Retreat, Revival, and Rural Ministry Grant

July was a busy month for Rural Church Development, first hosting a tent revival and then the annual small town pastor’s retreat. Also, Corey Pelton has been working on putting funds from a rural ministry grant to good use.

On July 14 and 15, RCD joined up with many partners to host worship and teaching sessions in a classic camp meeting style. Epworth First Baptist (Epworth, GA), First Baptist (Blue Ridge, GA), Providence Presbyterian Church (Murphy, NC), and Loving Road Stop & Go (a gas station in Morganton, GA, where Corey leads a five-minute prayer gathering every Monday morning) all came together to host the event. South Baton Rouge Presbyterian Church also sent a mission team all the way from Louisiana to serve jambalaya and pulled pork and work in the community.

The team held the event at Horseshoe Bend Park in Mineral Bluff, GA, from 6-9 p.m. both days, offering free dinner, worship, a kid’s learning tent, and gospel teaching to the community.

Corey explained, “Over a conversation with Will Davis as we rode together in his trash truck, we dreamed of putting on our own camp meeting for the purpose of reaching the unchurched, de-churched, and under-discipled. After several months of praying and planning and a lot of partnerships, we held our first event.”

Corey explained that revivals tend to draw many professing believers, so the goal was to reach those believers who could grow further if they were in a setting that provided deeper discipleship. This is why he added “under-discipled” to the list.

RCD gathered attendees’ names and contact information so they could follow up after the camp meeting and connect those interested to a Bible study group.

Will taught about knowing God on Monday evening, and McKay Caston taught about growing in God the next night—essentially a lesson on justification and one on sanctification. Corey said, “Will did a good job of using stories to simplify justification, and McKay did a good job of explaining that we grow not by doing better but by our roots growing deeper, not by working harder but by abiding in the one true vine.”

A believer from a nearby Baptist church shared about her experience at the revival with Corey, who said, “She was in tears. She said she’d never heard about growing by grace.”

The woman said, “My whole understanding of what my response to God is supposed to be has changed. This quote is from Rural Church Development: ‘What (or Who) is the object of your faith? If the object of your faith is your ability to be faithful, you will be driven to failure, fear, shame, and approval-seeking from God and others. If the object of your faith is the One (Jesus) who was faithful on your behalf, you will enjoy freedom from guilt and shame, an ever-strengthening and renewing love of Christ, growing courage, and a compassion for others unlike yourself.’ How have I missed this?”

RCD, friends, and partners are eager to host another camp meeting next summer.

Then, from July 21-24, a small group of pastors gathered near Nashville for the Small Town Pastor’s Retreat.

Corey explains that small town pastors face many of the same challenges that pastors of larger churches do—but with fewer resources. Often, the small churches cannot afford to pay for a needed sabbatical or for another pastor to fill the pulpit for a weekend so the pastor can have a break. “The luxury of having an assistant pastor, associate pastor, or staff is often non-existent,” says Corey. “They slog away at ministry week-by-week and year-by-year with little encouragement, camaraderie, or renewal.”

He started the four day/three night Small Town Pastor’s Retreat to help fill this need for rest and connection.

“It is really difficult for a small town pastor to commit to several days away. Even with a break from their regular routine, every man present this year had an urgent church or family crisis that they needed to attend to while at the retreat. What struck me was that they didn’t have anybody holding down the fort back at their church. All of these guys are solo pastors. Some don’t even have administrative assistants.”

Even so, the group enjoyed a few days of rest, fun, great food, and honest conversations. They also enjoyed activities like kayaking down the Toccoa River.

Each day began with a devotional led by one of the men, and over the course of the retreat, each attendee had an opportunity to share what is exciting about what the Lord is doing in his ministry as well as difficulties he is facing. The group then prayed over that pastor.

The joys and difficulties were unique to each pastor. Some were walking with members through grief or had lost a congregant to death, but one common theme where the men tend to feel stuck was evangelism. Corey and the pastors talked about ways to move forward with outreach.

The unstructured down time together stood out to Corey. “We’re always talking, whether we’re cooking together or sitting around the living room. There’s this external processing going on. I think that’s some of the best times at the retreat.”

The group decided to start a monthly one-hour Zoom call to check in with each other and pray. Ahead of each call, Corey plans to share an article to discuss briefly and then focus on one pastor at a time, much like they did at the retreat.

The last bit of RCD news from this summer is about a rural ministry grant. Corey says, “What if we could take what is happening in Tennessee Valley Presbytery with small town pastors and encourage the same nationally? Through my role as director of Rural Church Planting with Mission to North America, we are attempting just that.”

Grove City College in Pennsylvania was awarded a grant through the Lilly Endowment to help with rural ministry. Grove City saw fit to generously distribute those funds to institutions and denominations working in rural contexts.

The Rural Church Planting Ministry of Mission to North America applied for a sub-grant and were selected. Corey created a two-year plan for the funds to:

• Create regional yearly gatherings of small town pastors for encouragement, refreshment, recruitment, and prayer;

• Create online monthly cohorts with those pastors following their first gatherings;

• Help fund internships and residencies for potential future small town pastors in host small town churches; and

• Create a national PCA small town pastor’s conference at Covenant College in Chattanooga, TN.

Essentially, the grant will help address two needs: improved stability, health, and longevity of current small town ministers; and building up a pipeline of future planters and small town ministers.

Corey said, “We are underway speaking with small town pastors in regions covering the Appalachian mountain chain from Covenant College in Georgia to Grove City College in Pennsylvania. Conversations have also begun with representatives from Covenant College in the areas of internship and the national conference. In September, I will be attending Grove City’s Center for Rural Ministry’s annual conference. Please pray for the national interest in rural ministry.”

He is encouraged by these partnerships, and he is planning to host interns again next summer as a way to offer young men who are interested in rural ministry a taste of that work.