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16:5 Conference Helps Churches Build Momentum

By April 1, 2015No Comments
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Dan Nichols (left), pastor of Restored Church, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Aaron Hixson, youth pastor at Northridge Church, Rochester, N.Y., participate in Northridge’s 16:5 Conference.

ROCHESTER, N.Y.—Almost 900 pastors, staff members, and laypeople from 92 churches in nine states attended Northridge Church’s 16:5 Conference March 23 and 24. The conference gets its name from Acts 16:5: “Churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.” Numerous speakers from Northridge and additional churches and organizations addressed philosophies and strategies for making more and better disciples in our culture.

Three breakout sessions and 41 workshops gave attendees the opportunity to learn from the success of ministry leaders and connect with one another. In his breakout session “Keep It Simple,” David Whiting, pastor of Northridge, shared how his church transitioned from the traditional programming of Sunday School, Sunday morning service, Sunday evening service, and Wednesday night service to a simple but more effective schedule that better promotes discipleship over busyness.

Tom Melzoni of Generis, an organization that helps churches develop generosity, spoke on giving in “Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate.” “A poor giving culture trumps a great vision,” he says. He gave attendees practical helps on funding their vision and enhancing their culture of generosity and stewardship. Melzoni spoke on a similar topic at the 2011 and 2012 GARBC Conferences.

Jim Vogel, state representative of the Northeast Fellowship and editor of The Pastor: A Guide for God’s Faithful Servant (Regular Baptist Press), spoke on church conflict. “Church conflict happens,” he says. “No point living in denial on this one.” He shared 12 strategies church leaders can incorporate to lessen the frequency of conflict and the severity of its impact.

Also speaking was Aaron Patton, pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church, a dying work that he helped revitalize with strategic change when he became pastor. In his workshop called “We’re Not Northridge,” he shared his church’s story and the “watershed moments that helped us begin to break barriers and see change.” He said to attendees, “If you’re concerned or unsure that your church can change and gain momentum, I want to give you some help and a whole lot of hope!”

Patton has attended the 16:5 Conference every year since it began five years ago. He says, “I remember thinking after the first year, ‘We don’t have this many volunteers, we don’t have that budget, we don’t have the staff to accomplish all of this. We can’t be Northridge!’ Thankfully, I learned a valuable lesson that first year: I needed to go home and focus on one or two key things that I had learned. Since then, we have been able to gain momentum and to see lives changed through the gospel by taking incremental steps.”

Whiting makes this point as well, saying, “We don’t expect you to do everything we’re doing, but we hope you’ll be able to take one or two of the things we’ve learned, discuss them with your team, and make them better. Implement them according to your context.”

The 16:5 conference touched on seemingly every facet of church ministry: assimilating guests, worship, children’s and student ministries, secretarial work, counseling, planting churches, creative facility updates on a budget, first impressions, visual media, social media, and more. The key word tying everything together was momentum, the theme for the two days.

Momentum is built not by accomplishing one big thing, but by “doing a lot of little things slowly,” Whiting says. Eventually the church will experience “a breakthrough or a tipping point,” he says, “and at that moment your church begins to move at a much greater rate, and you can sense the momentum your church possesses.”

Whiting encouraged pastors to attend with other staff members of their churches so they could think through issues as a team. The schedule even built in time for teams to debrief and process what they’ve learned. Pastors who attended were invited to register for Northridge’s pastors’ conference called “Lead” at a reduced rate. That conference will take place Nov. 3.