Transitioning from a previous resort location to White Oak Conference Center, this year’s Shepherding the Shepherd event was called “more intimate” as participants got to know one another better and cultivated friendships.
Shepherding the Shepherd is the annual three-day time of refreshment and renewal for ministry couples, offered by the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s church vitalization team. This was the first time in its 10-year history that the event was held at White Oak. More than 100 participants attended.
Pastor Terry Corder, Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, Jefferson, said, “This is the best Shepherding event I’ve attended since the one in Savannah, when Henry and Richard Blackaby were the speakers. I’ve enjoyed going to the resort locations, but in a sense it’s easy to lose perspective on why we are there.
“Shepherding is designed as a spiritual retreat and not a recreational retreat,” he said. “I was especially impressed with White Oak and the transition that’s occurred there. The staff went to great lengths to make Shepherding special, including treatment, service and food.”
Corder, who serves as SCBC first vice president, said, “As much as anything, I liked the intimacy. I was able to talk to other participants and get to know people. In fact, I got to know another pastor in our association and we’ve now become good friends.”
He also praised this year’s speakers: Robert Coleman, distinguished professor of discipleship and evangelism, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; and Kenneth Weathersby, senior strategist, evangelism group, North American Mission Board.
“As a result of the great speakers,” Corder said, “my wife, Debbie, re-evaluated her spiritual life. Others came away with the same experiences. Debbie felt that her salvation experience may have been more out of emotion than a real life-changing salvation experience. So she came home, made a profession of her faith, and I baptized her.” – SCBC