GA 2021 NETWORKING LUNCHES

BUILDING YOUR RETIREMENT SAVINGS

AND USING YOUR MINISTERIAL HOUSING ALLOWANCE

Organization: EPC Benefit Resources, Inc.
Host: Bart Francescone
Location: E2114—Junior High Room (Campus Map, Section E)

Join BRI’s Executive Director for an informational session about the EPC’s 403(b)(9) Retirement Plan, and the investment counseling and retirement planning resources available to help you build your retirement savings and guard against losses. Information on the Ministerial Housing Allowance and how to use the tax-free benefit will also be presented. BRI staff will be available to field any benefit-related questions.

CHURCH PLANTING UPDATE

Organization: EPC Church Planting Team and the Aspen Grove Church Planting Network
Host: Rom Ricks, Shane Sunn
Location: C310 (Campus Map, Section C)

Join us for an update on EPC church planting efforts, as well as a discussion of the importance of assessment in church planting, creating regional church planting networks, and the benefits of networking with other church planters.

Tom Ricks leads the EPC Church Planting Team. Shane Sunn is Director of the Aspen Grove Church Planting Network, a ministry of the Presbytery of the West.

MEET THE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF WORLD OUTREACH

Organization: EPC World Outreach
Host: World Outreach Staff
Location: E2111—Youth Lounge (Campus Map, Section E)

Come and meet Gabriel de Guia, the new Executive Director of World Outreach, and learn more about the ministries of World Outreach.

USING THE PANDEMIC TO REFOCUS YOUR MISSION

Organization: Vanderbloemen
Host: Jay Mitchell
Location: E2139—College Room (Campus Map, Section E)

Join us as Jay Mitchell, Senior Executive Search Consultant for Vanderbloemen leads a wide-ranging discussion of leadership in the church during a pandemic, including everything from your staff to your mission statement. This time to slow down won’t last forever—use it to your advantage.

WHAT DOES A HEALTHY PRESBYTERY LOOK LIKE?

Organization: Presbytery of the Alleghenies
Host: Bob Stauffer
Location: C100 (Campus Map, Section C)

This lunch is designed to look at the characteristics and dynamics of a healthy presbytery in the EPC. We will share what we believe are some critical components that can help a presbytery become a Great Commission presbytery. We will discuss the unique aspects of our various presbyteries, and how other presbyteries can utilize best practices to enhance the ministries of their presbyteries as they seek to equip their member churches in facing the Kingdom challenges that lie ahead.

Bob Stauffer is the Regional Church Development Coordinator for the Presbytery of the Alleghenies.

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2021 COMMISSIONED WORLD OUTREACH GLOBAL WORKERS

Organization: EPC World Outreach
Host: World Outreach Staff
Location: E2111—Youth Lounge (Campus Map, Section E)

Come meet and celebrate with this year’s group of EPC World Outreach global workers, each of whom will be commissioned during the Thursday evening worship service. Our new global workers will discuss the ministry God has called them to, and share their heart for His Kingdom.

HOW A LIFE TEAM CAN EQUIP YOUR CHURCH

TO CHAMPION LIFE AT EVERY STAGE

Organization: Presbyterians Protecting Life
Host: Deborah Hollifield
Location: E2114—Junior High Room (Campus Map, Section E)

Is your church known as a place where women can find emotional support and tangible resources to help navigate a challenging pregnancy? Is there a plan to help families heal after a pregnancy loss? Do you feel unprepared to help? Do you understand God’s view of life at every stage on the developmental spectrum—from fertilization to natural death? Join us as we discuss ways a Life Team can become a conduit to equip church members with the information and resources they need to speak confidently into all life-related issues with friends and family, as well as create a life-affirming atmosphere that gives permission for church leadership, staff, and members to explore and implement ministry in this arena with freedom and sensitivity.

Deborah Hollifield is Executive Director of Presbyterians Protecting Life, based in Glenshaw, Pennsylvania.

LEADING WITH HEART IN A COVID-19 WORLD

Organization: Tin Man Ministries
Host: Brandon Addison
Location: C310 (Campus Map, Section C)

Leading others and pastoring congregations in 2021 demands an integrative approach that addresses the whole person. Now more than ever, people live life isolated, alone, and quarantined—trapped in the prison of their intellect, morality, and self-will. Despite being hard-wired for intimate relationships, our fear and shame keep us detached from our hearts and hiding from God, ourselves, and others. This is not fully living. Rather it’s barely surviving. Congregations, pastors, and church planters are all affected by this reality, especially on the edge of a post COVID-19 world.

How do we lead ourselves well and bring all of who we are to the table? How do we create space for lasting change without burning out? How do we lead with heart with so many new challenges and complexities?

Join Brandon Addison and Licensed Professional Counselors from the Memphis-based Kardia Collective who together form Tin Man Ministries, a coaching, consulting, and counseling organization rooted in the Scriptures, informed by the Spiritual Root System, and grounded in a deep understanding of the pressures, conflict, and moral issues faced by leaders in today’s fast-paced work environment.

Brandon Addison serves as Lead Pastor of The Neighborhood Church in Littleton, Colorado. He is the Denver City Network Leader for the Made to Flourish network.

SMALLER CHURCH NETWORK GATHERING

Organization: EPC Smaller Church Network
Hosts: Roy Yanke
Location: C100 (Campus Map, Section C)

Oswald Chambers said, “Beware of hearkening back to what you once were when God wants you to be something you’ve never been before.” In that spirit, join leaders of smaller churches for a time of encouragement and learning. We will talk and pray with each other about what God has been doing during the past year. How are we doing guarding our own souls? What things has God been “shaking up?” Has the pandemic been a ministry interruption or a disruption? What does the ordinary work of post-pandemic ministry look like? What new things is God calling us to be and do? What does it mean to be part of God’s mission in our communities in 2021 and beyond?

Roy Yanke is Executive Director of Pastor-in-Residence (PIR) Ministries in Farmington Hills, Michigan, an endorsed pastoral care resource of the EPC Ministerial Vocation Committee. He also serves as Interim Pastor of Grace Chapel EPC in Farmington Hills.

THE ANTIOCH ROOM

Organization: The Antioch Room
Hosts: Marcos Ortega, Rufus Smith
Location: E2139—College Room (Campus Map, Section E)

This lunch is designed to center the voices and experiences of people of color in the EPC. A presentation will be made and attendees will be able to meet other people of color within the denomination for support, care, and community. But we are not just for people of color—all TEs, REs, and guests are welcome to attend.

Marcos Ortega serves as Pastor of Congregational Life and Outreach at Goodwill Church in Montgomery, New York. Rufus Smith serves as Senior Pastor of Hope Church in Memphis, Tennessee.

THINGS WE DON’T TALK ABOUT IN CHURCH LEADERSHIP

Organization: HopeWell Counseling and Equipping Ministries
Host: Cron Gibson
Location: Chapel (Campus Map, Section C)

More than ever, church leaders are carrying tremendous emotional and relational pressure that can lead to an often-silent epidemic of depression, anxiety, and isolation. Our time together will focus on gospel-grounded, research-informed means to bring hope to the hurting for you and your church.

Cron Gibson is an EPC Teaching Elder who has planted three church with his wife, Elizabeth. He currently leads HopeWell Counseling and Equipping Ministries in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with more than 20,000 hours of professional experience. Elizabeth currently serves the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic as Interim Director of the presbytery’s Church Planting Network. Together they provide support resources to church-planter couples in the EPC under the authority of the national Church Planting Team.

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CAMPUS MINISTRY, THE CHURCH, AND NEXT GENERATION LEADERS

Organization: Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO)
Host: Jen Burkholder
Location: C100 (Campus Map, Section C)

At the core of CCO ministry is the understanding that God works through the Church to fulfill His purposes in the world. We want students to embrace this understanding as well. Join us and learn how:

1. CCO partners with congregations near the campuses they serve,
2. Every CCO staff member is a worshipping member of a local church;
3. CCO mobilizies the church to reach the campus and the students to engage in the life of the church.

Let’s explore together how we can disciple college students to become lifelong disciples in the church because they are involved in local congregations as college students. After all, when they graduate they become the next generation of leaders in the church and the world!

Jen Burkholder serves as Interim Director of Partnerships for CCO. She also is Chairman of the EPC’s Next Generation Ministries Council.

CREATING A CULTURE OF GENEROSITY

Organization: EPC Generosity Resources
Host: Greg Gibbs, Bob Welsh
Location: Chapel (Campus Map, Section C)

Greg Gibbs, noted author and national known church leader, will lead a discussion about how to create a culture of generosity in the church. He will explore the difference between making budget and making disciples, and will offer practical solutions. He also will unveil a new tool for churches that will revolutionize the approach to generosity in 2021 and beyond. He will show us the “owner’s manual” that will help you tune up the engine of generous living in your church. Those who register will be entered to win a copy of Greg’s new book, Creating a Culture of Generosity.

Greg Gibbs is Senior Lead Navigator for Auxano, a church consulting group. Bob Welsh is Field Representative for EPC Generosity Resources.

FEMALE TEACHING ELDERS (AND CANDIDATES)

Organization: Presbytery of the Alleghenies
Host: Carolyn Poteet
Location: E2139—College Room (Campus Map, Section E)

All female Teaching Elders (and female candidates for TE ordination) are invited to join us for an opportunity to connect, encourage, and pray for one another. Please note that this lunch is specifically designed and reserved for female Teaching Elders (and ordination candidates).

Carolyn Poteet serves as Lead Pastor of Mt. Lebanon Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

MINISTRY IN THE “SLOW” LANE:

WHAT THE PANDEMIC IS TEACHING US

ABOUT ORDINARY MINISTRY LIFE

Organization: Pastor-in-Residence (PIR) Ministries
Host: Roy Yanke
Location: C310 (Campus Map, Section C)

How we view the last year is of paramount importance in shaping our ministry life going forward. Was this an interruption, and all we want to do is get back to normal? Or was it God’s disruption that will alter our whole trajectory and reshape our sense of what might be?

Join other ministry leaders in wrestling with how we can recapture the value of an “ordinary” approach to serving Jesus in the church. We will explore our sphere of influence and how it contrasts with our sphere of many concerns, and discuss some ideas we have discovered that allow us to keep our focus on the main thing and minister in the slow—but intentional—lane.

Roy Yanke is Executive Director of Pastor-in-Residence (PIR) Ministries in Farmington Hills, Michigan, an endorsed pastoral care resource of the EPC Ministerial Vocation Committee. He also serves as Interim Pastor of Grace Chapel EPC in Farmington Hills.

UNDERSTANDING THE TRANSGENDER EXPERIENCE

WITH COMPASSION AND TRUTH

Organization: OnebyOne / Where Grace Abounds
Host: Scott Kingry
Location: E2111—Youth Lounge (Campus Map, Section E)

What does it mean when a person experiences incongruence with their biological sex and gender identity? What is gender dysphoria? Who is under the Trans umbrella? What pronouns should I use with a person identifying as trans? What about gender roles and stereotypes? What about intersex people? What does the Bible say about gender and biological sex? How should the church respond to this issue? Beyond the barrage of questions and opinions about the transgender experience in our current culture lies people and families in need of love and pastoral care. Join us as we explore some of these questions. We also will provide resources for those wanting to love well from a grace and truth perspective.

Scott Kingry serves as Program Director for Where Grace Abounds, a Colorado-based ministry designed to guide and support men and women who seek to understand sexuality and relationship, and to inspire all people to know and personally appropriate God’s plan for their sexuality and relationships.

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