May 15, 2025
MALLORYSVILLE, Ga. — In everything you do, jump in and do it until another door opens. If another door doesn’t open, just keep doing what you're doing, a humble Rev. Paul Reviere said. “I’ve been fortunate that that door has not opened for me to leave those good people up there. It’s just a wonderful fellowship.”
Those ‘people up there’ are the congregation at Tabor Baptist Church in Tignall, Georgia, and at the Georgia Baptist Association annual meeting April 25, 2025, in Mallorysville, Georgia, GBA Association Missions Strategist Andy Perryman surprised Reviere by recognizing his 50 years of service as pastor of TBC.
“I didn’t have a clue about what was going to happen,” said Reviere. “I’m honored, but I still think it's about the church and not Paul.”
The honor is deserved, said longtime TBC clerk Jeanette Broome. Serving with Reviere all 50 years, Broome said two words describe him: amazing and wonderful.
“It’s everything you could ask a pastor to be. He’s been there 50 years and he’s still working on us,” she said. “I think he would mean the same thing to me that he means to the whole church. He’s just family.”
She said he doesn’t complain and is a very good leader for their church. “He’s a very good motivator. He’s just precious to me. He’s just been a big support to me the whole time. And, my whole family.”
Reviere, who started his pastoral ministry with stints at Raytown Baptist Church in Taliaferro County and Clifford Grove Baptist Church in Wilkes County, likes to stay busy and shows no signs of slowing down.
“I never thought I’d be doing any of it for 50 years. I can’t see an end in sight. Right now, everything is still going good,” he said.
Along with driving 23 miles from his home in Lincolnton to Tignall to serve as bi-vocational pastor of TBC, he also makes the cafe circuit in town.
“My wife says I’m not bar-hopping, I’m cafe-hopping. We got four establishments here in our community where I go to two or three of them every day and get me some coffee and sit and visit,” he said.
Recently, there was a couple in town from New York for a music festival , and he took them on the “50-cent tour.” He does it because he enjoys getting out and doing things for folks. “I’ll keep doing that.”
His dedication to service is unparalleled. Before retiring, he taught third grade at Lincolnton Elementary School for 39 years, was Lincoln County Coroner for 39 years, and for 53 years, he worked as an embalmer. Also, when longtime Lincoln County Sheriff Bruce Beggs died in July 2017, he was elected Sheriff. He retired from law enforcement in 2024.
In 50 years, there have been many lessons, but he says the most important lesson is to be reliant on God. “I’ve relied on the spirit of God to lead me. I’ve relied on the spirit of those people to help guide us. It’s just been a mutual effort. And, there’s no sticking a feather in Paul’s cap, the spiritual leader, yes, but that’s it. I try to equip them so they know what they need to do and how they need to do it, and how we, as an entire church, need to do it. If it’s in the book between Genesis and Revelation, I believe it and I preach it. And, if it’s not in the book, then I preach against it. And, they’ve been receptive to every direction we have gone. I’ve learned to be trusting in that arrangement the Lord has created on my behalf.”
One of the best things about his 50 years in ministry is watching the little ones as they were born. “They bring them in. They keep them in the church. I don’t do a nursery thing. I never have found a child I couldn’t preach over. Watching them grow up and become the adults and have their children and just get to be a part of each of those families as well as a part of the overall family. Just being a part of it has been awesome. It’s been beyond words to be a part of the church families and of THE church family.”
The secret to his 53-year ministry is to “look at the book and listen to the man. Don’t worry about anything else. Let the chips fall. Make sure you stay in God’s word and don’t be influenced by anything that will weaken it or question it. And, don’t ever give up on depending on Him to provide guidance and instruction. He said he would never leave us or forsake us. And, he has never left me or forsaken me.”
He grew up attending Lincolnton Baptist Church, and his childhood pastor had lifelong advice for him, which he has carried his entire ministry.
“'Don’t come back to me and ask me nothing. You know where you go.' I thought, ‘What were you saying to me?’ I had to wrestle with that for a while. It finally resonated what he was saying. I thought he was trying to be a little bit hypocritical because we always cut up with each other. But, he said don’t come back to me. You know who to follow. You know where to go. Ask THE MAN.”
