October 2, 2026
RUTLEDGE, Ga. — Located in western Morgan County is the city of Rutledge, population 871. Wayne Ghann, pastor of the Rutledge Baptist Church, says his church is in a “small rural town where our red light is a stop sign in a trash can sitting in the middle of the square.” He has served his church as a bi-vocational pastor for the past 32 years.
Ghann stated, “My father was my pastor for the first 33 years of my life. He encouraged me to study God’s Word, to pray, and stay close to the Lord, and promised that He would guide my steps. I tried to do that and felt called to preach when I was only ten years old.
“However, a tragic experience involving sexual child abuse occurred in my life when I was twelve years old, which took me spiraling down a dark path of sin, and for years I felt that God had taken His hand away, and the burning passion of ministry vanished. This experience left me in confusion, fearful, and caused me to feel unworthy of God’s call.”
“I told my father,” explained Ghann, “but he didn’t know what to do, and I continued to feel the burden of my sin. It was years before I could share this dark secret with anyone. I was the pastor of Rutledge Baptist Church and had been married to my wife, Lorrie, for several years before I could even speak about my failures. The day finally came when I knew I could not withhold my past mistakes from my wife. When I told her what had happened, I heard the words my soul longed to hear.
“She said, ‘Honey, that is not your fault.'”
Ghann felt like his wife’s words were ordained by God and that at last he had been forgiven. Wayne and Lorrie have been married 46 years, and he declares, “She is the love of my life.” The Ghanns have three adult children, Daniel, Joshua, and Amanda.
To provide for the family, Wayne became a state-licensed plumber, but continued to think that God might extend that call to ministry once again. He prayed, “Lord, if you can use me, I am still yours and I am available.” He taught Sunday School, preached in the jail ministry in Madison, filled in for his dad as a supply preacher, and even preached in several revivals for some of his pastor friends.
After a heartbreaking experience his father faced in his pastorate, Wayne’s passion to become a pastor began to wane. He said, “Lord, I will sing in the choir, preach in prisons or on the street corners, or even go to the mission fields of Africa, but my interest in becoming a pastor is gone.”
However, a bad motorcycle accident in January 1986 and a resulting hospitalization got Ghann to focus on God’s will for his life. While in the hospital, he fully surrendered to God’s call to be a pastor.
He reported, “I knew I had to tell my wife she was going to be married to a preacher and not a plumber. She laughed and told me she had known all along and that was why she married me.”
Ghann was soon licensed to preach, enrolled in the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Extension Center in 1989, and surrounded himself with great mentors, including his dad, to provide guidance. He declared, “Many pastors helped me on this journey, believing in me when I did not believe in myself.”
On Valentine’s Day 1993, Rutledge Baptist Church called Ghann to be their pastor. By March, the new pastor’s family had moved into the church’s pastorium. The vote to call Ghann was unanimous, but the beginning of his pastorate was quite challenging.
“The construction of a large Sunday School facility prior to my arrival and the departure of most of those who had made a commitment to pay for the construction of the building left the church with an oppressive debt. The church was depending on garage sales to meet the budget. However,” Ghann testified, “there were some godly people in the church who remained faithful, believing that the best days for the church were yet to come.”
To properly understand the workload of a bi-vocational pastor, consider Ghann’s weekly schedule. He preached at the jail in Madison at 7:00 on Sunday morning, then preached at 8:30 for a new church plant started by Bryan Alexander in the home of a racially mixed couple. He would then go to the Rutledge church and teach the college and career Sunday School class at 10:00. Then he would preach for the Sunday morning and evening worship services as well as the Wednesday night prayer meeting. He attended classes at NOBTS on Monday and Tuesday evenings and worked a minimum of 40 hours a week as a plumber.
Ghann admitted, “Lorrie took care of the kids. She took them to their ball games, wrestling, cheerleading, and gymnastics training. She always read the Bible to them and led them in nightly devotions. Had it not been for her, there would have been a spiritual void in our home.
“There were days when I left home in the morning before our children got out of bed and returned after they went to sleep at night. Lorrie expressed her concern about my neglect and constant absence in the lives of our children, and I knew things had to change. I made some changes in my schedule and passed some of my teaching responsibilities on to other pastors.
“You may win the world, but if you lose your family in the process, you have failed miserably. Thankfully, all our children grew up loving Jesus and are currently faithfully serving in other churches. I thank God for my wife faithfully helping create a spiritual emphasis in our home before I properly adjusted my schedule.”
In 1997, Wayne sold his plumbing business and took a position with the City of Madison, and eventually became the superintendent over all the water and wastewater facilities. This new vocation was not as financially beneficial, but it allowed Ghann to spend more time with the children and more time to study God’s Word for his sermon preparation.
The Rutledge pastor recently retired from his job with the City of Madison, and the church is flourishing. Ghann emphasizes, “We have a group of men and women who love God and have been faithful to pray, attend, give cheerfully, and witness daily about the Savior’s love. I pray I will never get over my call, and that I can preach until Jesus comes or until He calls me home."
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