Lexington district conference

Lexington district conference:
If you build it, they will come

By Jonathan Stepp
Nashville and Murfreesboro pastor

LEXINGTON, Kentucky—Pastors and ministry leaders from churches in four WCG districts gathered in Lexington June 4 to 6 for the annual district conference.

Like Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, conference attendees heard the clear message: “If you build it, they will come.”

The question is, “build what?” With the change to a new system of financial management, we are tempted to believe that our churches need to build their own meeting facilities if they want new people to come.

Spiritually healthy churches

The conference made it clear that nonbelievers will be drawn to churches that are spiritually healthy enough to reach out to them. If we build healthy churches, filled with people who are friends of sinners, then the lost who need Jesus will come. The facility in which a church is housed is secondary in importance to the health of the church itself.

Dan Rogers, superintendent of U.S. ministers, developed this theme of church health in sessions on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, he led the group through a study in creating a healthy disciplemaking environment through a balance of word, worship, fellowship and prayer.

On Saturday he focused on growing a healthy church through a balance of winning, building and equipping ministries. Friday evening Pastor General Joseph Tkach made a convincing case for the importance of denominational connectivity in creating healthy churches.

Sharing the grace of Jesus

On Sunday afternoon Mark Vincent from Design for Ministry gave the closing presentation on the role of stewardship in building a healthy church. Mr. Vincent stressed that we are first of all stewards of the gospel, and therefore the primary resource that churches manage is the mission to share the grace of Jesus with the world around us. Resources such as church buildings and money must be tools to accomplish this mission—they must not be allowed to become our mission.

Many participants commented on the helpfulness of this year’s workshop format. The teaching sessions allowed time for leaders from each congregation to discuss the issues raised in that session and pray together about how the Lord was calling them to respond.

On Saturday evening, Ron Kelly, church controller, spoke with pastors about the new system of financial management and the newly implemented pension program.

On Sunday morning, breakout sessions dealt with youth ministry, women’s ministry, church administration and other topics. Dr. Tkach, in his sermon during the Sunday morning worship service, asked, “What is the theme song of your life?” Like Mary in Luke 2, we seek to make the song of the Lord’s salvation the theme of our lives.

Ministry booths, which were open throughout the conference, provided the participants with information on a variety of ministries.

Participating districts

The four districts represented were Mid-South (the host district, Bob Taylor, district superintendent), Northeast (Ted Johnston, district superintendent), Mid-Atlantic (Keith Brittain, district superintendent), and Southeast (Allan Barr, district superintendent).

GROUP DISCUSSION—From left: Lynn
Jordan, Judy Pass, Carl Baughman, Carla
Shavalier, Rachel Thropp and Pastor
Jonathan Stepp [Photo by Steve Solari]

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