This is a Guest Post by Eric Jones. He can be found blogging at Jonese.us. I find this post timely, especially since moving into Ministry and seeing the number of conferences made available to those “in” ministry. I think the rise of much smaller ‘unconferences’ is one manifestation of the growing need for conferences for the ‘regular guy.’
Has anyone else out there become aware of all the church conferences going on around the US? We’ve got leadership conferences, worship leader conferences, youth ministry conferences and more. It seems like every time I turn around I see a new conference popping up for my pastor, associate pastors, church staffers, worship leaders etc to attend.
I like to check out these sites to see what, if anything am I’m missing. The speakers are all people I typically am aware of and have much respect for. The topics are as expected, slanted towards church leadership and church staff.
But then I started to wonder, what about me? What about the church attender? Where is our conference circuit?
Look around and typically you’ll find 1 MAYBE 2 conference or “events” a year for the average church attender. At my church I know we have a yearly conference for married couples and a big weekend conference for the singles in our church.
These conferences are great, well produced and top notch. I’ve only attended the singles one but it was awesome. Music, fellowship, worship, great minds just pouring their knowledge and love for Jesus into us. The energy around you is electric as people engage in conversations spurred on by the topics of the day.
But then it ends. You go home charged up and ready to go only to have life face palm you. You do your best to keep the energy high but over time you can’t help but loose some of that spark.
So I come to you and ask, why aren’t there more conferences for the regular church attender? Why do we have to have 3,000 conferences for the Church Staff but only 3 for the flock?
Better yet why hasn’t the flock stood up and taken charge to create their own conference?
Wayne Cordova says
I've often thought about this. When I was a Student Minister there were endless conferences and retreats available to take my students to. College students have their events… but something happens once you become adult. You either have to go to a "men's" conference or a "women's" conference, or like you said, singles, married, etc.
So let's do it. Set a date Eric, who's speaking, what do the breakout sessions look like?
Phillip Gibb says
I sometimes wish I was in the US – they have all the great conferences (if you can get to the cities they are held at). But I should not complain – I got to go to Drive 06, yayy – what an experience.
But alas there is not much happening over here in South Africa. There are DVD conferences – they have value, but they miss something.
There is also the Drive In 'web' conference, but that occurs during my working hours, and yes I can watch offline but there is nothing better then to participate with the discussion afterward which you can't do effectively unless you watched the session.
But your question is why don't we have more conferences for the flock as apposed to the conferences for the staff. I guess the problem is that most people have jobs and other commitments that make it hard to attend any form of extended gathering like a conference. The Church staff member can because it is part of his/her job and the dedicated volunteer also because they will always make a plan.
jonese says
Yea i think John's thoughts before my post about unconferences etc will be the draw for the "flock". I know we've had a few here in the ATL which I didn't get to make but they were organized more around ideas and less an audience..
Paul Steinbrueck says
Hi Eric, generally speaking, I think most conferences are organized because they offer something local churches can't or don't provide. For example, a local church lacks the ability to teach its own pastor, worship leader, youth pastor, etc, so conferences are organized so that experts in those areas can minister to and teach them.
By and large the local churches themselves minister to "the flock" through weekly worship services and classes.
I guess I would ask you… What exactly are you looking for in a conference? Is it something your church could be doing?
jonese says
probably is something my church could be doing, or at least a church in my area. Me personally i'd love to see more worship time, and more "events" which talk to my generation and generational needs. Too many pastors, for obvious reasons, have to use a large umbrella when speaking. Too much focus and they will loose people. I see conferences or unconferences or events etc as a way to really focus on a specific topic, idea, or audience.
Kevin Mattison says
The church hasn't stood up and created their own…because most don't think the 'need' a conference…like most of us church workers (pastors, youth pastors etc.) do.
Lets be honest. Most business or companies send their people to work at conferences but not their whole company. The church has followed suit believing that the paid professional is the one in need to the 'training' and 'rest' and 'ministry'…but isn't that why they went to 4-8 years of school?
jonese says
I think we can all use the training and ministry and yes most send a select few to a conf with hopes they will return back and share the knowledge etc. But the same could hold true for the church goers. not everyone would go for various reasons but it's possible someone you know might have gone and will share with you…
There's only so much you can learn and get out of a sunday sermon, and a bible study once a week. Not everyone can "feed themselves" as i like to say 🙂
Excellent points BTW!
brianfalexander says
I really don't think we need another conference, or event to send out members to. I think we need to be spending the money on the lost and the needy. Why do we think ONE MORE conference will help us? I have attended conferences of various types and I really think that one more isn't going to help anyone that much more. In my opinion they are too expensive and a waste of the money that God has blessed us with. Anyone got any comments on that? Feel free to email me or just reply below. =/
brian [at] bfalexander [dot] com
jonese says
NICE! or as John would say EPIC!
Great thoughts and a focus i hadn't even thought about….dang now i have to go ponder….
Quick thought though i don't see the conf as a way to bring more in, but to strengthen those we have and those who desire to be stronger…
Jim says
my primary goal is to have as much available live via video and to have our staff actually in the field and on the street interacting.
jonese says
interaction is key….
Kevin Ring says
A few thoughts…
Conferences can be a great way to provide learning, relationship building, and professional/personal advancement opportunities by connecting people around a common interest or topic. Flock Christianity needs more of that. However, conferences should never replace the value of membership in and service to a local church. They could augment in areas where a local church might be constrained by lack of resources.
Most people don't view themselves as professional Christians and lack the Kingdom-mindedness that creates a hunger for the training and equipping in specialized ministry areas that such conferences could provide. How do people move past the belief that their local Church is the only resource for meeting their spiritual needs? How do people move past an efficiency mentality that constrains the attention they're willing to give to spiritual growth to one hour on Sunday?
How can a conference be cost effective and attract a large enough attendance to be profitable, without being dumbing down the content to speaking to the lowest common denominator of their Christian- or personal-interests?
Before creating another subset of Christian conferences, perhaps we can find ways to spread the value of the thousands of existing conferences even deeper throughout the Body.
For one, let cities other than Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Grand Rapids, San Diego and Urbana share the wealth. Sure it may not be as cost effective, but what a blessing it could be to other cities and the surrounding churches.
Two, invite the flock to pastor conferences. Offer discounts to pastors that bring members from their church. Or let the church members attend part of the conference for free. Imagine the benefit of exposing a member of your church to deeper spiritual issues, who knows what kind of growth could happen! And imagine how much easier it would be to justify and raise financial support for pastors to attend conferences if someone from their church had experienced first hand the benefits of attending. It's a win, win, win.
jonese says
wow. i hope others are taking the time to think about these questions. If i ever DO create a conference i'll be bringing up this and the other ideas raised..
Awesome thoughts and ideas and questions!!!
jonese says
Good questions let me pray on it 🙂 I agree with your thoughts and it's kinda of where i was coming from. Love how you picked up on my last line about the flock….
Sometimes it's not about looking around at "who" to blame but looking around and "who" to involve!