Sam Allberry | You’re Not Crazy: Gospel Sanity for Weary Churches
Junior Ballroom B

We live in an anxious and divided world. This may be the most pressurized time our churches have ever faced. And yet, the Bible shows us our churches should be places of relational beauty. Sam will discuss how the precious gospel doctrine we believe can create a compelling gospel culture in our church communities.

Adam Flynt | Exploring a Call to Church Planting 
Room 8

Are you considering church planting? Do you know someone who has the potential to plant a church one day? This is the session for you! This workshop is for those considering planting, church planters in the early stages, and pastors looking for a pipeline and resources to recruit, train, assess, and coach future church planters. Adam will look at the biblical qualities and qualifications of a church planter and offer the clear next steps you can take from discerning a call to planting a church with Acts 29. There will also be a Q&A with a panel of Acts 29 planters and staff. 

Mike Handler, Awana | Forming Faith: Raising Disciples for a Post-Christian Era
Junior Ballroom A

The statistics of young people having a lasting faith do not tell a great story. In most churches, we consider the time when young people leave our youth groups and head to university or the workforce to be a time of launching into the unknown, and we pray their faith will stand the gauntlet of the “real world.” But is the deadline for discipleship age 18, or have we done too little too late to form our kids with lasting faith in Jesus Christ? Discover what the Bible and the latest research tell us about raising resilient disciples in an exceedingly post-Christian reality.

Rodney Hobbs, Jimmy Needham, Kelly Needham, & Lindsay Schott | Training Women is Complementarian
Junior Ballroom D

Healthy complementarian convictions should help women thrive. The story of Stonegate Church demonstrates that truth. When we began equipping women to teach, we developed a healthy partnership between men and women. And that partnership blessed the whole church. Join us as we share how we began intentionally equipping women, the key roles elders play in the vibrancy of women’s discipleship, and how this can help your church flourish.

Ryan Kearns | Key Systems and Leadership Lessons for Executive Pastors
Room 6

Tim Lukei, Maverick River Collective | How to Build a Vibrant Multi-Generational Men’s Ministry
Room 1

Build the man, build the church, build the family, change the world. Come learn how to build a vibrant, multi-generational, transformative men’s ministry for your church to thrive and grow!

Grace Maultsby | Administrative Assistants: The Position and Potential
Room 3

Administrative assistants are behind-the-scenes servants with a wide range of responsibilities and gifts. They have a unique calling to help pastors, churches, and ministries thrive. In this workshop, come be encouraged to understand how administrative assistants lead and grow the kingdom of God. We’ll also share practical tips for success that will enable us to be the “super admins” God designed us to be.

Resonate Elders | Building a Healthy Elder Culture  
Junior Ballroom C

Acts 29 holds to the biblical model of a plurality of elders, but how do we build and sustain such a model in our churches? Resonate is a church in the Bay Area of California led by lead pastor Ryan Kwon. Over the past 15 years, Resonate has demonstrated what it means to be led by a healthy plurality of elders. Join the entire eldership as we talk about our eldership: how we develop elders, how we act, how we sustain a healthy culture as we lead together, and answer your questions.

Keely Rule, Guardian Financial Group | 3 Financial Opportunities for Ministers
Room 5

In this workshop, Keely will discuss financial opportunities for pastors and churches. ​​Explore how pastors can minimize taxes and increase savings through proper use of housing allowance, investing in a 403(b)(9) church retirement plan, and maximizing Social Security benefits.

Colleen Searcy | Facing the Fears of Leading: A Study of Matthew 14
Room 7

It is intimidating to begin leading and teaching. Anchored in a study of Matthew 14:13–33, this workshop will address common fears like comparison, not knowing the answer to every question, and the fear of lack (I haven’t been to seminary!). Join Colleen, an experienced and trusted Bible teacher, to explore ways to face and fight the fears of leading. 

Heather Thompson | Spiritual Moms & Dads and the Future of Church Planting
Room 4

How do 30- and 40-year-olds accept the call to become the spiritual fathers and mothers of our churches? What if Gen Z was discipled not by “countless guides in Christ” but by the spiritual fathers and mothers within our churches? In this workshop, Heather will offer practical tools to create cultures where spiritual parents embrace their calling to work alongside staff and leaders in their 20s for the sake of the next generation of church planters.

Roberto Bruno | Creative Arts: How to Establish a Culture of Songwriting in Your Church
Room 3

Learn the purpose, process, and potential of what songwriting can do for your church. Roberto will discuss how songwriting is biblical and dream about what God can do in and through songwriting for your church and your cities.

Taylor Burgess | Thriving in the First 3 Years of Church Planting
Room 1

The first three years of church planting can be make-or-break for both the planter and the church. Without the right foundation in place, even the most highly gifted, well-trained, fully-funded church planters can find their lives, their homes, and their ministries in disarray by year three. In this workshop, Taylor will cover ten critical keys for not only surviving but thriving during the first three years of church planting. The first half of the session will introduce the ten keys, and the second half will be an open Q&A with a panel of experienced church planters.

Josh Hibbard & David Pinckney | Church Revitalization in Old and New Contexts
Room 5

Thousands of churches face the difficult decision of permanently closing their doors each year. While some of these churches have experienced decline over decades, others have been forced to consider closing despite being relatively new church plants. Is there a way to prevent this trend? Join Josh and David in this workshop as they discuss the necessity of church revitalization and share lessons learned from revitalizing a 200-year-old and 10-year-old church.

Amy Hobson | Strengthening Your Leadership Through Self-Awareness 
Junior Ballroom B

As Christian leaders, we’re not after self-actualization as the world espouses, yet we long to grow in self-awareness and maturity to reflect Christ and lead others well. Our presence is one of our greatest ministry tools, but we often neglect to examine how we impact and hinder our ministry. This workshop will focus on self-awareness as a leadership tool: recognizing blind spots and embracing growth opportunities rather than resisting them. Amy will discuss what makes a healthy leader and how to steward our gifts to advance the kingdom of God.

Brian Howard | How to Lead and Build Effective Ministry Teams
Junior Ballroom A

If you want to accomplish anything lasting, you must build a team. Your team may be volunteers, elders, paid ministry staff, or an executive team. No matter who you lead, come to this workshop to learn how to build and lead a team to excellence. Brian will walk you through how to add the right people and progress through the four stages of moving from a group to a high-performing team.

Kelly Needham & Lindsay Schott | Raising Up Women Teachers in Your Church
Room 8

What if you never had to outsource a speaker again? What if your women could learn from someone they know in person, not a teacher on a screen? There are female Bible teachers in your church—you just have to train them. In 2018, Kelly and Lindsay created a teacher training program called Teach Equip to bring women’s discipleship back to the local church. They believe the most transformational discipleship happens when Bible teaching comes from someone you know in real life. This workshop is designed to help you determine how to begin equipping women teachers in your church—giving you both the big vision and the practical how-tos.

Edward Paz, Jim Applegate, & Grace Maultsby | When the Church & the LGBT+ Community Collide
Junior Ballroom C

In this workshop, Edward, Jim, and Grace will share their experiences leading a church in one of the most religiously hostile and LGBTQ+-friendly places in the world. In addition to their experiences, they will give practical insights on how church leaders can bring the full measure of Jesus Christ’s grace and truth to the LGBTQ+ community. The main false narrative that they will attempt to unpack is that to be non-affirming is to be non-loving. They will explore questions like, “How are your beliefs on your position on LGBTQ+ issues communicated?” “What about church membership?” “How do LGBTQ+ members serve in the church? How do you serve the parents of children who identify with the LGBTQ+ community?”There will also be an extended Q&A session in this workshop so that your specific questions can be asked and prayerfully answered!

Colleen Searcy | How to Supercharge Small Group Discussion 
Room 6

In this workshop, you’ll learn and practice solutions for common discussion challenges. How do you avoid the dreaded rabbit trail of conversation or engage the shy participant? Colleen will discuss practical ways to move the discussion forward without offending and offer the “secret” to initiating robust discussion!

Jason Shepperd | A Practical Tool for Evangelism: Good. God. Gospel.
Junior Ballroom D

How can we practically encourage everyone in our church to be an evangelist in their circles of influence? We can start by equipping them with simple tools to help start conversations. Good.God.Gospel. is an approach that everyone in your church can use everywhere, every day. Come to this workshop to see how to use this tool to equip your people for comprehensive gospel conversations. Goodgodgospel.com

Scott Taylor | Fear, Faith, and Following: Gospel Implications for Discipleship
Room 7

How fear and coming to the end of our abilities is the necessary forge God uses to make disciples. An evaluation of our vision of disciple-making that includes calling God’s people to be “Jesus needing” followers.

Scott Zeller | Planting Churches Worldwide: Reports From Around the Globe
Room 4

Did you know there are Acts 29 churches in 47 countries around the world worshiping in 31 different languages? In this workshop, we’ll hear reports from Acts 29 Regional Directors in Canada, Latin America, Brazil, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia Pacific. There is wonderful encouragement that comes from hearing all of what the Lord is doing around the world and tremendous opportunity for you and your churches to be involved in international church-to-church partnerships.