Most Baptist churches in South Carolina are small, boasting about 80-100 members, but small in number fails to indicate weakness.  This is especially true of Mt. Pisgah Church in Jefferson, SC, where in less than one year three members have answered the call to full time vocational ministry. 

On July 27, 2003, Jeremy Deese, a freshman at Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute in Hendersonville, NC, preached his first sermon at Mt. Pisgah Church as a means of announcing his call to be a minister.  Since childhood, Deese has attended the church with his grandmother, Pauline Mangum.  Currently Deese is taking an evangelism class at Fruitland, and as a result, he recently challenged the Mt. Pisgah congregation to put prayers into action by reaching out to the local community and sharing Christ. 

About five months after Deese’s first sermon, 17-year-old Lane Allen announced his call to preach to the Mt. Pisgah Church congregation.  Allen has also preached at the church on November 23, 2003, and two people in the congregation that night responded by committing their lives to Christ.  He delivered his second sermon Sunday night, March 14, 2004.  As a junior at North Central High School in Kershaw, SC, Allen plans to attend North Greenville College in Tigerville upon graduation. 

Also, Allen is partnering with Deese to lead an outreach class on Sunday nights at Mt. Pisgah Church.

One week after Allen’s first sermon, David Sanders, who is the volunteer drama ministry director, shared that he too is called to preach.  Sanders preached his initial sermon at the church on December 7, 2003.  He and his wife, Angie, have two adult sons, Chase and Travis, who currently serves with the U.S. military in Iraq.

Pastor Chuck Parrott believes it is important for these men to have opportunities to preach as soon as possible after they announce their calling to the church.

“Throughout the years, I have had many classes and have read many books that teach the art of preaching, and I have learned that, as beneficial as they are, nothing beats the experience when it comes to preaching,” Parrott said.

Many church members believe that these men being called to ministry is a direct result of a prayer retreat that was held in March 2003 at Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute.  There, several church members prayed that people would be called from Mt. Pisgah Church to full time ministry.

“The Lord calling these men into ministry is a tremendous blessing for the entire church,” Parrott said.  “The members at Mt. Pisgah are excited to see the Lord working in the lives of these men, and we can see the evidence of their enthusiasm for the Lord spreading among other people in the church.”

A few weeks ago, the church hosted another prayer retreat at Fruitland, and 15 members attended.

“After last year’s prayer retreat, we saw that God was working in our church by calling people out to service.  It is our prayer that the Lord will work through this year’s prayer retreat in two ways: first, that we will see the Lord call people to salvation, and that we may support missions through the Cooperative Program in a greater way,” Parrott said.

On a regular Sunday, there may be more than 100 people in Sunday School classes at Mt. Pisgah Church, and the resident membership is 242.  It is not a mega church with spectacular presentations and a full band or large staff.  However, it is a church where the Lord is calling members to serve Him, and where empowering Kingdom growth is the focus.