Breakout Sessions

Discipleship in preschool ministry? Not something we usually think or talk about. Come think and discuss with Kasey Fagan how preschool ministry lays foundational truths that build discipleship opportunities as preschoolers learn and grow.

When your kids come home from school asking questions about everything from moral relativity to cultural Marxism to whether God even exists, you need to be prepared with biblically sound answers. In this session, you’ll understand the secular worldviews your children face every day and build the foundation of faith and knowledge you need to equip them to respond to culture’s lies.

Parent ministry doesn’t have to be unread emails. Learn to grow your group with easy to implement tactics in parent ministry. Help families connect with each other and build strong biblical foundations.

Come discover the best practices for communicating and understanding how to connect to Hispanic youth and their families. In this session you will learn how to overcome obstacles and barriers that impact ministry to this group of teenagers as well as how best to minister to 1st generation vs 3rd generation Hispanics.

During this session, we will focus on how to plant seeds in the hearts of your students for missions throughout the year. The “why” of mission trips is so important, but so is keeping missions in the front of their minds when they aren't on a mission trip. Help your students understand that they have a great big mission field at their school each day. We will look at some practical thoughts and ideas that will help you get your students “on mission”!

In this seminar, Doug Franklin will help you construct a healthy youth ministry. Connecting mission, strategy, and programming with results. An effective youth ministry that builds momentum has everyone on the same page, going in the same direction. Come learn how to construct and communicate how to lead an effective youth ministry.

Marriage is the first relationship God created, and yet sadly in today’s culture the priority and value placed on it are dreadfully low. Even churches today struggle to combat the epidemic of divorce. Many ministers have marriages that are on life support. This session will provide you with guidance and tools to help you effectively build a strong marriage and create a vibrant marriage ministry in your church.

Keeping up with all the cultural changes surrounding gender identity can feel nearly impossible. In the last 15 years, new terms, new beliefs, and new values have taken over our social consciousness and trans identity has become an epidemic among adolescents and young adults. But the ideas behind widespread gender nonconformity aren't new at all and God’s Word has given us what we need to understand them. Discover how gender ideology is influencing an entire generation and how to respond with clarity and compassion.

Learn helpful tips and ideas to create a beautiful home while navigating the joys and challenges of ministry. Lydia comes with the experience as a pastor’s kid, a pastor’s wife and also full time ministry leader. Discover dynamic insights and strategies for thriving in both the home and ministry.

Every church can have a vibrant ministry to families regardless of its size or budget. How can kids and youth be shepherded and discipled in rural contexts? How can parents be trained and equipped as primary disciple-makers? What role do lead pastors play in all of this? How can children’s and youth pastors connect different generations together for greater gospel impact? Finally, how can this be done at virtually no additional cost? Find out more by attending this breakout session!

Scripture calls parents to be the primary spiritual leaders of their children, but parents must possess a vibrant faith to have something to give to the next generation. This breakout will present concrete strategies that pastors, staff members, and lay leaders can use to deepen the spiritual lives of parents.

There is no magical, one-size-fits all formula for developing the future leaders of the local Church, but effective leaders are called to mentor and train the next generation (2 Tim 2:2). The Gospel is too important for us to only be focused on our current ministry and miss the opportunity to empower others to lead for generations.

Summer break? No such thing! A lot of other ministries in the church see summer as a break, time to take off and regroup, but if you are in kids’ ministry, you have a simple response to this – “not for me!” Summer is a time where we have the opportunity to share the gospel in really creative ways - Vacation Bible School, kids’ camps, and fun activities are all ways we can do this. In this session, we will discuss how to plan these summer activities, no matter the time or budget.

When your kids come home from school asking questions about everything from moral relativity to cultural Marxism to whether God even exists, you need to be prepared with biblically sound answers. In this session, you’ll understand the secular worldviews your children face every day and build the foundation of faith and knowledge you need to equip them to respond to culture’s lies.

The simple and effective things that youth ministry leaders can leverage for healthy growth and disciple-making. Here are some ways to maximize the time you have with students in small groups that will root them for longevity.

Learn the ingredients of an effective and exciting ministry that leads people to Christ, and results in dynamic kingdom growth.

Marriage is the first relationship God created, and yet sadly in today’s culture the priority and value placed on it are dreadfully low. Even churches today struggle to combat the epidemic of divorce. Many ministers have marriages that are on life support. This session will provide you with guidance and tools to help you effectively build a strong marriage and create a vibrant marriage ministry in your church.

Keeping up with all the cultural changes surrounding gender identity can feel nearly impossible. In the last 15 years, new terms, new beliefs, and new values have taken over our social consciousness and trans identity has become an epidemic among adolescents and young adults. But the ideas behind widespread gender nonconformity aren't new at all and God’s Word has given us what we need to understand them. Discover how gender ideology is influencing an entire generation and how to respond with clarity and compassion.

During this session we will discuss the call to ministry and how full-time ministry is not always the way God intends for us to live out the calling in our lives.

Navigating change within ministry can be a daunting task, especially when ensuring it endures. Dive into the essence of transformative leadership that goes beyond mere ideation and propels implementation. Unravel tested strategies to guide your church seamlessly into a Family Ministry model, fostering generational discipleship beyond the church walls to the people’s homes.

Engaging today’s preschoolers, elementary kids, and teenagers with biblical content may be like teaching goldfish how to run. That’s because we’re teaching from an old script that generations Z and Alpha don’t understand. We need to change our viewpoint and climb into the fishbowl to see what they are seeing from their perspective and learn how to reach this generation in a way they understand.

As a minister to children or youth, what do you need to know to impact those who are struggling with their gender identity effectively? What are the root issues creating these feelings, and how can you and your ministry team help participants meet their real needs and embrace God’s created design?

Powerful forces work to indoctrinate the next generation with dangerous ideologies about marriage, sexuality & gender. However, young Christians both want and need holistic, Biblical truth on these topics. Gary will share insights from twenty years of collegiate ministry and his recent doctoral project that will help your church or ministry make disciples and address these issues with clarity.

Even seasoned leaders may struggle to know how to best minister to kids from hard places. A trauma-informed children’s ministry is crucial for us as we navigate uncharted waters with kids who may need an extra dose of understanding and empathy from their leaders. This conference will highlight several key principles in ministering effectively to kids from hard places.

Do your students understand we are ALL called to share the gospel? Is your group missions minded? Every church is called to: 1) Challenge believers to grow deeper in their walk and find their unique mission calling, 2) Prepare Christ-followers to make disciples and teach them to obey all that God has commanded, and 3) Mobilize the church to fulfill the Great Commission. The four parts of Missions Discipleship (Learn, Pray, Give, and Go) can help you develop a missions-minded group. Evaluate if your group is missions-minded and learn some steps to develop a missions discipleship strategy for your children’s ministry/youth group.

As high school seniors approach significant life transitions, it's not uncommon for them to feel distant or disconnected from their faith community. With the allure of impending independence, new friendships, and the excitement of college or work on the horizon, spiritual commitment can sometimes take a backseat. Join us in this breakout session as we dive deep into strategies, tools, and resources to keep high school seniors engaged in student ministry and rooted in their faith in Jesus Christ.

If you’re not completely sure what to do with those middle school students in your youth group or at the very least you’d like to do a better job connecting with them, this is the breakout for you. We’ll discuss ideas on how to effectively reach middle school students, how to love having them in your group, what it looks like to have some of the youth ministry split between MS and HS, and ideas on how to make your youth ministry better.

In this breakout you will discover 3 fundamentals for communicating your family ministry strategy and leave with 3 practical tools to take back to your church to help you love and lead families more effectively.

This session will give tools and techniques to churches who are looking to grow their young adult ministry, develop young adult leaders, and keep young adults invested into the fabric of the church.

We all have illustrations for our teaching times. We just don’t realize it. In our time together, we will see how the Lord has equipped each of us with stories that do more than get attention. They give direction to the Greater Story.

According to Google Analytics, The 23rd Psalm is #1 of the most popular psalms searched out on the world wide web. For some of us this psalm is like an old friend, to others, it may not be as familiar. Regardless, buried within this psalm are deep, life changing truths that every human being needs. In this breakout we will explore the truths of self-care and boundaries that lay beneath the surface of Psalm 23. We will uncover the truth of God’s provision and presence, the need for rest and refreshment, and the practice of boundaries and right paths. ~ Psalm 23:1-3

Nearly 1 billion people around the world live with disabilities. Many of these individuals and their families live in poverty, pain, and despair. Our mission at Joni&Friends is to mobilize the church to evangelize, disciple, and serve people living with disability. Through this workshop we’ll walk through the need for disability ministry in the church and the tools we use to help the church evaluate its accessibility. Together we’ll walk through the biblical view of disability and how that should impact our ministries, discuss practical tools for disability ministry, and communicate the necessity of disability ministry to your church.

This session will describe the new challenges related to child sexual abuse in ministry: insurance requirements, legislative changes, abuse reporting and the explosion of Peer Sexual Abuse. The session will conclude with an overview of steps to take to deal with the ‘old’ challenge while correctly navigating the ‘new’ challenges.

There is no magical, one-size-fits all formula for developing the future leaders of the local Church, but effective leaders are called to mentor and train the next generation (2 Tim 2:2). The Gospel is too important for us to only be focused on our current ministry and miss the opportunity to empower others to lead for generations.

Even seasoned leaders may struggle to know how to best minister to kids from hard places. A trauma-informed children’s ministry is crucial for us as we navigate uncharted waters with kids who may need an extra dose of understanding and empathy from their leaders. This conference will highlight several key principles in ministering effectively to kids from hard places.

Kids learn best through whole-body experiences. How can you do that in a confined “carpet” time? Learn how to make your group time fun for you and for your students by following some proven strategies for keeping kids engaged and learning without having to just “sit still and be quiet.”

Do you have students that struggle to understand what it means to be saved or how to explain if they have made a commitment to Jesus? In this session, we will look at how you can help your students better grasp salvation, to be able to articulate their salvation story.

There is a growing trend of people asking questions about students who are called to ministry. One of the most common questions is, “Where are they?” We actually know where they are. They are sitting, hanging out with us on Sunday and Wednesday. The better question is, “Do they know God is calling?”

This session will give tools and techniques to churches who are looking to grow their young adult ministry, develop young adult leaders, and keep young adults invested into the fabric of the church.

Every church can have a vibrant ministry to families regardless of its size or budget. How can kids and youth be shepherded and discipled in rural contexts? How can parents be trained and equipped as primary disciple-makers? What role do lead pastors play in all of this? How can children’s and youth pastors connect different generations together for greater gospel impact? Finally, how can this be done at virtually no additional cost? Find out more by attending this breakout session!

Struggling with staying organized? Let’s see if we can help as we talk about how you can better stay organized, be productive, and avoid last-minute stress. We’ll discuss email, to-do lists, event planning, calendar planning, and more.

Every church is called to make disciples of people living with disabilities. People with disabilities need the church, and the church needs people with disabilities. Through this session we will explore what your church does and how people with disabilities can be included in its ministries. Together we will cast a vision for disability ministry beyond mere programs or ministries, discuss how disability ministry already falls within your church’s mission statement, and discuss practical tools for building a disability ministry.

How to work together as a staff and how to communicate effectively with one another. In this session multiple staff members will share their experiences with working together on a day-to-day basis…and still liking each other. You will also hear how one church uses milestones to encourage spiritual growth in the life of a child/teen.

Sexual abuse risk is not intuitive. The session will begin by addressing the common errors and misconceptions that lead to challenges, followed by an overview of the grooming process and common grooming behaviors. The session will conclude with a description of the MinistrySafe 5-Part Safety System (which includes Sexual Abuse Awareness Training, Skillful Screening Processes, Appropriate Criminal Background Checks, Tailored Policies and Procedures, and Monitoring and Oversight) and how to access Safety System resources.

If we believe every believer is a minister of the Gospel, why do we continually do the engaging, recruiting, and leading of our ministries? Learn ways to empower your students to reach their campus and reach the world.