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 28, 2026

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

You can register for our 2026 conference here,
Schedule

08:00am- Breakfast

09:00am - Plenary Session 1

  •  A Strand of Three Chords: The Inestimable Value of a Pastor's Fellowship  (Dr. Drew Buell)

11:00am -Break Out Sessions

  • Biblical Counseling in Small Places   (Ty Nickelberry )
  • Missions in Small Places - What would a successful missions program look like for a small church? (Tyler Masters )
  • Pastor's Wives Track 
    •  Supporting Your Spouse's Ministry in Small Places - Insights and tips for being a supportive partner in the unique context of rural ministry (Ginny Anthes)

12:30pm -Lunch

01:30pm - Breakout Seminars

  • Preaching OT Narratives w/Pictures  (Dr. Drew Buell)
  • Patience in Pastoral Ministry (Dr. Greg Stoever)
  • Pastor's Wives Track
    • Finding Fulfillment and Purpose in Small Places - Encouragement and guidance for pastors' wives seeking personal growth and satisfaction in their roles (Tawny Arnds)

03:00pm -Breakout Seminars

  • Endurance in Exodus - How God met Moses in a "small place" at Midian (Phil Layton)
  • Navigating Limited Resources in Small Places - Practical advice on managing church operations and outreach with limited financial and human resources (Tony Arnds)
  • Pastor's Wives Track - 
    • Balancing Family and Ministry in Small Places - Strategies for maintaining a healthy work-life balance while supporting a rural church (Laurie Stoever)

04:00pm -Plenary Session 2

  • The Pastor & His Friends (Brian Borgman)

05:30pm-Dinner

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, 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.

Brian Borgman

Pastor- Teacher
Brian Borgman is the founding pastor of Grace Community Church. He earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Biola University (La Mirada, CA), a Master of Divinity from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary (Portland, OR) and a Doctor of Ministry from Westminster Seminary (Escondido, CA) and a ThM from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Historical Theology.
Brian and his wife Ariel have been married since 1987. They have three wonderful children, Ashley, Zach and Alex and three grandsons.

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.

Ty Nickelberry 

Pastor
Ty was born and raised in Southern California. He and his wife Melinda transitioned from Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California in August 2022 to serve as staff pastor at CBC.

Ty served in the US Navy from 1992-1994. He graduated from The Master’s Seminary in 2022 and is a certified ACBC counselor since 2020. His desire is to be used by God to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed and that men and women would be impacted by the holiness of God in their everyday lives.
Ty has been married to his wife Melinda since July of 2021.

Phil Layton

Pastor-Teacher
Phil is a graduate of The Master's College in 1997 and The Master's Seminary in 2006. Before accepting the call to be Pastor-Teacher at Gold Country Baptist Church in the fall of 2006, Phil served for 10 years as a lay-leader and shepherd at Grace Community Church under the preaching ministry of John MacArthur and elder oversight of Phil Johnson.
Pastor Phil Layton is committed to expository preaching, the sufficiency of Scripture for ministry and all of life, the doctrines of grace, spreading a passion for a high view of God and His Word, and pursuing a ministry that is Scripture-saturated, Christ-centered, God-glorifying, and Spirit-sensitive. The Lord has blessed Phil and his wife Jaime with three daughters and two sons.

Tyler Masters

Pastor
Tyler, also known as Omar, grew up near Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2003 he moved to Peru and trained as an international church planter. While there, he met Gretchen, and in 2004 they got married. They continued to work in South America until 2009 when they moved to a Spanish enclave inside North Africa. In 2013 the Lord moved them to another region nearby where they planted two churches: one international and the other Arabic. In 2021 they moved to California with their 4 children, Norah, Judson, Yaelle, and Roman. That October they became members of Doxa Church. Tyler is excited about working in a church passionate about glorifying Christ through making disciples of all nations and cultivating a love for missions and facilitating opportunities to actively participate in the Great Commission. In his spare time, he likes walking, hiking, or just sitting in the woods (especially if there's snow) and studying world history. .

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.

Laurie Stoever

Greg Stoevers Wife
Greg and Laurie have been married since 1989. They’ve been at River City Grace Community Church in Sacramento since 2000, where Greg serves as the Pastor-Teacher (he has an M.Div and D.Min from The Master’s Seminary). Prior to 2000, Greg served as an associate pastor in Southern California for almost 10 years. Among many activities, Laurie leads a women’s bible study, disciples women, and teaches science in a home-school co-op. They have been blessed with 4 adult children and 4 grandchildren. Greg and Laurie enjoy biking, kayaking, reading, being with family, and following Oklahoma Sooner sports.