor of First Presbyterian of Crossville, we developed a philosophy of and plan for church revitalization.

By the Lord’s provision, we not only reached our 2021 financial goal of $415,000, but we surpassed it.

We are excited to announce that Woodlands Gathering closed on a new worship space in October 2021. Pastor Greg Baney says, “It’s encouraging to have people who have been with us for three years, people who we’ve discipled, asking, ‘When are we going to meet for Sunday morning worship?’”

The Fiddlers came to Grace + Peace from Calvary Chapel just over two years ago, when the church had about 50 people filling the pews...

We are extremely pleased to introduce Curt Stapleton and Corey Pelton. Both pastors are raising funds and preparing to head to the field in January 2022.