From a Teenager on Her Knees to Building Ministries That Transform Women: The Story of Pat Barton

The Moment Everything Changed

She was a teenager who had grown up without church, lying awake in the dark with a single sentence looping through her mind: If you've never made that decision, you may want to go back and be sure. A revival preacher had said it hours earlier, and it would not let her rest.

Finally, Pat Barton got up, knelt beside her bed, and prayed the most honest prayer she had ever spoken. "Lord, I don't know if I'm saved or not. But if I'm not, I want to be. I need to be. So I surrender that now." She climbed back into bed, and what followed was a warmth that moved from her toes to the top of her head — and a certainty she has never once questioned since.

That moment of surrender at fourteen or fifteen years old became the foundation for everything that followed: a twenty-five-year career in university financial aid, a nine-year tenure as a director leading a team of fourteen, and now her role as Director of Operations and Curriculum at Savor Ministries — a calling she describes not as a career move, but as a divine appointment she simply couldn't refuse.

How a Ministry Was Born in a Mentorship Meeting

Savor Ministries was founded by Staci McLain, a woman with nearly twenty years of women's ministry experience, a theology degree, a gift for teaching, and a husband who happens to be an exceptional chef. The name comes directly from Psalm 34:8 — "Taste and see that the Lord is good" — and the ministry's heartbeat is helping women experience that goodness for themselves through authentic community, biblical literacy, and structured discipleship.

Pat's path to Savor began with a single lightbulb moment. During a mentorship meeting at Staci's home around 2021, someone in the group mentioned that a structured daily curriculum — similar to what they had used in church-wide small groups — would make the mentorship experience richer. The idea landed on Pat with immediate clarity.

"I looked over at Staci, and she looked at me, and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. All I said was, 'I can help you with that.' And we both knew from that point forward what we had to do."

When it came time to build the curriculum, Staci reached out to Elizabeth Kilminster, a researcher with deep knowledge of Scripture and a background in Greek and Hebrew. Elizabeth was in graduate school, stretched thin, and said no. But she called back within minutes — not days, minutes — and told Staci the Lord simply would not let her say no. Pat smiles at the memory: "God was definitely forming the future Savor Ministry team right there."

Today, Savor Ministries operates as a nonprofit, producing a weekly podcast complete with a "Savor Moment" recipe segment, and creating curriculum resources for women and local churches. Pat handles the operations and technical side — the behind-the-scenes infrastructure that keeps the mission moving — in a role that is, notably, unpaid.

"It's also one of the most rewarding things I've ever done," she says without hesitation.

Leading Without a Roadmap

Pat's professional story is one that many leaders will recognize: being called to something before you feel remotely qualified. When she was appointed director of a financial aid office at a Georgia public university — a position she would hold for nine years — she had never directly supervised a single person. She was about to lead a team of fourteen.

Her response was equal parts faith and diligence. She told God she would rely on Him completely, and then she read every John Maxwell leadership book she could find. Those books were still on her office shelf the day she packed up and retired.

"It was like, Lord, I have no clue. But I'm just doing whatever you tell me, every day."

What set Pat apart wasn't a performance of confidence she didn't have. It was a willingness to be transparent about the process. She would tell her staff openly, "I don't know what to do in this situation, so I need to pray about it — and then I'll let you know." She said the same to colleagues and supervisors. Not as a religious disclaimer, but as a genuine statement of how she operated.

"When you have a real relationship with Christ, you can't really separate who you are from what you do," she reflects. "It just bleeds over."

Practical Faith: Praying Through Ham and Cheese Sliders

If you ask Pat how she lives out her faith daily, she'll give you an answer that is both deeply spiritual and refreshingly ordinary. She starts every morning with God — sometimes ten minutes with the Dwell Bible app and a short prayer, sometimes two hours in deep study. But the commitment is the same regardless of how much time she has: the first moments of the day belong to God.

From there, it gets practical in the most grounded way possible.

"When I begin to try to accomplish something — figuring out how Kajabi works, or starting a YouTube channel I know nothing about, or making ham and cheese sliders for thirty people for the first time — I just say, 'Lord, I don't know how to do this. I need you to show me.' And He does."

That same posture shapes how she stewards her time and resources. Pat and her husband of forty-six years have tithed faithfully throughout their marriage. She hosts one of her local church's mentorship groups in her home every month, feeds the women who come, and consistently treats mentees to lunch or coffee — because she knows how rarely women who pour into everyone else are poured into themselves.

And then there are the grandchildren. When her oldest grandson wasn't attending church during the years following COVID, Pat made him an offer he couldn't refuse: come do a Bible study at my house, and we'll go eat wherever you want. "Bribery works every time," she laughs. But the punchline is not a joke — it's a testimony. "I led my grandson to the Lord sitting at my kitchen table."

For the Leader Who Feels Lost and Alone

Before the career, the ministry, the grandchildren, and the forty-six-year marriage — there was a girl who wasn't sure she wanted to keep going. Pat doesn't dress it up. Her home life wasn't marked by abuse, but it was marked by a heaviness she couldn't name and a hopelessness she couldn't shake.

"I was so unhappy. And I never would have dreamed that my life would be what it is today."

She speaks directly to the leader who is quietly feeling the same way right now — the one managing chaos at work and uncertainty at home, wondering if God is even paying attention.

"I have felt the heat of the flames, but I have never been burned. He has never failed me."

Her advice for Christian business leaders is simple and non-negotiable: keep your relationship with Christ first. Not because everything will suddenly become easy, but because everything that tries to crowd Him out — the packed calendar, the looming meeting, the noise the enemy generates — is exactly what will erode your foundation if you let it.

"When all of those people are gone, He will still be there," she says. "If you are where He has called you to be, and you keep Him first — trust that He is working."

Pat Barton is currently developing a free seven-part Bible study series on the armor of God through Savor Ministries. To learn more about Savor Ministries and its resources for women and local churches, visit their website and podcast. Because as Pat would tell you — there's always more to taste and see.