The ten preachers pictured and listed here span history from the middle 1700's to the twenty-first century. As men of the gospel they touched 2865 churches in eight states.
The first four used horses and traveled the countryside as circuit riding preachers. For instance, Gabriel Thomas Shelton helped six churches join into an association in central Kentucky. He then moved to central Kentucky near Richmond, and was killed later by Indians as he returned to Virginia to report his success. Richmond Thomas Shelton left Virginia and traveled into North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee, traveling by horseback starting churches, Sunday Schools, preaching in brush arbors and meeting houses. Actually they both functioned as a Director of Missions does now. These preachers were pioneers!
Thomas Lemuel Shelton, Richmond's son, started eight churches in what was called Land Between the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, now Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.
Since that time, T.G., T.H., R.G. and myself, T.L., served a total of 50 years as District Missionaries, Superintendent of Missions, County Missionaries, Directors of Missions, and now Associational Director of Missions, (I have served 25 years so far). The four of us pastored 57 churches as well. The reason the number of churches is so high is that T.H. (Hicks) Shelton served as Director of Evangelism for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, traveling the whole state.
All eight Shelton preachers served in what is now called the Director of Missions role, and started about 53 churches, helping each church organize itself with Sunday Schools and all other programs as they developed in Southern Baptist life.
Two Wright preachers, my mother's (Helen Virginia Wright Shelton, a 1937 Campbells-ville graduate) father, Leslie Thomas Wright (my grandfather), and her uncle, Abner King Wright, served as pastors for a total of 104 years. Helen's uncle, Denton James Wright, served as President of Campbellsville University from 1930-1941. He made it possible for her to attend the college. Altogether, ten of us have attended Campbellsville University, and five of us have graduated.
