Pastor Bruce Morgan

Bruce Morgan has been serving as pastor of the Darien United Methodist Church in Darien, GA, since 2018. Prior to this appointment, he served a two-point charge in Brantley County. Bruce is bi-vocational and teaches literature at the Charlton County High School in Folkston, Ga. He earned a BA degree in philosophy with a minor in history and later earned an MA degree in literature at VSU. In 2021, Pastor Bruce finished the Masters of Theological Studies degree at Iliff School of Theology, one of the thirteen seminaries of the United Methodist Church, that is located at the University of Denver in Colorado. He is married to Missy, and they have two children, Kaitlyn and Jacob. Kaitlyn and her husband Stion Lairsey have a 20-month-old daughter who loves her Papa dearly.

Preacher - Bishop Robin Dease
Tuesday July 22nd at 7pm

Bishop Robin Dease is the episcopal leader of the North Georgia Conference. She was elected bishop by the 2022 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference
of The United Methodist Church and consecrated on November 4, 2022. Her first assignment as bishop is to the North Georgia Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church and she began service in North Georgia on January 1, 2023.
 
Bishop Dease grew up in Brooklyn, New York, one of 13 siblings. She graduated from Claflin University in Orangeburg in 1992. She earned a master of divinity degree and a doctor of ministry degree in stewardship from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
 
She joined the South Carolina Conference in 1992, became a full-time local pastor in 1998, and was ordained an elder in 2001. She has served as pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church in Johns Island (1998-2008), John Wesley United Methodist Church in Greenville (2008-2012), and St. Andrew By-The-Sea United Methodist Church in Hilton Head (2021-2022). She also has served as superintendent of the Hartsville District (2013-2021), and in 2012, was interim chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Claflin.
 
Bishop Dease has been involved in numerous denominational and conference boards and committees, served on the 2012, 2016, and 2020 General & Jurisdictional Conference delegations, has served as an Upper Room Spiritual Formation Leader, and has been active in organizations in the communities where she has served (Ministerial Alliance, Chamber of Commerce, United Way Faith Based Committee, Rotary, and more).

Pastor Terry Welton

Rev. Dr. Terry Walton is a lifelong Georgian, born in Atlanta and raised in Griffin. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Berry College, a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and a Doctor of Ministry from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Terry has faithfully served United Methodist congregations across Georgia, including appointments in Conyers, Acworth, Snellville, and Gainesville. He also held leadership roles within the North Georgia Conference, serving as District Superintendent and, prior to retirement, as Executive Assistant to the Bishop. Terry and his wife, Sharon, are the proud parents of three adult children and grandparents to eight: Caroline, Luke, Memphis, Brooks, Camryn, Abigail, Wake and Leanna. 

For nearly 200 years people have been coming from all over to join together in praise and worship at Pine Log Camp Meeting. Before there were church buildings on every street, early settlers would gather their crops after the harvest and, out of spiritual necessity, they would head to camp meeting. Families would set up tents and a circuit rider would come on horseback to teach and preach the gospel. The preacher would be cared for by the hospitality of those attending, before departing for the next ministry destination.

While the traditional circuit rider is no longer a necessity, preachers still travel from afar to share the gospel here at Pine Log. Although contemporary times present an abundance of options with regard to how people encounter God, Camp Meeting continues to be a thriving and vital form of worship. This age-old tradition is not an empty ritual, but serves as a powerful and transcendent opportunity to connect with the God of all creation on a deeper level. 

In his journal, Francis Asbury frequently writes about attending and preaching at camp meetings. In a letter to a Methodist preacher dated December 2, 1802, Francis Asbury writes, "I wish you would also hold campmeetings; they have never been tried without success. To collect such a number of God's people together to pray, and the ministers to preach, and the longer they stay, generally, the better." He then concludes with a reference to Matthew 4:19, "This is fishing with a large net" (p. 477).