CHURCH PLANTER BEST PRACTICES
Organization: EPC Church Planting Leadership Team
Host: Dave Strunk
Location: Pavilion 1
Church planters (and anyone interested in church planting), join us for lunch and a group conversation. For planters, come prepared to share the two most important things you’ve learned in church planting since COVID. For those who might be interested, come prepared to take notes and hear from our planters on the best practices in church planting right now.
Dave Strunk is the planting pastor of Church of the Redeemer in Maryville, Tennessee, and a member of the EPC's Church Planting Leadership Team.
COME AND ASK YOUR CHURCH HEALTH QUESTIONS
Organization: EPC Church Health Leadership Team
Host: Bob Stauffer
Location: Orchard 1 and 2
Join Bob Stauffer, the EPC Church Health Leadership Team, and presbytery Church Health Coordinators for time to ask questions about the development, expansion, and ministry work of the Church Health Gospel Priority.
Bob Stauffer serves as the EPC’s National Director of Church Health.
EXECUTIVE PASTORS AND CHURCH ADMINISTRATORS
Organization: EPC Office of the General Assembly
Host: Patrick Coelho
Location: Room 256
Get to know your fellow Executive Directors, Executive Pastors, Church Business Administrators, and others involved in church operations for this time of fellowship and sharing best practices.
Patrick Coelho serves as Chief Financial Officer for the EPC Office of the General Assembly in Orlando, Florida.
FEMALE PASTORS, CHAPLAINS, AND TE CANDIDATES
Organization: Presbytery of the Alleghenies
Host: Carolyn Poteet
Location: Room 249
All female pastors and chaplains (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 not for female Ruling Elders but is specifically designed and reserved for female TEs and ordination candidates.
Carolyn Poteet serves as Lead Pastor for Mt. Lebanon Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
MEET OUR NEWLY COMMISSIONED GLOBAL WORKERS
Organization: EPC World Outreach
Hosts: Saul and Jesse Huber
Location: Room 173
Come meet and celebrate with this year’s group of EPC World Outreach global workers, each of whom will be commissioned during the Tuesday evening worship service. Our new global workers will share their heart for His Kingdom and discuss the ministry God has called them to.
Saul and Jesse Huber serve as Coordinators of Mobilization for EPC World Outreach. From their home base in Carbondale, Illinois, the Hubers walk alongside those in the EPC who sense a call to global missions. This includes taking people through the application process with World Outreach, gathering young adults into “Mission Cohorts” for encouragement and training, and connecting with churches to share the opportunities for ministry with World Outreach.
REVELATION 7:9: HOW TO BE A COMMUNITY-CONSCIOUS CONGREGATION
Organization: EPC Revelation 7:9 Task Force
Host: Rufus Smith
Location: Room 115 (Tree House)
For interested churches who want to improve the delivery of the Great Commission and Great Commandment with their 1-2-5 mile radius. In effect, how to be a community-conscious congregation, whether that’s becoming multi-ethnic, inter-generational, or reaching marginalized families.
Rufus Smith serves as Senior Pastor of Hope Church in Cordova, Tennessee, and is Co-chairman of the EPC Revelation 7:9 Task Force.
SHARPENING PARENT SKILLS AMIDST TODAY’S ADOLESCENCE CRISIS
Organization: Gospel App Ministries
Host: Bill Senyard
Location: Pavilion 2
Per the CDC, a shocking 42% of adolescents are experiencing sadness and hopelessness (up 50% from 2011), including 57% of females and 70% of LGBTQ+ students. Among all students, 22% have considered suicide (up 36% from 2011). It is a mental health crisis for our most vulnerable demographic: adolescents. Are there practical and doable things that anxious Christian parents can use to lean against this trend? What difference does the gospel make? How can churches come alongside families so that the body of Christ may be built up? What does relevant, life-changing evangelism look like among adolescents today? Well-known secular child psychiatrist Urie Bronfenbrenner put it this way: “Every child needs at least one adult who is irrationally crazy about him or her.” This network lunch will consider ways we can creatively flesh this out in real life amidst this serious cultural crisis. It can make a real difference.
Bill Senyard is President of Gospel App Ministries and is the creator of the free popular online program for anxious Christian parents of teens and tweens called “Good Enough Parent” (www.goodenoughparent.online). His passion is to help “good enough parents” to become more “good enough parents.”
SMALL CHURCH LEADERSHIP: DEVELOPING THE BODY IN ITS CALL TO HOPE
Organization: EPC Smaller Church Network
Hosts: Bill Crawford and Suzanne Zampella
Location: Room 170
Based upon Ephesians 4:1-8, Suzanne Zampella and Bill Crawford will facilitate a guided discussion on the EPC’s Gospel Priorities of Transformation and Effective Biblical Leadership as they are experienced in small churches.
Bill Crawford serves as Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Thibodaux, Luoisiana, and First Presbyterian Church in Houma, Louisiana. Suzanne Zampella iserve as Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Dexter, New Mexico, and First Presbyterian Church of Hagerman, New Mexico.
THE CONTEMPORARY SIGNIFICANCE OF WESTMINSTER DIVINE EDWARD REYNOLDS (1599-1676)
Organization: Westminster Society
Host: Jeff Jeremiah
Location: Room 225 (Fireside Room)
Come and hear Jeff Jeremiah chronicle the life of Edward Reynolds, Bishop of Norwich in the Church of England and one of the Westminster Assembly divines, and how his ministry has application for today. Jeff Jeremiah was elected Stated Clerk of the EPC in 2007 and served in that role until 2021, at which time he was named Stated Clerk Emeritus.
YOUR EPC HEALTH BENEFITS AND IMPROVING YOUR PERSONAL WELL-BEING
Organization: EPC Benefit Resources, Inc.
Host: Bart Francescone
Location: Room 248
These past few years have been overwhelmingly stressful for many and have taken a toll on our physical and mental well-being. This session will present some sobering facts from national healthcare data, but more importantly introduce you to steps you can take to turn things around and get you on track to better health. You will be introduced to the many free personal care, wellness programs, and financial planning resources offered through the EPC health and retirement programs. Come and be encouraged!
Bart Francescone serves as Executive Director of EPC Benefit Resources, Inc.