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


11:00am -Breakout Seminars


12:30pm -Lunch

01:30pm - Breakout Seminars


03:00pm -Breakout Seminars


04:00pm -Plenary Session 2


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, two 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.

Dave Witt

Pastor
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. 

Brian Borgman

Pastor -Elder
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.

Tony Arnds

Pastor
Tony received a B.S. in Animal Science from Montana State University in 1988
and worked on different ranches throughout the state until his conversion to Christ in 1992. He studied at Montana Bible College from 1993 until 1997. He moved to Southern California where he studied and received his M.Div. from The Master’s Seminary in 2001. He has served as Pastor-Teacher of Potter Valley Bible Church in Mendocino County 2002- 2020. 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. Tony and his wife Tawny have three sons and six 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.

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. .

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.

Kerstin Fletcher

Kersten is an illustrator & fine artist whose work has found a home in private collections, children’s books, art galleries, businesses, competitions, and city hall. She lives in Northern California with her husband (plus 4 grown children and granddaughter)