2012 Annual Conference
Sunday—Tuesday
March 4—March 6
Valley Church
4343 Fuller Rd.
West Des Moines, IA 50265
Vision:
A scary word at times to both pastors and laity who have only considered it in a prophetic sense, such as "seeing the future." Yet vision is more than having a "mystical sense." It is also applying clear vision to what God has called all of us to do in ministry—that is having clear focus on helping people to grow in their everyday walk with Jesus as genuine followers of Christ.
We believe this conference will help to equip you with ministry skills, refresh you with warm fellowship, and deepen your understanding of how to clarify your unique calling as a servant of Christ and His Church. We believe you will leave with renewed vision.
Early Registration Discount
$15/person by January 25, 2012
$10/person by February 8, 2012
$5/person by February 22, 2012
Schedule
Early Bird Event — Sunday March 4
- 6:00 pm Couples Night Out with Phil Callaway
Monday March 5
- 8:00 am Registration Opens
- 8:30 am Plenary #1 Will Mancini
- 10:45 am Plenary #2 Will Mancini
- Noon Luncheon—Westhaven Recognition
- 1:45 pm Workshops & Ministry Wives Track
- 3:45 pm Annual 2012 Business Meeting
- 5:30 pm Celebration Banquet—Special Guest Speaker Phil Callaway
Tuesday March 6
- 8:00 am Registration Opens
- 8:30 am Youth Ministry Track—Ron Kirkeeng
- 8:30 am Plenary #3 Cal Swan
- 10:30 am Plenary #4 Phil Callaway
- Noon Fellowship Luncheon
- Noon Women's Ministry Luncheon/Track
- 1:30 pm Plenary #5 Michael Cooper
- 3:30 pm Workshops/Seminars
- 5:00 pm End of Conference
Housing & Childcare
Heart of America Group has offered some excellent rates for this year's conference. Please consider this option for your housing needs. You can find hotel descriptions at heartofamericagroup.com. For reservations, however, you must call to reserve your room using the information below and ask for the Central District Conference rate.
-
Comfort Suites @ Living History Farms
11167 Hickman Road Urbandale, IA 50322
(Exit 125 I-35/80)
To make reservations call:
(800) 395-7675 and reference Central District Conference.
Reservations must be made prior to February 14, 2012 to receive the rate of $75 per night. -
Sleep Inn @ Living History Farms
11211 Hickman Road Urbandale, IA 50322
(Exit 125 I-35/80)
To make reservations call:
(877) 233-0333 and reference Central District Conference.
Reservations must be made prior to February 14, 2012 to receive the rate of $64 per night.
If you would like free housing in a Valley Church member's home, please call Valley Church at 515-226-9973.
We are unable to provide childcare for this years conference.
Meals & Banquet
Meals are included in this year's registration fees and every meal provides opportunity for fellowship.
Speakers
Will Mancini emerged from the trenches of local church leadership to found Auxano, a first-of-kind consulting ministry that focuses on vision clarity. As a "clarity evangelist," Will has served as vision architect for hundreds of churches across the country. His pastoral experience includes helping lead two different congregations to over 3,000 in weekend attendance in 10 years—Clear Creek Community Church and FaithBridge United Methodist Church. Will's education includes a ThM in Pastoral Leadership from Dallas Theological Seminary and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Penn State. Will's style blends the best of three worlds: the process thinking from the discipline of engineering, the communications savvy as an ad agency executive, and the practical theology as a pastoral leader.
Phil Callaway is an award-winning author, speaker, and daddy of three. The best-selling author of twenty-four books, Phil has been called "the funniest Canadian alive," but never by his school teachers. He is a frequent guest on national radio and TV, and his humorous stories on family life have been featured in hundreds of magazines worldwide. But he insists that his greatest achievement was convincing his wife to marry him. Phil lives in Alberta, Canada with his high school sweetheart. They are married.
Michael T. Cooper is associate professor of Religion and Contemporary Culture and program director of the Master of Arts in Communication and Culture at Trinity. He earned his BED from Texas A&M University, his MA from Columbia Biblical Seminary and School of Mission, and his PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Before coming to Trinity, Dr. Cooper was a missionary in Central And Eastern Europe for thirteen years. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Evangelical Missiological Society. He is a research fellow of the Western Institute for Intercultural Studies and editor of Sacred Tribes Journal, as well as an academic advisor for the Lausanne Committee's Issue Group addressing new spiritualities in a postmodern world.
Calvin Swan is Superintendent of the Central District EFCA. He is a graduate of Wheaton College and earned his MDiv and DMin at Trinity Evangelist Divinity School. His EFC pastoral experience includes serving as a youth pastor in Bartlett, Illinois, a solo pastor in Big Lake, Minnesota and as a senior pastor in Muscatine, Iowa. He has now served for 13 years as District Superintendent, during which time our district has grown from 80 churches to 135.
Ron Kirkeeng has worked closely with Cadre Ministries and the National EFCA training leaders and building a disciple-making culture in E. Free youth ministries regionally and nationally. Ron is a certified trainer with Cadre Ministries. For Tuesday's Youth Ministry Track at the Central District Conference, Ron will lead us through Cadre's Disciple Making Is Relationships experience. Plus, Ron will provide some nuts and bolts advice on how to sharpen the multiplying experience within your church.
Student Ministry Track
Tuesday, March 6, 2012: 8:00—1:30
At the heart of ReachStudents Central District is a desire to train our youth pastors and volunteers to become even more effective leaders. Join us Tuesday as we connect with Ron Kirkeeng of Cadre Ministries and sharpen our skills to develop "clear vision" for our ministries.
- 8:00 am Registration & Fellowship
- 8:30 am Youth Ministry Track
- Noon Lunch
Ministry Wives Track
Monday, March 5, 2012: 1:30—5:15
Join other ministry wives as you are treated to an afternoon of rich fellowship, fun exploration and afternoon coffee at West End Architectural Salvage.
Our special guest speakers, John and Carol Herman, will lead us in a time of discovery about God's passion to continually renew and renovate our hearts. God truly IS always up to something!
West End Architectural Salvage has 4 fascinating floors filled with architectural salvage from New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, England, and the Middle East. Don Short, the owner, will share a bit about his vision to rescue craftsmanship from the past so that in the future these pieces can be renovated or creatively re‐purposed. You'll enjoy time to explore with new and old friends.
- 1:30 pm Leave Valley Church by car pool
- 2:00 pm Afternoon coffee
- 2:30 pm John and Carol Herman
- 4:00 pm West End Architectural Salvage exploration
- 5:00 pm Leave to return to Valley Church by 5:15
Women’s Ministry Track
Tuesday, March 6, 2012: 12:00—4:30
- 12:00—1:15 pm Lunch
- "EFCA RESOUND: A Clear Vision for Women’s Ministry" — Mary Lou McDowell
- "All Aboard" — Nuts and bolts talk about uniting women and growing women's ministry in your church — Kathi Schmidt
- 1:30—2:30 Choice of four workshops:
- "Homes of Light" — reaching women beyond your church's walls" — Judie Colyer, Ankeny, IA
- "A Vision for Discipling Today's Young Women" — Donna Larson, Ankeny, IA
- "Hearts and Hands—Recruiting, Developing and Managing Volunteers" — Debi Lydic, West Des Moines, IA
- "Me, a Small Group Leader? Developing facilitation skills and confidence to lead women’s studies" — Deb Jordan, Clear Lake, IA; Mary Lou McDowell, Central District, Ames, IA
- 2:45—3:45 Repeat of workshops
- 3:45—4:30 Affinity Groups