Ralph Clayton was born in Troy, North Carolina to the late Ralph and Argie Clayton. He attended First Wesleyan Church where he received a call to the ministry at the age of 18. He attended Southern Pilgrim College, then transferred to Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana, where he received a B. A. in Religion.

Pastor Clayton began his ministry while in college, serving the Christian Church for one year and Bethel Friends Church in Marion for two years. He pastored the Salem Wesleyan Church in Salem, Virginia for two years, and then moved to Reidsville, North Carolina in 1967 where he has served as senior pastor of Covington Wesleyan Church for the past 41 years.

While pastoring in Reidsville, Pastor Ralph also worked for the Rockingham County Schools for 29 years as teacher and principal. He attended UNC-G and received his M.Ed. (Master of Education) in Administration.

Covington Wesleyan Church has grown over these past 41 years from approximately 20 to 450 in average worship attendance. It has undergone three building programs during Pastor Clayton’s tenure. The new church was completed in 1973. A fellowship hall was added about 7 years later and in 1995 a new addition was added to the sanctuary for a seating capacity of 700 people.

Reverend Clayton is married to the former Faye Richardson, daughter of the late Martin and Alma Richardson of Salisbury, North Carolina. She is a retired teacher from the Rockingham County School System, leaving that position in 1999. She occasionally teaches at Rockingham Community College in Reidsville and John Wesley College in High Point, NC.

A son, Ralph Lee Clayton III, is a graduate of Appalachian State University at Boone NC. He is married to the former Melissa Norris of Alexis NC and they have two sons – Nicholas born March 11, 1992, and Dylan, born February 14, 1995. They also have a daughter, Christina, born February 2, 1999. Ralph Lee serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and is presently stationed in Iraq.

The Clayton’s daughter, Melodie Joy, is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University. She served for a year as a missionary to China. On June 27, 1992, she married Elliott Miller of Indiana. They lived in Macon, Georgia where they both taught at Hephzibah Children’s Home until May, 1997. Currently they are in China where Elliott serves as principal at the International School and Melodie teaches. They have two daughters – Isabella, born November 7, 1998 and Eliza Joy, born September 22, 2001. Elliott, Melodie and the girls will be returning to the states in the summer of 2008.