MinistryLift 2014 Small Group Ministry Conference

MinistryLift Small Group Ministry Conference

MinistryLift Small Group Ministry Conference (February 28 - March 1, 2014)

We would love to have you join us for the upcoming MinistryLift Small Group Ministry Conference at ACTS Seminaries (7600 Glover Road in Langley, BC) and via live-streaming February 28 – March 1, 2014 (8:30 am – 4:30 pm, PDT, both days). The overall theme for the conference is taking your small group ministry to the next level. The first day, Friday, will focus on biblical community and approaches to small group ministry (geared for those who oversee small group ministries). The sessions on day two, Saturday, will help participants sharpen their skills for leading effective small groups (designed for current and prospective small group leaders). Onsite participants can register for one or both days (live-streaming participants have one fee for both days).

Here is a breakdown of the registration costs:

Onsite - $50/day or $90/both days

Live-streaming - $45/person, $180/church (churches that purchase a church registration can give access to the live-streaming and session recordings to anyone in their church – individual participants must still register, but don’t have to pay), $750/denomination (gives access to the live-streaming/recordings to anyone in the denomination who registers for the conference)

Please note that onsite participants can pre-order lunches and parking passes for an additional cost ($10/lunch and $4/parking pass). This helps to keep the cost lower for those who prefer to bring their own lunches and/or those who carpool.

If you are interested in taking this conference as a three-credit course through ACTS Seminaries or have questions about the conference, please contact us. In addition, you can download a poster for promoting the event in your church and with others in your network.

Conference Schedule (Overview)

Note: Here is the schedule for the conference as of February 25 (there may be a few minor changes, but we are not anticipating any major changes at this point). Please scroll down to see a detailed schedule with session descriptions and presenter information.

Friday – Biblical Community and Approaches to Small Group Ministry

8:30 – 9:00 am – Registration for MinistryLift Small Group Ministry Conference Day One

9:00 – 9:15 am – Welcome and Overview of ACTS

9:15 – 10:00 am – Plenary Session - Biblical Community (Dr. Dan Nicholson) – Fosmark #130-132

10:00 – 10:15 am – Small Group Discussion

10:15 – 10:45 am – Break

10:45 – 12:00 noon – Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) - Transitioning from Small Groups to Missional Communities (Dennis Wilkinson)

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) - Small Groups in the Context of Discipleship (Dr. Mick Nelson)

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) – Back to the Future: An Experiment in Developing Small Group Leaders (Dr. Curtis Congo)

12:00 – 1:30 pm – Lunch Break

1:30 – 2:45 pm – Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) - Three Essential Ingredients for Growing Your Small Group Ministry: Prayer, Equipping and Coaching Your Leaders (Dr. Randy Wollf)

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) – Making a House Call to a Small Group: Program Coordinators as Troubleshooters (Dan Williams)

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) - Multi-level Groups (Kajle Radbourne)

2:45 – 3:15 pm – Break

3:15 – 4:30 pm – Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) – Learning from the Global House Church Movement (Dr. Randy Wollf)

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) – Virtual Church: Creating Biblical Communities Online (Blake Wagner and Ron Toews)

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) – Caring for Small Group Leaders (Dr. Curtis Congo)

Saturday – Skills for Leading Small Groups

8:30 – 9:00 am – Registration for MinistryLift Small Group Ministry Conference Day Two

9:00 – 9:15 am – Welcome and Overview of ACTS

9:15 – 10:00 am – Plenary Session – Liminality and Losers: Essential Components of Jesus’ Approach to Small Groups (Phil Wagler) - Fosmark Room #130-132

10:00 -10:15 am – Small Group Discussions

10:15 – 10:45 am – Break

10:45 – 12:00 noon – Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) - The Five Purposes of Small Groups (Melissa Federau)

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) – Finding the Leaders You Already Have (Randy Williams)

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) – Thriving Family Care Groups (David McVety)

12:00 – 1:30 – Lunch

1:30 – 2:45 pm –Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) – Building Intimacy in Your Small Group and Facilitating Excellent Discussions (Dr. Randy Wollf)

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) - Leading Virtual Small Groups Toward Biblical Community (Ron Toews and Daniel Beutler)

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) – Resolving Conflict as a Small Group Leader (Mark Naylor)

2:45 – 3:15 pm – Break

3:15 – 4:30 pm – Third Breakout Session

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) - Four Strategies for Growing Your Small Group (Dr. Randy Wollf)

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) - Discipling in Triplicate: The Amazing Potential of Micro-groups (Mike and Kathy Mawhorter)

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) – Developing Healthy Multicultural Small Groups (Sherman Lau)

Conference Schedule with Session Descriptions and Presenter Information

Friday – Biblical Community and Approaches to Small Group Ministry

8:30 – 9:00 am – Registration for MinistryLift Small Group Ministry Conference Day One

9:00 – 9:15 am – Welcome (Dr. Randy Wollf) and Overview of ACTS (Liisa Polkki)

9:15 – 10:00 am – Biblical Community (Dr. Dan Nicholson) – Fosmark #130-132

Presenter - Dan Nicholson has been Lead Pastor of South Abbotsford Church for the past 8 years after serving with the Evangelical Free Church since 1974. Dan firmly believes that Christianity that is not lived in community is not Christianity at all. He has been married to his best friend, June, for 38 years and has the pleasure of observing his children, and their families, walking in the truth.

10:00 – 10:15 am – Small Group Discussion

10:15 – 10:45 am – Break

10:45 – 12:00 noon – Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) - Transitioning from Small Groups to Missional Communities (Dennis Wilkinson)

Description - Most of us are convinced that the call of Jesus on our lives amounts to more than attendance in a Sunday service and a Tuesday night home group meeting. But what does that look like? Is there something that needs to shift in our thinking? Are there practical steps for learning how to live out the gospel together in the rhythms of everyday life? Is life on mission together even a possibility in North America?

Presenter - Dennis Wilkinson is an urban missionary and church planter in downtown Vancouver. He is happily married to Mistin and God has blessed them with four wonderful children. Through incredible providence, God allowed them to move into one of the only single-family homes left in the West End of downtown Vancouver. Their mission field is a 10 block by 10 block area, containing 50,000 people coming from all parts of the world and with every kind of belief. Their house is full of people and is "ground zero" in this great missionary experiment known as Meta Communities.

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) - Small Groups in the Context of Discipleship (Dr. Mick Nelson)

Description - In any given week, the people who engage the ministries of a local church come from diverse backgrounds, are at different places in relation to God, and at various stages of spiritual maturity. The kinds of relationships they need to support the next step in their spiritual growth are also diverse. This seminar considers small groups in relation to the ongoing process of discipleship.

Presenter - Dr. Mick Nelson is the Director of Discipleship at Broadway Church Vancouver. He has served in a similar role in churches in Victoria and Ottawa. A graduate of the D. Min. program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Mick also spent seven years as the college Academic Dean at Master’s College and Seminary.

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) – Back to the Future: An Experiment in Developing Small Group Leaders (Dr. Curtis Congo)

Description - Jesus led a small group of would-be-leaders. The results of this leadership experiment are found in the book of ACTS. Some say we cannot duplicate his model because of logistics. Perhaps not, but just maybe we can partially do so with good results. This seminar will present an experiment to, in part, imitate Jesus. Results of this adventure will also be shared. Perhaps we need to go 'Back to the Future' as our basis of small group leadership formation.

Presenter – Dr. Curtis Congo is presently involved as a Transitional Pastor and part-time Professor at TWU. He has been involved in pastoral ministry in small groups for several years and has taught a small group ministry course at ACTS Seminaries. He has also implemented small group strategies in teaching at the academic level. Curtis and Joanne have been married for 43 years, have 2 daughters married to 2 brothers and have 2 grandchildren.

12:00 – 1:30 pm – Lunch Break

1:30 – 2:45 pm – Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) - Three Essential Ingredients for Growing Your Small Group Ministry: Prayer, Equipping and Coaching Your Leaders (Dr. Randy Wollf)

Description - Based on current research on small group ministry, Randy will describe three key practices for growing your small group ministry: prayer, equipping and coaching your leaders. The bulk of the session will focus on how small group ministry overseers can coach their small group leaders. Growing leaders often translates into growing groups.

Presenter – Dr. Randy Wollf is the Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Leadership Studies at ACTS Seminaries. Randy served as a pastor (including several years overseeing small groups) and missionary for 20 years before taking up his current position. In addition, Randy has been involved in small groups of various kinds for the last 25 years including helping to start missional communities as part of a house church network.

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) – Making a House Call to a Small Group: Program Coordinators as Troubleshooters (Dan Williams)

Description - When small group leaders and members receive good training, it is a sort of preventative medicine that helps to keep small groups healthy. However, despite such efforts, small groups still run into trouble. This session will offer some guidelines and tools for how small group program coordinators and coaches can be equipped to offer services to groups that are sick, including aspects such as recognizing symptoms, diagnosing the problem, and intervening when necessary. This ministry is a vital component of a flourishing small group program.

Presenter - Dan Williams is the lead pastor of the English-speaking congregation at Vancouver Chinese Evangelical Free Church. He has a long background in pastoring in Greater Vancouver, including assignments to equip small group programs. Dan has published in this area (for instance, Seven Myths about Small Groups by IVP) and taught on small group ministry at Regent College and other schools. Being in a small group has been a regular part of Dan's personal discipleship for almost 40 years.

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) - Multi-level Groups (Kajle Radbourne)

Description - Different sizes of groups produce different dynamics that are more beneficial for achieving different results. That is the basic thought behind an emerging trend of churches having a multi-leveled group structure where different sizes of groups are utilized to better achieve the range of goals that most ministries try to hit with their small groups. This presentation will look at the theory behind the practice, the advantages and unique challenges of such a model and will provide practical insight from two different multi-leveled paradigms: one that has traditional small groups flow out of larger, missional communities and the other that achieves intentional discipleship from “micro” pods that are connected to the traditional small group.

Presenter – Kajle Radbourne is Associate Pastor at Dunbar Heights Baptist Church on the Westside of Vancouver where he oversees discipleship and leadership development. Kajle earned his Master of Divinity degree from ACTS seminaries. While studying in Langley, Kajle served in a lay capacity at Langley Evangelical Free Church where he helped plant two mid-sized missional communities and hosted a small group where the infants and toddlers out-numbered the parents.

2:45 – 3:15 pm – Break

3:15 – 4:30 pm – Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) – Learning from the Global House Church Movement (Dr. Randy Wollf)

Description - God is using house churches in a major way to make disciples of the nations. This seminar will give you an overview of what God is doing through the global house church movement and what small group leaders can learn from this movement that is reaching neighbourhoods, communities and nations for Christ.

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) – Virtual Church: Creating Biblical Communities Online (Blake Wagner and Ron Toews)

Description - Is virtual community biblical? Listen in as a pastor describes how biblical community emerged online and in surprising ways. This workshop—part anecdotal and part biblical principles—explores what happens when scriptural ideals are lived out in the online space.

Presenters - Blake Wagner, Tech. Evangelist and Pastor of Grace MB Church, Penticton (gracemb.ca). Blake was called out of a business background as a computer entrepreneur. A self-described geek, Blake has used his gifts and talents for the past 20 years to advance the Kingdom of God while serving as a Lead Pastor in Alberta and British Columbia and as a missionary in USA, Japan, Philippines, and recently bringing teams to Kenya. He has a passion for connecting and equipping people throughout the world for Kingdom purposes. He has built numerous websites and empowered people to form community and evangelize their own communities using streaming Internet media, live events, television and radio programs.

Ron Toews is the Director of Resourcing Churches and Developing Leaders for the Canadian Mennonite Brethren Conference. He was a leadership professor at MBBS-ACTS for seven years (including two years as ACTS Principal). Ron was a pastor and police chaplain for 15 years and frequently finds himself mediating in conflict situations.

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) – Caring for Small Group Leaders (Dr. Curtis Congo)

Description - Jesus cared for his small group of would-be-leaders. So should we. This seminar will be a reflective review of personal leadership in the care of small group leaders. Consideration will be given to some of the dynamics of caring for our caregivers - Small Group Leaders. Lastly, the presenter will share some practices that he utilized and found beneficial in caring for care givers - Small Group Leaders.

Saturday – Skills for Leading Small Groups

8:30 – 9:00 am – Registration for MinistryLift Small Group Ministry Conference Day Two

9:00 – 9:15 am - Welcome

9:15 – 10:00 am – Plenary Session – Liminality and Losers: Essential Components of Jesus’ Approach to Small Groups (Phil Wagler) – Fosmark Room #130-132

Phil Wagler is lead pastor of Gracepoint Community Church, Surrey, BC. His life as a disciple continues to be shaped by a variety of small groups each week. He is married to Jennifer for 20 years, father of six (the most joyful and challenging small group of all), and has served God's church in Ontario (where he was born), Alberta, and now BC. He is a regular columnist in the Mennonite Brethren Herald, Canadian Mennonite, Seven magazine, and the author of Kingdom Culture.

10:00 -10:15 am – Small Group Discussions

10:15 – 10:45 am – Break

10:45 – 12:00 noon – Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) - The Five Purposes of Small Groups (Melissa Federau)

Description - This session will equip small group leaders with a thorough understanding of five essential components of biblical community and with some effective tools and examples that will help your small group increasingly experience deeper fellowship, individual transformation and missional living.

Presenter - Melissa is a part time student at ACTS Seminary. She desires to help the Body of Christ grow into the mature things of God by mentoring, sharing what she has learned and guiding people into a passionate walk with Jesus. Learning from her experience and studies, she sees the tremendous value of small group ministry as a catalyst for effective discipleship, individual transformation, outreach and church health. Over the last two years she has been involved in developing women’s small groups and bridging the gap in her community between the secular and church. She resides in beautiful Sechelt, BC with her two kids and husband, Tyler.

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) – Finding the Leaders You Already Have (Randy Williams)

Description - The new small group leaders you’re looking for aren’t hidden. Most of them are sitting comfortably in existing groups. What can you do to guide them from the comfy sofa to the leader’s chair? In this session we’ll discuss simple ways to make small group leadership roles attractive and attainable. Focusing (or refocusing) the role of your existing leaders is the key to growing new leaders.

Presenter - Randy Williams is a graduate student at Canadian Baptist Seminary at ACTS Seminaries. His diverse background includes performing as a touring musician, national sales and marketing for independent record labels, retail consulting, and (ultimately) small group ministry. From 2009 to 2013 Randy served as a Pastor of Small Groups in a suburban church setting. His mission is to wake up sleepwalking Christians, and his small group mantra is ‘keep it simple.’

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) – Thriving Family Care Groups (David McVety)

Description – Is it possible to capitalize on the potential of care groups to grow our children’s faith? What is it that really instills faith in our kids? What if care groups could not only drastically increase the likelihood of children following Jesus but could also launch and instill genuine faith in their parents, as well? This session will explore elements of a family-based care groups while offering ideas and options for implementation.

Presenter – Dave McVety has been a pastor for over 12 years and now works with Dr. Dave Currie and DOING FAMILY RIGHT, a ministry designed to inspire people to follow God’s blueprint for life, marriage and family. With a BA in Counseling and Caregiving and a Masters in Leadership, he is able to relate deeply and equip effectively. He is deeply passionate about the family’s need and potential to equip and disciple their children.

12:00 – 1:30 – Lunch

1:30 – 2:45 pm –Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) – Building Intimacy in Your Small Group and Facilitating Excellent Discussions (Dr. Randy Wollf)

Description – This session looks at two key elements of building a healthy small group: building intimacy and facilitating excellent discussions. The first part of the session will address how small group leaders can foster loving, Christ-centred community as the heart of their small group. As group members grow closer to one other, they are better able to support, challenge, and build into one another’s lives. As the trust level increases, group leaders have an amazing opportunity to facilitate discussions with significant impact. The second part of the session will unpack how leaders can facilitate discussions that truly make a difference.

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) - Leading Virtual Small Groups Toward Biblical Community (Ron Toews and Daniel Beutler)

Description - This workshop focuses on best practices and guidelines for current and potential leaders of virtual small groups. The conversation also explores some of the unique features and potential limitations of virtual small groups.

Presenters: Ron Toews is the Director of Resourcing Churches and Developing Leaders for the Canadian Mennonite Brethren Conference. He was a leadership professor at MBBS-ACTS for seven years (including two years as ACTS Principal). Ron was a pastor and police chaplain for 15 years and frequently finds himself mediating in conflict situations.

Daniel Beutler currently serves as Lifelong Learning Host of the Canadian Conference of MB Churches. As part of the Resourcing Churches and Developing Leaders team, Daniel’s role is to 1) facilitate the life-long learning interests of leaders and pastors in the areas of spiritual renewal, theological enrichment, and the acquisition of leadership skills, and 2) to facilitate the interests of churches to be resourced for maximum effectiveness. Daniel and his wife Maureen live in Chilliwack, BC and have two grown children.

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) – Resolving Conflict as a Small Group Leader (Mark Naylor)

Description – The biblical mandate of becoming ministers of reconciliation (2 Co 5:16-19) is examined as an important skill for small group leaders. Following Patterson et al (Crucial Conversations), it is proposed that dialogue is the primary skill that leverages conflict towards healthy relationships. Disciplines (such as “start with heart”) and tools (such as “make it safe”) required to create a context conducive to healthy dialogue are introduced.

Presenter – Mark Naylor is the Coordinator of International Leadership Development for Northwest Baptist Seminary and Fellowship International. He teaches interpersonal relationship skills to Fellowship International personnel and coaches churches in the use of healthy conversational tools.

2:45 – 3:15 pm – Break

3:15 – 4:30 pm – Third Breakout Session

Breakout Session #1 (Fosmark Room #130-132) - Four Strategies for Growing Your Small Group (Dr. Randy Wollf)

Description – A recent research study on small groups entitled, Big Impact: Connecting People to God and One Another in Thriving Groups, discovered that groups that see people accept Christ, increase in size, and multiply into additional groups have four things in common. In this session, we will look at how small group leaders can grow their groups by modelling and facilitating prayer, outreach, care and the empowerment of group members.

Breakout Session #2 (CANIL Room #208) - Discipling in Triplicate: The Amazing Potential of Micro-groups (Mike and Kathy Mawhorter)

Description - The goal of discipleship is to become like Jesus. This happens best in caring relationship. Today, however, discipleship tends to be more identified with programs and curriculum. This over-emphasis on the cognitive has taken what was originally organic and relational and has turned it into school. Micro-Groups are an attempt to encourage spiritual growth, supportive accountability, friendship, and involvement in the lives of pre-faith friends – in groups that are easily reproducible. The focus is on helping each other become fully devoted followers of Jesus by learning together, sharing together and praying together.

Presenters - Mike Mawhorter has been lead pastor of Ladner Baptist Church for 10 years. He and his wife Kathy, an academic therapist, have been involved in vocational ministry for more than 30 years. They are committed to a lifetime of growth and learning in their faith, and together they are working to explore new methods of effective, relational discipleship. This summer they will have been married 40 years. They have four children and nine grandchildren - with at least two more expected this year.

Breakout Session #3 (CANIL Room #209) – Developing Healthy Multicultural Small Groups (Sherman Lau)

Description - With the increasing multicultural context in Canada, churches have an exciting opportunity to reach the nations with the gospel through small groups. Effective small group leaders have an understanding of, and an appreciation for, integrating “cultural intelligence” into their leadership roles and ministry. Based on the research of David Livermore, author of “Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World”, participants will analyze and develop personal practices to develop healthy multicultural small groups.

Presenter – Sherman Lau has been involved in leading and overseeing small groups of various types for over a decade, in volunteer and vocational capacities. He enjoys sharing his Malaysian culture with new friends and grew up developing his “cultural intelligence” in a cultural mosaic similar to Canada. Upon graduating from MBBS Canada in 2005, he served at Vancouver Pacific Grace MB Church as their English Pastor (2006-2009) and at the Life Centre in Abbotsford, an intentionally multicultural church in Abbotsford (2010-2012), as their Associate Pastor. He currently serves in student enrollment at MBBS Canada, where he also pursuing a Doctor of Ministry.

Here is what some people said about the previous MinistryLift Conference on October 4, 2013:

"MinistryLift was a timely experience, an opportunity to learn new skills, network with other gifted believers, and hear God's voice on several areas which I had been asking Him for clarity on. With any conference, I encourage all to pray beforehand asking God to direct one to the right sessions and for Him to speak specifically to their assignment/calling. A conference can be a shotgun of information, but with the Spirit's leading, it can become Divinely specialized."

"No matter what your ministry, or what your ministry need- MinistryLift has what you need. Great speakers, great food and great fellowship."

"I would definitely register for other online conferences you might offer. Overall I was exceedingly happy with the Christian content and the gospel truth that was taught in every seminar I observed. We definitely need more of what you are offering."

"My capacity has been enlarged as a Minister of the Gospel, both in preaching and teaching, in workshop design and in finding specific answers to some questions I had. Using the day as an opportunity for "ad -hock" mentoring enabled me to connect with new people and ask specific leadership questions, such as identity formation from Youth Pastor to Solo Pastor, about how a nurse makes opportunity to witness for God in the hospital, and so forth. I truly loved the interaction that was possible during this well organized day with sufficient time for personal connection. I am already looking forward to the next conference :)"

"I enjoyed all the sessions I attended. Speakers related to the audience well. All the information was applicable and interesting. Food was great! The time to have conversations during the breaks was well organized."

"The conference and many of its seminars helped to bridge academic learning and practical ministry."

"This conference helped me with my take on evangelism and how to serve God better from my current ministry context."

"I found the day to be helpful, a time of fellowship that encouraged me to continue cheerfully in Christ's service."

"It was very encouraging to connect and interact with fellow ministry workers! I always learn so much from hearing the ministry stories of others."

Past MinistryLift Conferences

Equipping 2013 (October 4, 2013)

This conference featured 28 workshops in 7 tracks (apologetics/evangelism, adult ministry, Bible/theology, children's ministry, leadership, marriage and family/helping skills, and multicultural ministry. You can access all of the conference PowerPoints/Prezis, handouts and teaching videos on our Resources page (there is a post-conference registration fee for accessing the videos).

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MinistryLift 2014 Small Group Ministry Conference