My first five years of ministry in Austin have been both exhilarating and perplexing. Join me for a frank and vulnerable discussion about our church journey of making disciples in an urban setting, letting go of old paradigms, and the 21st century application of 1st century practices.

Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago (the home of Vertical Church Band) runs 7 Campuses a weekend and holds a huge weight on that event being the furnace that fuels the rest of the church's weekly activity. Our team will unpack the philosophy and 'Vertical' system behind planning our weekly worship services and explore variations of service ideas and forms.

New Life Church Men's Ministry has taken a very unique approach to gathering men in a close relationship with God and each other. Using concepts derived from our military, our Men's Ministry encourages men to form small groups, called Fire Teams, that draw men together as comrades to love God, live life and care for one another. Join Pastors Gabe Jenkins and Colen Willis as they offer insights into this unique approach to Men's Ministry.

Pastors and leaders have a sincere desire to engage in their city and the world. What we should do, where we should do it and with whom we should partner with are usually hurdles that either stifle our engagement or minimize our impact. This workshop will help you craft a simplified missions engagement document that will streamline your overall church participation.

Always a favorite and fun session, you'll hear from a group of experienced songwriters about the great gift of song. Though each writer in this group may have a different approach, they have a deep commitment to God-songs and church songs.

Many pastors and leaders feel the call to write. Perhaps there is a desire that stirs within you to steward the message God has given you through writing. Where do you start? How do you craft your message? Should you write a book? If so, how do you navigate the publishing industry? These are a few of the questions Gabe Jenkins and Allen Arnold will discuss in their session, "The Call to Write." Gabe has served on the pastoral staff at New Life for the past ten years and is the author of the book, "Deep Waters: God's Invitation To Go Deeper." Allen currently oversees all of the content and resources for Ransomed Heart ministries, and previously spent 20 years as an executive at Thomas Nelson Publishing

Some teach by topics; others by text. But all of us want to preach Christ above all. Yet in a world that is moving beyond the secular, how can we preach Jesus without succumbing to the trap of trendiness or the pitfall of, well, preaching only to Christians? Pastor Glenn Packiam will spend the first 20-minutes helping us discern a model that begins with what moves people deeply and is shaped by the Gospel itself. Then Pastor Daniel Grothe will help us think about a model of preaching that goes beyond the mere transference of information to the full engagement of one's imagination. We will wrap up with 20-minutes of discussion.