Ignite Conference

What a great time we had attending the Ignite Conference in Arizona last month. Everyone took home insightful information to be utilized in their church and community. Below are some responses from Church Planters in our district that attended this conference:

Vic King - I went to Jim Tomberlin’s breakout on Multi-Sites. It helped me get a broader view of the MS concept and fill in a few blanks. It also sparked some thoughts about the qualities and attributes of Campus Pastors, how they differ from Church Planters. He said that the roles are 80% the same, but the other 20% that is different is significant. They typically have different personalities.

I also appreciated some of Perry Noble’s thoughts. One in particular stuck with me: “Every week needs to be a great week to bring unsaved friends.” I have a strong leaning toward the organic and away from big Sunday morning productions; however, in our culture it appears that the Sunday morning gathering remains the best opportunity for reaching people. If it is done well…not so much polish as an authentic demonstration of inclusive community and devotion to God…believers will invite their lost friends, who will then begin to open their hearts to a personal relationship, and maybe get involved in a small group. So, the big effort we put into Sunday morning (about 3 hours to set up and 1.5 hours to tear down included) translates into lost people saved. It is worth it.


Jeremy Copeland - As a brand new church plant ourselves, I was inspired to be very intentional in raising up leaders within our own midst to be the next generation of church planters. At the core of our DNA needs to be the vision to reproduce ourselves.

The biggest value for me was the one on one conversations I had with other leaders. I enjoyed the opportunity to pick the brains of some of my friends in ministry and to begin to plan out the next steps for us as a church plant.

Ron Crawford – Gary has challenged us to spend time in prayer and fasting this month to see the direction God wants us to take in planting more churches. With this challenge from Gary and the messages from the general speakers at the Ignite Conference, I feel strongly that we need to move forward with God’s cause to reproduce.