Send North America Conference 2012

Carlos Navarro. Hispanics won’t be reached in our church buildings. They will be reached where they live, work, shop and socialize. This session deals with planting churches effectively among this people group in North America.

Bryan Galloway. Learn how to make initial contact in cross-cultural settings. More specifically, learn how to make objective observations and ask culturally appropriate questions when engaging ethnic minorities within the U.S. Participants will take away practical how-to handles on connecting with the diverse ethno-linguistic populations now residing within the U.S.

Benny Wong, James Dixon, Aslam Masih, Carlos Navarro and Bryan Galloway The North American mission field has been and is currently changing and rapidly becoming more diverse in culture and language. We must have strategies to plant churches to reach the people groups that God is bringing to our communities and cities. This breakout was led by a panel of ethnically diverse pastors in North America and an IMB representative who have experience in planting churches among specific people groups.

Al Reid. The Bible is more about reality than surface morality, and everything in life that matters— family, business, sports, fashion, media, art— relates back to the gospel. In this breakout see how The Story teaches the gospel as central to the believer and as the central need of the unbeliever.

In the closing message of the Send North America Conference, David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Ala., encourages pastors and church planters to focus on making disciples—using the book of Acts as a guide.

Johnny Hunt connected penetrating lostness in North America with the unity of the church during his message in the concluding session of the 2012 Send North America Conference hosted by his First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Ga.

A panel discussion on church planting partnerships includes J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C.,Paul Chitwood (left), executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, and NAMB president Kevin Ezell.

J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., shares how the gospel is the source for the church planting vision.

John Bisagno, retired pastor of First Baptist Church of Houston, talks with Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board.

Dispersing the wisdom of 60 years in the ministry, John Bisagno focused the 2012 Send North America Conference attendees on obtaining the proper balance to ensure a lasting ministry during a Tuesday lunchtime main session.

A panel discussion on urban church planting during the 2012 Send North America Conference included Dhati Lewis of Blueprint Church, Atlanta, Ellis Prince of Gallery Church in Baltimore, and Aaron Code, vice president of mobilization and equipping for NAMB.

Vance Pittman kicked off day two of the 2012 Send North America Conference by reminding conference attendees of the kingdom potential of new churches they’ll plant in North America. Pittman used the backdrop of his own story of being sent by First Baptist Church of Woodstock to start Hope Church in Las Vegas more than a decade ago as an illustration of the church’s kingdom potential.

Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, told more than 2,000 attendees at the Send North America Conference that in the last 10 years, the number of self-proclaiming Christians has declined by 10 percent. “I don’t have to tell you that the world is growing more hostile to the message we bring."

Dhati Lewis. We are in a new day, but still struggling with old problems. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few…pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers.” With growing urbanization in the United States, we need to prepare church planters for the next generation. It will look like something we have yet to see. Learn how to raise up church planters for the urban context.

Ed Stetzer, Philip Nation and Scott McConnell. In every city, there are tribes, systems and attitudes that must be understood to effectively reach people with the gospel. This breakout addresses how to better love and serve your city by better understanding it.

Ellis Prince. We have all heard from numerous respected teachers and writers a variation of Howard Hendricks' line, "People don't care what you have to say, until they know that you care." If we are going to reach the lost (especially in our urban environments), we need to be intentional about building relational currency. How do you earn the right to be heard? How do you get people who don't trust the Bible to be true to trust you? How do we tell people about Jesus again? Is there a biblical theology to support loving your neighbor? These are just a few of the questions behind a city-reaching strategy that helps us channel our theology into our areas of influence called intentional living.

Geoff Surratt. The dirty little secret of leadership development classes is that they don't work; classes produce students, not leaders. This workshop looks at the 10 things Jesus did that will develop leaders, and will help you apply them to your context. (Hint: Jesus never taught a seminary class, never had a sign-up sheet and never provided coffee and donuts.)

J.D. Greear. It is possible to create an effective sending culture in your church. In this session, J. D. Greear discusses the core values and principles, called "plumblines," that create the sending culture in the local church. These plumblines are gospel and missional theology made practical.

Jaye Martin. Ever wonder how to strengthen your leadership skills? Jaye walks you through the ways you can grow as a leader and become more effective in the skills you need to follow God's call. She looks closely at the skills of enlisting and building your team to complement your leadership style. God never intended you to lead alone so join us as we walk together and learn to be effective leaders with Christ.

Jeff Christopherson. One of the evangelical world's greatest areas of both interest and confusion is found in the biblical theme of the kingdom of God. In an era of denominational decline and even hostile skepticism toward "organized religion," believers are trying to reconcile Jesus' kingdom concepts with what they have experienced in "church." As a result, much deconstruction of the church has taken place with little attention given to what might replace it. This workshop is about the question of how the church properly fits into the larger picture of God's activity—and how to design a church for the kingdom of God.

Jimmy Scroggins. Funding is the biggest challenge of church planting in urban areas. Many church planters can raise money to get started; very few are succeeding in creating sustainable growth. Bivocational church planters create margin and lengthen the horizon for a new church to attain sustainability.

John Mark Clifton. The key to revitalization is the passionate display of the glory of God, not a focus on results, numbers, strategies, worship styles or tactics. Discover how it is possible to go beyond revitalizing your church to replanting your church. “Legacy Church planting” is replanting your church upon its past legacy of missions and evangelism. Included are specific examples from “Legacy Church Plants” that have grown from less than 20 to 200 while planting new churches and working to serve their communities. Learn powerful, transforming and transferable truths that you can apply to your context.

Kathy Litton. Wives have tremendous influence in their husbands' lives. A ministry wife has the capacity to influence her husband's soul and his ministry to help advance the kingdom of God. Kathy identifies five ways to create positive influence and five things to avoid that create negative influence.

Ken Ellis. God is at work in North America. He is at work in the hearts of those who know Him and those who have yet to know Him through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The goal of God's Plan for Sharing (GPS) is to fulfill the Great Commission by every believer sharing and every person hearing the gospel. Learn in this course how to be released into effective evangelism by using a simple approach to witnessing. Believers aren't required to be great orators or theologians—they only need to know how to tell others about the difference that faith in Jesus is making in their lives ... to tell their story!

Kevin Marsico: dispelling CP Myths for the Sending Church

Mac Lake. Every church planter needs leaders in order to get a good healthy start to their plant. But how do you take ordinary leaders and turn them into multiplying leaders? In this session, Mac Lake shares practical steps you can take from day one of your pre-launch leadership meetings to help you build a culture of leadership development in your church plant.

Mary Jo Sharp. Living in a society with many different views about God, why should anyone pick one view over another? This session makes a case for the Christian faith as the view that reasonably addresses the problem of evil.

Mike McDaniel. The reason most churches don’t multiply is because they see church planting as a program instead of a culture. Church planting is not something you put on a “to do” list. It’s a culture you build in your church. When you create the culture, church planting becomes the natural fruit.

Steve Kersh. The North American Mission Board in partnership with CoachNet International is investing significantly in the development of skilled and qualified coaches who have a heart and passion for walking alongside others in their ministry. NAMB's Next Level Leadership team has worked to develop a coaching process that focuses on the skills and competencies necessary to become an effective coach as well as helping develop strategies for creating coaching networks. This workshop introduces the different options available through NAMB as you explore the value of coaching within your ministry.

Stuart Hodges. If your church is currently stuck numerically, you've likely hit a growth barrier. If you're moving forward numerically, chances are you're about to hit a growth barrier. It is possible to break through the barriers that hinder growth in your church, but you've got to know the right questions to ask and the right actions to take. Join Stu Hodges, founder and lead pastor of Waters Edge Church, for a practical look at Breaking Through Growth Barrier. ... what works and what doesn't!

Terry Dorsett. Though demographic trends show that the population is shifting to more urban areas, nearly 60 million people in North America still live in rural communities with populations under 2,500. Fifty-seven percent of those individuals do not attend church on a regular basis, which reveals that their spiritual condition is not as it should be. Planting new congregations in rural areas is the best way to reach those people. Learn how the Green Mountain Baptist Association in Vermont doubled the number of churches in the least religious state in the U.S. in a decade. Gain practical skills for how those methods can be adjusted to fit the context of your rural situation.

Speakers: Tim Dowdy, Dean Sisk and Shane Critser. The North American Mission Board's definition of a sending church is a church that takes responsibility for a new church plant, just as a mother takes responsibility for her child. In this workshop, you will receive practical steps for you to take your next step in the journey to become an effective Sending Church as well as hearing testimonies from two pastors, Dean Sisk of Belle Aire Baptist Church and Tim Dowdy of Eagles Landing Baptist Church, who have led their churches to become effective Sending Churches in different cities of North America.

Tom Billings. Most evangelical leaders acknowledge that North America has become a mission field, but few realize how much of a mission field it has become! According to The Association of Religious Data Archives (www.thearda.com): 1) fewer than 1 out of 5 people in the U.S. (only 16.2%) identify themselves as evangelical Protestants; 2) fewer than 1 out of 2 (less than 49%) have any religious identity at all. This seminar looks closely at our changing world and what we, as congregational and associational leaders, can do to lead our churches to be more effective in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Tony Merida. Pastor Tony Merida shares some of the lessons that he and the leadership have learned in the first year of their church plant, Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, N.C. This church launched Sept. 11, 2012, and now has more than 200 people in corporate worship each week. Subjects considered involve funding, leadership development, small groups, membership, core team philosophy, preaching, developing an international missions and church planting mindset, and clarifying and executing vision.

Tony Merida. Drawing on the preaching of Paul, Pastor Tony Merida talks about Christ-centered preaching in the midst of a diverse culture. The seminar focuses on the need to saturate every sermon with the gospel and how to communicate the good news effectively.

Tricia Lovejoy. Tricia Lovejoy has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows when it comes to being the wife of a driven church planter. Throughout her 17 years in ministry (12 in church planting), she has gained valuable insight into helping other pastors' wives navigate the exciting, intense and challenging journey of church planting. Join her as she shares six of the best practices she embraces to survive and thrive in family and ministry.