Cohorts
Because faithful rural churches need faithful rural leaders.
Semester-based courses | In-person (Wellsboro/Mansfield) and Online
Start Dates: Offered throughout the year
In rural churches, leadership can feel lonely, unclear, and heavy.
Rural pastors carry more than they were trained for. Leadership teams don’t always know their next step. Wives often feel like they’re on an island. And many men are just trying to preach more faithfully, counsel more wisely, and stay afloat while working a second job.
Cohorts exist to meet those kinds of needs—without overcomplicating them.
These are semester-based learning groups where real ministry gets talked about honestly. You’ll walk with others who are trying to be faithful in similar places, as you work through a backbone curriculum designed to sharpen conviction, strengthen practice, and anchor your ministry in the sufficiency of God’s Word.
This isn’t a class. It’s not a retreat. It’s a group of people committed to helping one another stay faithful—over time, in hard places, for the sake of Christ and His church.
What we will walk through.
Cohorts help rural leaders wrestle with the right questions:
How do I lead when my team is in transition and I’m not sure what to do next?
How do I shepherd faithfully with limited time, limited help, and no outside support?
What does it look like to grow in my preaching, my leadership, or my counseling?
How do I hold onto joy and endurance when no one sees the weight I’m carrying?
What values and outcomes should my church pursue and how do I lead toward them?
What if my church is just trying to survive?
Each cohort is built around key convictions that lead to healthy churches—Scripture at the center, gospel in the culture, leaders who endure. We also work through outcomes that fuel long-term ministry:
Pursuit of God
Stewardship of life
Spiritual giftedness
Fruit of the Spirit
A clear grace story
Who are Cohorts for?
Planters and Revitalizers
For men sent into hard soil—whether starting something new or breathing life into a struggling church. These cohorts offer clarity, structure, and support for the challenges unique to pioneering and rebuilding in rural places. You don’t have to invent your way through ministry or carry it alone.
Church Leadership Teams
For elders, deacons, and key ministry leaders who want more than survival. These cohorts help teams align around biblical convictions, clarify roles, and develop a clear strategy for leading their church toward long-term health. Some teams include women in appropriate leadership roles
Ministry Wives
For women who walk alongside their husbands in the highs and lows of ministry life. These cohorts provide space for honest conversations, biblical encouragement, and meaningful connection with others who understand the unique challenges of rural ministry.
Rural Shepherds
For those faithfully serving in small churches—often as solo pastors, bi-vocational leaders, deacons, or lay elders—who simply want to grow in clarity, conviction, and endurance. These cohorts offer relational support and practical tools for men who are holding a lot, often with little help, and want to be more faithful where God has placed them
Why it matters.
Many rural churches are under-shepherded. Many leaders feel alone. Some are barely holding things together. Others are quietly burning out.
Cohorts provide a steady, relational structure for leaders to grow in faithfulness—together.
We don’t promise ease. We offer something better: truth, brotherhood, and a path forward.
This is how rural churches become durable.
And this is how the gospel keeps shining in forgotten places.
Pricing
Pricing varies by Cohort.
Scholarships are available based on need. Please email us for specific pricing details.