Conclave encourages church leaders to intentionally disciple next generation to know what’s true

More than 800 children, youth, college ministers and pastors from across Texas and beyond gathered in Bryan, Texas, October 5-6, to attend Conclave NextGen for a time of worship, breakout sessions, training, networking and learning how to invest in and win the next generation for Christ. 

Checking hearts, homes, habits to be healthy ministers

Jonathan Williams, executive director of Gospel Family Ministries, lead pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, affiliate professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and author, opened the conference with a message titled “Before You Lead: A Check-in for Heart, Home and Habits.” 

Drawing from Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy 4:16 and Deuteronomy 4:4-9, Williams emphasized the importance of ministers evaluating the health of their hearts, homes and habits before continuing on in ministry.

He began by helping attendees check their hearts. 

“My prayer is that this week everyone in here would have our hearts renewed so that there would be no burning out,” Williams said. “What if the main reason God brought you to Conclave is to check in on your heart… allowing God to do some work in your heart… and you go back healthy.”

Williams then helped attendees check their homes. 

“Are you filling your heart and your home with gospel? Or is our family still getting our leftovers?” Williams said. “To take care of the house, you have to get rid of things that don’t belong… idols.”

Lastly, Williams helped attendees check their habits. 

“When we cultivate healthy habits… We never outgrow growing. God is not done with you yet. [“train yourself for Godliness, scripture],” Williams said. “If we are just consistent in the rhythms the Lord is calling us to, we will see the results we’ve been praying for.” 

 Williams concluded his session by encouraging attendees that the next generation needs spiritually healthy adults that genuinely love Jesus. 

Creating a culture of belonging, faith development  

Over the two days, attendees had the opportunity to attend 64 unique breakout sessions on topics such as family ministry, evangelism, mental health, empowering volunteers, leadership and more. A specialized “Pastor’s Track” was offered for senior church leaders to learn from and form community with other pastors.

Matt McClure, youth ministry consultant, led a breakout session on the first day titled “They Came… Now What? How to Attract New Students, and Give Them a Reason to Come Back.” He told attendees that their youth ministry needs to be a place where guests feel expected, welcomed and that they belong. 

Referencing scripture in Luke, John and Ephesians, McClure said youth ministers want students to take this journey in their ministry: They found me, they expected me, they remembered me and I found my chair.

“The growth engine of your church could be a youth ministry that you build where teenagers can come [and say], ‘I love this place, and I'm going back this week,’” McClure said.

McClure concluded his breakout session by asking attendees to consider which students their ministry reaches who need to hear the gospel message, and whether they found their chair.

Ryan Jonese, youth minister at Holly Brook Baptist Church in Hawkins, said he was convicted about the amount of effort it takes to create a culture of belonging for students. 

"It's about how much effort you're willing to put into it. We can have all of these strategies and put together a list of things that we need to do, but if we don't actually put in the effort to [create that culture], then [the ministry is] just [students gaining more] knowledge,” Jonese said. 

Jonese, a third-year Conclave attendee, said his favorite part of the conference is the wisdom he gains through the breakout sessions. 

Sarah Johnson, age-level strategist at WMU of Texas, also led a breakout session on the first day titled “Formed for the Journey: Discipleship Across the Developmental Stages of Life.” She discussed the faith development cycle from preschool through adulthood. 

Johnson shared the four stages of the faith development cycle: Foundation, growth, reconstruction and investment. She told attendees that each life stage has development signposts to help us understand what a person needs at that time.

“Faith development begins at birth,” Johnson said. “What we do is not just child care because they're learning. Babies and toddlers are developing trust, and that trust becomes that base layer of foundation for their faith… because when we're showing them love at church and telling them about God, about Jesus, they're beginning to build all these little connections in their brains, and those connections are connecting God with feelings of love and security and trust.” 

Johnson shared the signposts, roadblocks and key influences of each life stage and concluded her breakout session by encouraging attendees that understanding faith development provides us with a road map for discipleship. 

“Every journey needs a map; discipleship is no different. Faith development provides us with the map and compass we need to guide the discipleship journey,” Johnson said. 

Leaving a legacy of faith   

Amy Davison, Air Force veteran and apologist with Mama Bear Apologetics, concluded the first day with a message titled, “Generational Impact: Leaving a Legacy of Faith.” She gave attendees four ways to leave a legacy of faith for the next generation: nurture a loving, Christ-centered home; cultivate healthy emotional regulation; practice intentional discipleship; and teach conversational engagement skills. 

“It only takes one generation to be silent for the next one to raise up to neither know the Lord nor follow him,” Davison said. “If we hyperfocus on self-esteem, what is that going to do to the gospel when all of a sudden, my actions, my misperceptions of reality are now brought into accountability?”

Davison told attendees that truth is a beginning and an end point. She gave attendees an acronym for “truth” that could be used to intentionally disciple students: Theology; Recognize the worldview; Understand God’s design; Test for counterfeits; Handle pushback with truth & grace. 

Davison concluded her session by challenging attendees to equip them with the knowledge of God and a passion to stand firm and reach others. 

“When we are fearful of God, we are fearless before the culture,” Davison said. “The gospel is profound if we are bold enough to speak life.” 

Finding your identity in Christ alone 

Kicking off day two, Christopher Yuan, author of Holy Sexuality and the Gospel and creator of The Holy Sexuality Project, a video series empowering parents and grandparents to confidently disciple their teens on biblical sexuality and gender, shared a message titled, “Sexual Identity, False Identity.” He shared his testimony with attendees. He told attendees that sexuality is not who we are; it’s how we feel, and encouraged them to teach students to hate their sin without hating themselves. 

“Unconditional love is not the same thing as unconditional approval of my behavior… My identity as a child of the living God must be in Jesus Christ alone,” Yuan said. “No unchosen desire is who you are. You’re ministering to people, not their sin.” 

Yuan said we need to raise young men and women to stand firm in their faith when the world bows. 

“The Bible never agrees to disagree on sin,” Yuan said. “Truth matters because Jesus is the way, the truth and the life… [You must] identify with life, not death.” 

Producing disciples who have resilient faith 

Ron Hunter, executive director & CEO of Randall House and D6 Family Ministry, led a “Pastor’s Track” breakout session on Tuesday titled “Stop Counting What Doesn't Count: Rethinking the Scoreboard of Discipleship.” He gave pastors four points to help them rethink their discipleship strategy to produce faithful disciples: Define the win before building the scoreboard; ask, “Are we counting inputs, activities or outcomes?”; Build a better scoreboard around durable faith and recommend takeaways. 

“If we do not define a win, almost any activity will look like success,” Hunter said. “We need to stop allowing what is easiest to count to define what matters the most. If we change the desired outcome for what we hope to achieve, then we need to change the scoreboard that measures it.” 

Hunter gave pastors five faith-forging practices to help their congregations build durable, resilient faith: Bible engagement, faith at home, mentors who matter, sharing one’s faith and volunteering at church. 

Hunter concluded his breakout session by encouraging pastors to understand the “why” behind their measurables for discipleship. 

“We need to measure relationships, not just registrations, and we need to ask better questions in our staff meetings… We’re shooting for individual discipleship,” Hunter said.

The Aggie Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) staff led a Q&A breakout session on the second day titled “Who's on Your Local Campus & How Do You Reach Them?” They discussed resources for cultivating a college ministry, the necessity of discipleship and helping students transition from high school to college.  

Joel Bratcher, Aggie BSM director, encouraged leaders to consider some of their access points for their church to minister to college students. He said besides God’s spirit, people are the best resource for reaching college students. 

“Investing in students that can turn around and invest in others is really strategic,” Bratcher said. “You’re looking for people who are faithful, available and teachable.”

Having serious fun in ministry  

Al Curley, III, GC2 navigator for Area 8 (Dallas) with Texas Baptists, concluded the conference with a message titled “Serious Fun.” Drawing from Proverbs 17:22, Curley challenged attendees to incorporate more joy into their ministries. He said joy is a disarming strategy, a retention strategy and a survival strategy.

“Joy is not a distraction of the ministry; Joy is a strategy of the ministry,” Curley said. “We can use fun to clear the throat so that they can swallow the truth of the gospel… We have the opportunity to adjust the palettes of the generations that are coming now, to adjust the palettes from the bitterness of the world's poisons to the pleasures of Jesus' joy.”

Curley concluded Conclave by encouraging attendees that they cannot pour living water out of dry bones. He said laughter gives life. 

“We aren't saviors, we're coaches. We teach the same plays that we're learning. We hope in the same places where we're struggling and someone needs to develop us, just like they're needing us to develop them. But let's not lose the fun.” Curley said. “Let's have some serious fun.”

Matthew Marion, families pastor at First Baptist Church Bryan, said it was exciting for the church to serve ministers by hosting Conclave. 

“I've never been a part of a staff that's hosted a conference before. It's neat to be able to understand what goes into it and how much it really takes,” Marion said. “[It’s a great opportunity] just to be friendly, meet some new folks and share this [conference] with other people that has been shared with me a dozen times.”

Conclave NextGen is made possible by faithful giving through the Texas Baptists Cooperative Program and support from the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation and the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions.

To learn more about Conclave NextGen, visit txb.org/conclave.