Reaching Our Counties That Don’t Have a PCA Church

There are more counties in the Tennessee Valley Presbytery that don’t have a PCA church than those that do. Seventeen of TVP’s counties do not have a PCA church, while 15 do. This is something we’re working to change through church planting.

All of the 17 counties without a PCA church are rural or mostly rural with small towns, so Corey Pelton (director of Rural Church Development) is the expert in this area. Corey says that small towns and rural areas in the Bible Belt tend to be gospel deserts. Even though there are existing churches and professing Christians in these places, many people still feel the weight of guilt and shame.

Corey cites a lack of full, rich theology as the reason for this. “People are saying and hearing that Jesus is the only way to salvation, but one thing that’s missing is that the fullness of what Christ has done for people means not just salvation from sin but also a whole transformation of the entire person.”

Christians in rural areas and small town churches often don’t know what to do with the weight of their sin. “They don’t see that Christ has purified all of that so they can live in freedom,” says Corey. “To handle their conscience, they either come across as self-righteous with good works or they give up altogether.”

Of course, the tendency to run to either works righteousness or despair instead of to the cross isn’t limited to rural areas, but these places can be more susceptible due to a lack of training. The gospel is the answer to the weight of sin, but Corey has found that many small town Bible Belt churches preach “come to Jesus,” but that’s it. This is partly because the pastors haven’t been trained how to teach beyond that, how to train those who have already been saved.

Corey says, “The hope is that we in the PCA would think through how to plant in small towns. I think we need to be open to areas of ministry that we haven’t been as open to, maybe bivocational ministry.”

He also emphasizes the importance of entering these areas first by listening, learning, and with the goal of longevity. Again, there are already many existing churches in the Bible Belt, so we want to come alongside the people and join in what the Lord is already doing through the churches and believers there, rather than coming in with arrogance and preconceived notions.

Corey has learned from his neighbors in north Georgia that they are tired of outsiders coming in and telling them what to do and what’s best for their town. They don’t need the church to do this too. As Corey says, the church should be a light, not a hammer. It’s important to affirm the positives of the existing church culture, even as we seek to offer more theological depth to the culture.

Church plants can often accidentally regather Christians instead of bringing in new people. A TVP church plant’s goal is not to draw people away from the churches they’re already attending. Rather, we hope to reach those who don’t have a church home while also being good friends and neighbors with the existing churches. We pray that the Lord will open doors to encourage these churches with a rich theology of grace.

As Corey explains, the PCA has a history of bringing Reformed preaching to a community but only gathering like-minded people. However, “The Reformed people are going to find you because they’re looking for that, but if you’re going to reach the local community, you need to teach the gospel faithfully in the fullness of their lives.”

To help reach our counties that don’t have a PCA church, Rural Church Development is pairing established PCA churches with nearby rural communities. Similarly to how cities grow outward toward outlying towns and communities, the Church can also grow by planting in the next town over. Corey is challenging churches to send representatives into their neighboring rural communities to get to know that community.

There is a lot of flexibility in what this could look like, and it would require creativity. It could mean identifying a dying church and coming alongside that body. It could mean reaching out to people you know who live in a county without a PCA church.

These lay representatives from church will essentially do what Corey has been doing through Rural Church Development: Go to the same coffee shop, lunch spot, or local store week after week and start conversations. Slowly grow deeper. Perhaps even start a Bible study with a small group of interested people.

Corey knows that it takes a certain personality to do this. “Curiosity is the biggest character quality needed, both for church planters and for representatives going into a small town. It takes somebody willing to step out in faith. Yes, it’s risky, and people are skeptical and slow to embrace an outsider, but the reward of earning their trust and friendship is immense.”

When you’re genuinely curious about the people and local community, they are quicker to embrace you. People can sense when you have an agenda or judgmental, arrogant attitude, but they can also sense a genuine, friendly interest.

Corey has been talking with a few different church sessions about this initiative, but he asks anyone in a church that is interested in adopting a nearby rural community to contact him. Also, if you know people in one of our counties that doesn’t have a PCA church (perhaps they’re driving a long distance to attend a PCA church), Corey would like to hear from you. You can email him at corey@ruralchurchdevelopment.com.