Our church is a thriving ministry in Rural Retreat, Virginia. God has blessed our church as we have grown from a mission work in the local store front to the beautiful campus we are on here in the middle of town.

Our purpose at RRBC can be summed up in three phrases:

  Exalt Christ

  Evangelize Community

  Encourage & Edify Christians

          Pastor Jacob has been leading the congregation of Rural Retreat Baptist since 2014 and God has blessed under his loving pastorship. Sharing his testimony Pastor Jacob tells of the great love of God – being in a children’s class on a Wednesday night as a seven year old he heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. It would be his grandmother teaching the class that evening and through the course of the lesson she brought Jacob up in front of the other children and would make a statement that would impact him the rest of his life – “Jacob, do you realize that Jesus loves you so much that if you were the only little boy to ever live that Jesus would have left Heaven and came to the Earth and died on the cross just to save you!” – with tears of joy and a heart over flowing with God’s love being poured in a seven year old boy received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior! Just seven years later at the age of fourteen Jacob would receive the call from God to preach the Gospel of our Lord. Pastor Jacob would meet his sweetheart, Amy, at Bible College and they both would graduate and be married. Pastor Jacob and Ms Amy have been married since 2002 and serve together in the ministries of Rural Retreat Baptist Church and The Baptist Academy of Rural Retreat.

          Pastor Jacob preaches messages that are encouraging, enlightening and edifying. Regardless of where you are in your walk of Faith you will find that the messages Pastor Jacob brings are both relevant and ministering!

          Pastor Jacob and Ms Amy enjoy reading, spending time in the mountains, photography and hanging out with the youth of RRBC. God has blessed us with a loving Pastor and Pastor’s wife. We hope that you will come by and meet Pastor Jacob and allow the Lord to minister to you through him and our loving Church.

          Bro. Jake and Mrs. Rachel Brown were happily married on October 12, 2018, joining the Rural Retreat Baptist Church staff not long thereafter. Their stories started on quite opposite sides of the country.

          Mr. Brown was raised faithfully at a church in the city of Springfield, MA. Sunday School and his parents always taught him that Jesus died on the cross for sins so that he would be able to go to heaven. However, it was not until Sophomore year of Bible college that God convinced Jake that a faint memory of a Sunday School lesson was not equivalent to asking Christ into his heart. He remembers this phrase coming from the college president on that glorious morning – “do not let heaven rest in the balance of a four-year-old’s decision if you do not remember four year old you!” Jake thought about the phrase all day. That night in his dorm hallway, he bowed on his knees, read over the Romans road, and asked Jesus to become his savior. He has never had a doubt since then. Today, Bro Jake wants to see as many people as possible come to find the same forgiveness he has.

          Mrs. Brown also grew up in church. Many years passed her by without knowing the Savior personally. Yet, her pastor cared enough to preach the truth about hell one Wednesday evening and it pierced Rachel’s heart. She was 13 at the time, home while all her friends were at teen camp. The Lord must have known she would be exceptionally tender that specific evening. The message kept her awake well into the night until she decided to finally get it settled. There, by her parents’ bedside, she met Jesus.

          Jake and Rachel then met each other their Junior year of college. They dated even through the two summers that Mr. Brown traveled for Neighborhood Bible Time. Both graduated, got married, and moved to Rural Retreat, VA where they currently serve.