APOLOGETIC PRINCIPLES FOR CHURCH PLANTING
Organization: Aspen Grove Church Planting Network
Hosts: Tommy Allen, Shane Sunn
Location: Pavilion 1
During our time together, Shane Sunn and Tommy Allen will explore some foundational apologetics crucial to the work of church planting. We will also discuss practical strategies for using these apologetics (and things to avoid) in the process of starting and growing a new church. Whether you are a seasoned church planter, just starting out, or just interested in how better to engage your community, this seminar will provide you with valuable insights and tools for effectively engaging those you hope to win.
Shane Sunn is Executive Director of the Aspen Grove Church Planting Network in Denver, Colorado. Tommy Allen is the planting pastor of EPC Spokane in Spokane, Washington.
BUILDING RETIREMENT SAVINGS AND TAX-EXEMPT HOUSING EXPENSE WITHDRAWAL
Organization: EPC Benefit Resources, Inc.
Host: Bart Francescone
Location: Room 248
Come to learn more about your EPC 403(b)(9) Retirement Plan and what you can do to build your retirement nest egg. You will hear about the free personal investment counseling and retirement planning resources available and get your questions answered. Did you know that ordained EPC ministers can withdraw funds to cover housing expenses on a tax-exempt basis? Come and find out how.
Bart Francescone is the Executive Director of EPC Benefit Resources, Inc.
CHOOSING TO PLANT A MULTI-ETHNIC CHURCH
Organization: The Antioch Room
Hosts: Sean Boone, Marcos Ortega
Location: Room 225 (Fireside Room)
How do you intentionally plant a multi-ethnic church? Join Marcos Ortega and Sean Boone in the Antioch Room to hear Sean’s joys and challenges of leading a multi-ethnic church plant in Ferguson, Missouri. What steps did Sean take to plant such a church? What lessons have been learned along the way? And how can other EPC Church Planters and parents, partners, and patrons of EPC church planting take steps to launching multi-ethnic church plants? And how can these church plants impact the future of the EPC? Sean and Marcos will discuss these questions and more in an important conversation.
Marcos Ortega serves as the Lead Pastor of Goodwill Church Beacon in Beacon, New York. Sean Boone serves as Planting Pastor of Woke Bridge Community Church in Ferguson, Missouri.
DISABILITY MINISTRY STORY & SUPPORT
Organization: Presbytery of the Coastal Mid-Atlantic
Host: Michelle Munger
Location: Room 253
Are you involved with supporting a person with a disability and their family in your congregation? We are gathering to share stories about how your ministry with those with a lived disability experience has had an impact. Perhaps you would like to start and need ideas on how to do that. We want you to join us. Is there a challenge you are working through? Let’s work on it together.
Michelle Munger is author of Margins of Grace: Becoming Champions of Faith and Family in the Midst of Disability and serves as Director of www.atthekingstable.org, a ministry devoted to helping churches reach the disabled.
HOW TO REVITALIZE YOUR LEADERSHIP PIPELINE
Organization: Knox Theological Seminary
Host: Scott Manor
Location: Room 115 (Tree House)
Equipping your church and leaders for ministry with an accredited seminary education while staying active in your church and community is easier than you think! Join Dr. Scott Manor and other members of the Knox Theological Seminary team for a time to focus on the changing nature of the seminary landscape, emerging new church-centric educational methods, and a demonstration of how Knox is helping meet the needs of churches, denominations, and biblical learners today.
Scott Manor serves as President of Knox Theological Seminary in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
NAVIGATING THE LETTERS (LGBTQ+) WITH A FAMILY MEMBER
Organization: Where Grace Abounds
Host: Scott Kingry
Location: Room 170
Join a panel of family members (parents and siblings) who will share a variety of experiences with an LGBTQ family member. Some questions which often arise are “how can I keep my own personal convictions around gender and sexuality biblically and love my family member well?” “When do I apply God’s grace?” “How do navigate difficult truthful conversations?” and “What are helpful and healthy boundaries?” We’ll explore some of these experiences and leave some time for Q&A.
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.
REVIVAL AND REVIVALISM IN AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM
Organization: Westminster Society
Host: Don Fortson
Location: Pavilion 2
Join us for a presentation by Dr. S. Donald Fortson III on the history of revival and revivalism in the American Presbyterian tradition.
Don Fortson serves Professor of Church History and Pastoral Theology and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Reformed Theological Seminary’s Charlotte (North Carolina) campus. He is author of Liberty in Non-Essentials: The Story of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and many other books on Christian and Presbyterian history.
WORLD OUTREACH: HOME FROM THE FIELD
Organization: EPC World Outreach
Hosts: Shawn Stewart
Location: Room 173
Join us for lunch and hear just a few of our World Outreach global workers describe how God is using and blessing their work among people groups of the world with little to no access to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Shawn Stewart serves as Coordinator of Field Development and Co-op Support for EPC World Outreach.