small places pastors conference

small places pastors conference
A conference to encourage & equip pastors and their wives who minister in “small places.”
Where:
Cool Community Church
863 Cave Valley Road
Cool, CA (a very small place)

When:
January 10, 2024

Cost:
$40 Before December 1
$45 before January 1
$50 after January 1

You can register for our 2024 conference here.
Schedule

08:00am - Breakfast

09:00am - Plenary Session 1

  •  When Trouble Comes (Dr. Drew Buell)

11:00am -Break Out Sessions

  • Membership & Church Discipline in Small Places (Dave Witt)
  • Dealing with Difficult People in Small Places (Tony Arnds)
  • Pastor's Wives Track 
    • Life in the Fishbowl - Navigating the Highs & lows of Family Life in the Ministry (Tawny Arnds)

12:30pm -Lunch

01:30pm - Breakout Seminars

  • Making Every Dollar Count - A Practical Approach to Church Finances (Dr. Drew Buell)
  • Music Ministry in Small Places (Rob Odum, Corey Milican, Charles Brown)
  • Pastor's Wives Track
    • "Who Do You Think You Are?" - Finding Your Full Identity in Christ (Ginny Anthes)

03:00pm -Breakout Seminars

  • Radical Candor & Church Management in Small Places (Drew Buell)
  • Discipleship Round Table (Phil Layton)
  • Pastor's Wives Track - 
    • What if I don't play the piano? - Finding Your Place in the Local Church (Susie Witt)

04:30pm -Plenary Session 2

  • Heaven (Greg Stover)

05:30pm -Dinner
2023 Conference Audio

  1. The Joy of Knowing God in Small Places (Drew)
  2. The Supremacy of Love in Small Places (Phil)
  3. Embracing Your Identity in Small Places (Stuart)
  4. Living a Life of Hope in Small Places (Jon)
  5. The Importance of Fellowship for the Pastor's Soul (Paul)
  6. The Glory of Christ in Church Planting (Jason)



Sponsored & Organized by the Sierra Shepherds' Fellowship

The Sierra Shepherds' Fellowship is a small gathering of like-minded pastors who minister in the foothills of northern California.

We are an associate ministry of The Master's Fellowship and the Coalition of Christ Exalting Churches.

You can find more information about the Sierra Shepherds' Fellowship here.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1) Who may attend the Small Places Pastors Conference?

We're not picky :-)

Anyone is welcome to attend the Small Places Pastors Conference.

The conference is especially designed for pastors and their wives who minister in "small places." A small place may be a demographically small place (such as Cool, CA which boasts a population of 2,500) or a small church in a big city. 


2) What is included in the registration fee?

The registration fee includes all of the snacks that you can eat (think "Crumbl Cookie" level snacks), three top quality meals (Tri Tip for sure), and anything else we can convince a sponsor to throw in :-).


3) What kind of accommodations are available in the area?

The nearby city of Auburn, CA has several good hotels to stay in.

The Springhill Suites by Marriott is the newest hotel in the area. It is a 15 minute drive from the hotel to the church. 


4) Why host a conference on a Wednesday?

For many pastors, Saturday is the one day we intentionally try to give to our families. We feel that hosting a conference on a Saturday is more than asking a pastor to give up his own time, it's asking his family to give him up on a day that is supposed to be for them. We decided to schedule the conference on a Wednesday to avoid asking pastors and their families to make that decision.


5) Why is the Small Places Pastors Conference website a part of the Cool Community Church website?

Like many of you, we pastor in small places as well. Through trial and error, we've learned how to build and edit our own website, so that's what we used to build the conference website :-).


6) Will the conference be live-streamed?

Yes, we will be live streaming the conference on the Cool Community Church facebook page.


7) Will their be a conference podcast?

Yes, we will add all of the conference audio to the Cool Community Church podcast. They will also be hosted on Cool Community Church's website. 


8) Who can I contact for more information or with other specific questions?

You can email Drew Buell at drew@coolchurch.org or call the office at Cool Community Church at 530-885-4385 for more information.

Meet the speakers.

It seemed rather disingenuous of us to host a conference on “small places” and then to bring a “big name” to wow everyone. Rather, we have decided to ask several of our own “small place” pastors to encourage us from God’s word. You can read more about them below.

Drew Buell 

Pastor- Teacher
Drew has been pastoring in "small places" for over 20 years. He graduated from The Master's College in 2001 with a degree in Bible Exposition, and from The Master's Seminary in 2005 with his M. Div. In 2021 he completed his Doctor of Ministry degree from the same institution.

Drew has authored three books: Journeys: An Adoption Story, We Are Not Descended from Fearful Men, and Membership Matters.

Drew and his wife (Amy) live in Cool, CA with their four children, where he serves as the Pastor-Teacher of Cool Community Church.

Greg Stoever

Pastor -Elder
Greg has served as the primary preaching pastor at RCG since January 2000, overseeing the preaching, teaching, corporate worship gatherings, leadership training, and shepherding of the church. Originally from Oklahoma, he came to faith in Christ in 1977. Following undergraduate studies at the University of Oklahoma, he completed the Master of Divinity degree in 1989 and the Doctor of Ministry degree in 2023, both from The Master’s Seminary.

In addition to his ministry at RCG, Greg is involved with preaching, teaching and leadership training at pastoral training centers in Germany, Switzerland and Haiti. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member of The Cornerstone Bible College & Seminary in Vallejo, CA. Additionally, Greg shares in the leadership of the Sacramento Pastors Fellowship.

Greg and his wife Laurie have been married since 1989. They have four adult children: Lindsay (husband Dave), Zach, Jordan, and Tyler (wife Katy) – and two grandchildren. They enjoy spending time with their kids and grandkids, bike-riding, kayaking, reading, and following Oklahoma Sooner sports.

Greg’s prayer and pursuit is to walk worthy in the immeasurable love of God in Jesus Christ and help others do the same (Ephesians 3:14-21).

Tony Arnds

Pastor
Pastor Tony is the founding pastor of Folsom Bible Church. When moving to the Folsom area a few years ago, Tony and his wife saw the regional need for more solid, Gospel-centered churches to proclaim the glory of Christ. After sharing this concern with other like-minded pastors and wondering who would take on this mission, God began to make it clear that this dream would start with Tony.

Tony was born in California and raised on a ranch. After high school he moved to Montana where God graciously saved him and called him into ministry in 1992. He graduated from Montana state with a BS degree in animal science, he studied four years at Montana Bible College and graduated from the Master’s seminary. He served as pastor of Potter Valley Bible church in California from 2002-2020. Tony has also been teaching at the Cornerstone seminary in Vallejo since 2011.
Tony and his wife, Tawny, have 3 sons and 6 grandchildren.

Dave Witt

Pastor-Teacher
Dave grew up locally in Auburn attending area schools and enjoying all the outdoor activities the Sierra Foothills have to offer. The Lord in His grace saw fit to save him from his sins in his early teens and he has been a part of Foothill Christian Fellowship from its inception. After completing his undergraduate work at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Dave entered into education, teaching for twelve years at various grade levels K-12. He also enjoyed coaching basketball at Colfax High School for much of that time. In 1992-94 the Lord provided an opportunity to study at the Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley, CA, and upon his return to the Auburn area he began to serve as a pastor at FCF.

In 2000 Dave stepped away from his teaching position at Colfax High to serve full-time in pastoral ministry at Foothill. Dave met and married his wife, Susie, right out of college in 1988 and they have two children, Justin (married to Shaina) and Hannah (married to Ethan). In his spare time he enjoys working with his hands and being in the outdoors fly-fishing, backpacking, and motorcycle riding.

Ginny Anthes

Paul Anthes Wife
Ginny Anthes was born in New Jersey and spent her early years living in various states and foreign countries.  Her father was career Air Force and was deployed frequently.
She came to know Christ as her personal savior as a young teen at the Garden Valley Chapel, and was discipled by Pastor Lyle Birkey until she left to attend Bible college in  preparation to serve in foreign missions.
She met her husband Paul while attending college in El Cerrito.  Upon graduation they were married served the Lord in local churches in Oregon, Italy and California.  Married for fifty three years, God blessed them with four children and eleven grandchildren.  In her spare time, Ginny enjoys the outdoors, gardening, spending time with family and is an avid reader.

Tawny Arnds

Tony Arnds Wife
Tawny was born and raised in Ojai, California.  Her early years were spent on horseback at the stables where her father was the riding master at a private school.  She became a track and field athlete at young age and competed through college.

Tawny married her high school sweetheart Tony in 1982.  They had 2 sons Jess and Joe and moved to Montana where they spent a total of 12 years going to college then working on large ranches.  Tawny’s duties included horse training, cattle working and operating heavy equipment along with homeschooling the boys.

She was finally introduced to the Lord in her early 30’s and surrendered her life to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Husband Tony went to Bible College there, then the family moved back to California for him to attend seminary.  After seminary they were called to the Potter Valley Bible Church where Tawny was a pastor’s wife for 18 years.  At that time, their third son Josh was born.

After moving to Folsom it was decided to work on a church plant now called Folsom Bible Church.

They lost their son Josh, age19, two years ago from fentanyl poisoning.
Tawny now speaks at junior high and high school assemblies for fentanyl awareness sharing Josh’s story.

Her current interests which she calls “therapy”, are silversmithing and jewelry making which allows her to see and to enjoy some of God’s magnificent and awesome creations.
Tawny is also thankful and extremely blessed to have six wonderful grandchildren.

Susie Witt

Dave Witts Wife
Susie hails from the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley where she was raised and eventually completed her nursing degree.  She attended church regularly with her family and was introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ in her youth. It was in her mid-twenties that God graciously saved her.

She is a wife to Dave, mother to Justin (husband to Shaina) and Hannah (wife of Ethan), and now grandmother to Everley (1-yr) and Moody (4 mo). She enjoys camping, gardening, sewing, and sometimes riding on the back of Dave's motorcycle. Her two greatest joys in life are fellowship with the living Christ and the privilege of serving His people in whatever way she can.