Keynote Speakers
Conference Theme
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
Acts 9:31 ESV
Following Jesus' resurrection, the apostles faced uncertain times, but they persevered. People were saved by the thousands and this happened more and more frequently. In the midst of persecution, the Gospel spread and the Church thrived. Today, though our situations might seem different, sin and depravity still exist. We have the Holy Spirit and we have each other. We are the Church. Rejoice with us this week while our churches and the kingdom get built.
Breakouts
We are excited to have some incredible breakout topics and leaders this year. Check out a sampling of what you will be able to choose from...
Protecting You and the Church While Sending Teams
As much as we try to prepare teams, spiritual warfare exists around each mission team getting sent out. How are you preparing your short-term missionaries and proactively protecting yourself and your church from a charge or accusation of negligence of duty of care? This session will inform you about this legal charge, what it means, and how you can protect your church and ministry.
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Bill Pope, MissionSafe. As a senior pastor of three SBC churches for 23 years, Bill focused on missions to fulfill the Great Commission and disciple people. As the Lord called him out of the pulpit ministry due to health issues, He lovingly opened the door for Bill to continue to minister in the area of his passion – missions. In 2005, Bill started MissionSafe, and the mission statement has been: “To care for the bride of Christ and the children of God as they go on mission.” Bill met the love of his life at a BSU college retreat where he was the mission's speaker after having spent a year in Honduras with SBC missionaries. Bill and Mary have been married for 42 years and enjoy their three adult children. Together they love spending time with the two grandkids who live nearby. As members of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, they are active in going on annual mission trips sharing the gospel with college students in Albania.
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Navigating missions’ partnerships well by knowing when and how to say yes or no. We’ll talk about practical steps to creating boundaries and clarifying expectations for effective partnerships.
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John Roach, Green Acres Baptist Church. John has been married to Emily for 20 years and they have four teenage children ranging from 14-19. John has a doctorate in church planting and serves as the missions pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, TX.
Senior Mission Leaders
Roundtable discussion moderated by Rob Brewer.
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Rob Brewer, Second Baptist Church, Springfield, Missouri.
Innovative Steps
This session is all about creative ways to involve everyone in the sending process, not just the person being sent.
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Jeff Gautney is a former journeyman and career IMB missionary that served in both Paraguay and Colombia. He currently holds the position of Missions and Family Pastor at Gateway Baptist Church in Atoka, TN.
Mission Leader Wives
A breakout for wives of mission pastors hosted by Jennifer Ward.
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Jennifer Ward, Grand Avenue Baptist Church, Fort Smith, AR.
What is the 'Win' in Compassion Ministry?
In this session we will discuss the keys to leading a Gospel-centered compassion ministry that facilitates the transformation of individuals, communities, and churches.
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Steve Wise - First Baptist Spartanburg. Steve is Minister of Missions at First Baptist Spartanburg, where he has served for 22 years. Prior to his service in Spartanburg he worked for World Changers at the North American Mission Board.
Closing the Gap: Increasing the Evangelistic Fervor in the Church
What if we could help our people think of ways to share Jesus sooner than later within their relationships? What if there was a discipleship piece that could facilitate closing the gap of meeting someone to letting them know we are someone safe to have spiritual conversations with? Attend Closing the Gap and discover ideas that could rejuvenate the evangelistic fervor of those within your church.
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Brian Jones, FAMM. Brian has been in the ministry for 30 years, 24 years in the local church and 6 years in the global missions space with FAMM. He has served on great church staffs such as Henderson Hills Baptist Church, Champion Forest Baptist Church and Second Baptist Church - Houston. Much of what he focused on within these church staff roles was evangelism, which is what his heart beats for most as a pastor/ minister of the gospel.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Reaching the Nations Without Leaving Your Community
One in five Americans speak a language in their homes other than English. However, the majority of our churches see cross-cultural ministry as something reserved for our missionaries.
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Stu Cocanaugher, Southcliff Church. Stu has been serving in Southern Baptist Churches for over 30 years. He has a Doctorate of Leadership in Global Perspectives from George Fox University and is the Share Strategy Pastor at Southcliff Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, Texas. Stu has served in churches in Washington DC, Philippines and England. Stu also serves with George Fox University as an Academic Advisor to D.Min. students and is currently co-teaching a Diaspora Missiology class at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Jana, a library administrator, and has two adult children.
Serving with Significance: Empowering Mission Staff for Lasting Impact
Join our roundtable discussion designed exclusively for mission support staff as we delve into the dynamic world of missions ministry, covering key topics such as navigating the delicate balance between physical and spiritual needs, defining your goals and measuring success, fostering partnerships within the community, communication with the church, volunteer training and management, and addressing the challenges of compassion ministry fatigue.
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Kimberly Reed, Burnt Hickory Baptist. Kimberly has served as the Missions Associate at Burnt Hickory Baptist for 5 years. She has a passion to see church members serving locally and loves to see someone experience their first mission trip! Kimberly has been married to her husband Matt for 20 years and they have 3 kids. They can usually be found cheering on their kids in sports or hanging out with nearly/newlywed couples in the LifeGroup that they lead.
What do Church Planters Want You to Know?
We’ve polled some church planters and asked them, “What would you tell a room of missions pastors and ministry workers?” Here’s what they said and what you can do about it!
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Tony Merida, North American Mission Board. Tony is the founding pastor of Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, N.C, and is the Vice President for Planter Development for Send Network. He also serves as a board member for The Gospel Coalition. Tony has written several books including, The Christ-Centered Expositor, Love Your Church, and multiple volumes in the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series. He’s happily married to Kimberly, and they have five children.
Could this be the generation to fulfill the Great Commission?
Join us as we discover the pipeline strategies to develop missionaries from Grade school to College.
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Charlie Swain, South Carolina Baptist Convention. Charlie (M.Div, SBTS) is the Next Generation Mobilization Strategist for the South Carolina Baptist Convention. He leads the Palmetto Collective; an innovative statewide discipleship program for college students clarifying their missional calling. Charlie was the lead planter of the Church at Cane Bay near Charleston, SC. After 10 years as Pastor, he and his family served with the IMB in North Africa. He’s married to Adrian for 20 years and they live in Rock Hill, SC with their four children.
Building Practical Travel Solutions for Your Mission Teams
This session will focus on the necessary building blocks for every mission team. We will discuss key insights and tips on the travel industry, how to prepare your team for traveling overseas and have the group share best practices for short-term mission trips. Additionally, we will cover how working with STG Travel will allow you to focus on your team and leave the work of travel to us.
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Renee Singh - STG Travel. Renee is the owner of STG Travel and has been working with churches, mission organizations and Christian universities for over 20 years. STG Travel stands for Spreading the Gospel Travel and your mission is at the heart of why we do what we do. We serve Jesus by serving you.
Bigger Than Us
Even the biggest churches can’t do everything alone. Develop keys to building the kingdom through Cooperative partnerships, investing in networks of smaller local churches to maximize your impact for the kingdom.
Al Phillips - Director of Missions, Greenville, SC. Al has 45 years of ministry experience building kingdom partnerships as lead pastor, mega church executive pastor, and Director of Missions for the largest SBC association in SC.
Universal Language of Sport
We all have a “sport” that God has given us to give us access to a people group. It could be athletics, it could be music, academics, social media, art, etc. But, the bottom line is we all have a tool to use.
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John Andrews, Impact Sports. After playing college basketball, John taught in public high schools and coached multiple sports teams for almost a decade. On his first overseas mission trip twenty-five years ago, while he was teaching and coaching, John encountered people face to face, who had never had a chance to hear the Gospel before. God burdened him for the nations with some barrier to ministry. John has over 20 years of international coaching/sports development experience. He has led over 65 sports mission projects to more than 18 different countries, using ten different sports. John's passion is to see people come to know Christ, both locally and around the world, and to see Christians boldly step out on faith to follow Jesus in the adventure He has for their lives.
Workplace Missions
Evangelism Everyday
Is there anything more important than sharing Jesus with others? Each one of us are surrounded by people that need Jesus Christ, and they are desperately waiting for you to bring the gospel to them. Pastor Kirk follows the model of personal, relational evangelism to introduce people to Jesus in his everyday life. Come and be encouraged by the simplicity of sharing the gospel and learn his practical tools for initiating gospel conversations in any situation.
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Kirk Luecke, FBC Forney. Kirk joined the staff at First Baptist Church Forney on February 9th, 1992. He previously served at San Jacinto Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas for four years and Bolton Street Baptist Church in Amarillo for one year. Kirk received his Bachelor of Science degree from Liberty University in 1995. He and his wife, Cathy, were married in 1988 and have four sons. Kirk served as Minister to Students for 19 years prior to becoming Young Adults and Missions Pastor, then moving into a focus on evangelism.
Mobilizing your congregation to be on mission right where they work with no suitcases required.
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Keith Davis, Missions Pastor, First Baptist Church Owasso, Oklahoma. Keith has been in his position for 11 years. Prior to that, Keith was a Student Minister in Oklahoma for 25 years. He's been married to Amy for 28 years and has 3 kids in college. Keith enjoys traveling, outdoors, fishing and the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Building the Kingdom Through Technology
Scripture for everyone; regardless of location, education, persecution, and income. Faith Comes By Hearing is making God’s Word freely available with cutting-edge technology. We are seeing the greatest movement of the Bible in history, and we will explore ways to equip you, your church, and workers with digital, audio, and video Bibles.
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Scott Nutter, Faith Comes by Hearing. Scott was called to serve full time with the ministry in February, 2009. Scott travels and works with churches and mission organizations across the USA and around the world, sharing the ministries goal to “End Bible Poverty” by the year 2033. Developing cutting-edge technology reaching and disciplining the world’s poor and illiterate with the Word of God with audio and video Bibles. FCBH has over 1,900 Bible recordings and 1,350 Gospel Films spoken by 6.5 billion people.
Creating A Sending Culture
As churches on mission together, we should judge our success not by our seating capacity, but by our sending capacity! Everyone in your church is called to take part in the mission of God. Join us as we discuss how to create a DNA of sending in our churches to be on mission together to the ends of the earth!
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Todd Unzicker, Executive Director/Treasurer, North Carolina Baptist State Convention. With a passion for the local church and the Great Commission, Todd’s vision for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina is focused on rallying North Carolina Baptists to be a movement of churches on mission together. Todd was elected executive director-treasurer of NC Baptists on May 22, 2021. Immediately prior to leading the work of the state convention, Unzicker served on staff at The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham from 2012 to 2021 overseeing missions and sending. He has also served as a director of missions in Florida and as a missionary in Central America.
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