Conference theme:
“The Good Shepherd”
The conference will be live
August 19-20, 2022
Register Now
by clicking on the box below based on size of your group
GROW…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” – Ephesians 4:14-16
Designed to equip church leadership, teachers, and parents in the task of leading children to Christ.
IT’S TIME TO TRAIN…
…teachers, parents, leaders, and volunteers in your ministry to children! This fall the kids are back and your church should be ready to do all you can do to welcome, love, and encourage them to GROW with you as you follow Jesus. Register for this multi-purpose, multi-media training conference today and provide all the training you will need to jump-start 2021-22 discipleship ministry in your local church.
By registering for the conference, you will have access to all of the material from Launch Weekend, the workshops, and the webinars to view until February 2022. Our virtual conference began with a live event, which you will have access to after registering. You will also have access to the workshops provided, as well as the ability to participate in the webinars in September and October. All of the content was recorded in case you weren’t able to participate on Launch Weekend. Register a group from your church. Pricing is set to encourage you to gather your children’s ministry team to participate together. Access to the site will be provided once you register for the conference. You will have access to the content through February 2022.
*Here are some ideas on how you may be able to use this entire training module to equip, motivate, and encourage your new and returning families and ministry volunteers. Click on heading for ideas.
Consider making this GROW conference a congregation-wide fall emphasis on Discipling Our Covenant Children!
After registering, you will get links from events of Live Weekend |
Speaker |
|---|---|
| Friday Evening | |
| Why You and Your Children Should Be IN Church | Rev. Scott Barber |
| Saturday Morning | |
| Teaching The Word to Children: YOU Can Do It! | Sue Jakes |
| Ministry Leadership: Turning the Hearts of Fathers to Children | Dr. Stephen Estock |
Video Workshops to be downloaded after the “LIVE” weekend |
Speaker |
|---|---|
| If You Build It: The Necessity of a Local Church Children’s Ministry Team | Sue Jakes |
| Teaching JESUS! Through the Ages and Stages of Childhood | Sherry Kendrick |
| Covenant Baptism | Bryan Chapell |
| Modeling the Message of the Gospel to our Littlest | Lisa Updike |
| Family Worship | Burress McCombe |
| Understanding and Reaching the Whole Child | Laney Stayton |
| Teaching the Bible at Home To Kids with Unique Learning Differences | Ashley Belknap |
Weekly Live WebinarsClick to register for the webinars and we will send you a link. |
Speaker |
Date |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom Management | B.A. Snider | Thurs., August 26, 7:30 pm ET |
| Developing a Congregational Vision for Discipling Children | John Kwasny | Tues., August 31, 7:30 pm ET |
| Unique Needs: How to Identify, Love, and Disciple Kids Impacted by Disability in Your Children’s Ministry | Ashley Belknap | Tues., Sept. 7, 7:30 pm ET |
| Beyond Sunday Morning | Sue Jakes | Mon., Sept. 13, 7:30 pm ET |
| Transformational Summer Ministry | Jimmy Brock | Thurs., Sept. 16, 7:30 pm ET |
| Equipping Kids to Stand Firm in the Present Culture | Dana Russell | Wed., Sept. 22, 7:30 pm ET |
| Outreach: Relational-engagement with our Community Kids | Joseph Parker | Thurs., Sept. 30, 7:30 pm ET |
| Teaching Children to Worship God in a Corporate Worship Setting | Becky Sinclair | Tues., Oct. 5, 7:30 pm ET |
Workshops and Webinars providing a Biblical lens to look at:
The Culture | The Church | The Children | The Call To Make Disciples
Video Workshop Descriptions
Webinar Descriptions
Frequently Asked Questions…
Six Possible Target Groups in your Congregation
Speaker Bios
Ashley Belknap is the Director of Engaging Disability With The Gospel, a ministry of the PCA’s Mission to North America. Ashley obtained her undergraduate degrees in Christian Education and Business Administration from Erskine College and her Master’s in Theological Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. Ashley helps congregations realize their calling to love, commit to, disciple, and enfold individuals and families impacted by disability. As director, Ashley continually works to see disability ministry expand across the PCA, and accomplishes this through creative planning, teaching online and in-person trainings, conducting ministry consultations, writing timely resources, speaking at churches and conferences, managing a staff, and raising funds for the ministry.
Scott Barber and his wife, Leesa, are both from the beautiful town of Carrollton, Georgia. After practicing law for more than 10 years, Scott was called by God into full-time ministry, a call which led him to Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from seminary in 2008 and moved with his family to Florence, AL, to serve as Pastor of Redeemer Church. Because he spent much of his life as a church member and not a pastor, Scott knows firsthand what it is like to sit in a service and listen to a pastor. He also knows what it is like to live your life as a Christian in a secular workplace. Scott is a gifted teacher, a faithful shepherd, and a loving husband and father.
Jimmy Brock has been involved in children’s ministry since he was a child himself, serving churches in Virginia, California, Missouri, and Georgia as a Sunday school teacher, camp counselor, camp director, nursery coordinator, and most recently Pastor of Family Ministry. He is now the Church Planting Pastor for Resurrection Community Church in Virginia Beach, VA.
Dr. Bryan Chapell, Ph.D. Is Pastor Emeritus of the historic Grace Presbyterian Church and President Emeritus of Covenant Theological Seminary. He now leads the Administrative Committee of the Presbyterian Church in America. His preaching and teaching are broadcast in many nations through Unlimited Grace Media, and are also available at unlimitedgrace.com. He is the author of many books, including Unlimited Grace, Each for the Other, Holiness by Grace, Praying Backwards, The Gospel According to Daniel, The Hardest Sermons You’ll Ever Have to Preach, and Christ-centered Preaching, a preaching textbook now in multiple editions and many languages. He and his wife, Kathy, have four adult children, and a growing number of grandchildren.
Stephen Estock is Coordinator for the PCA Committee on Discipleship Ministries (CDM). A former USAF officer, he has been in pastoral ministry for 20 years, serving churches in Montgomery, AL and St. Louis, MO. Stephen has also been an adjunct professor at Birmingham Theological and Covenant Theological Seminaries. His Ph.D. is in education, with an emphasis on competency-based learning and leadership training. He and his wife, Susan, have three children and live in Atlanta, GA.
Sue Jakes is mother of four, grandmother of 11, and lives in Atlanta, GA where she serves as Children’s Ministry Coordinator for the Presbyterian Church in America’s Committee on Discipleship Ministries. She has served as director of children’s ministry at Covenant PCA in Fayetteville, GA and is now serving as children’s director at Westminster PCA in Atlanta. She has been teaching children, youth, and women’s groups in the church for over thirty-five years. Sue is co‑author of “Heart of the Home,” a Bible Study ministry for moms and Teach Me To Worship, CDM’s children’s church online curriculum.
Sherry Kendrick is the Family Ministry Director at Covenant Church of Naples in Florida where she has served for 11 years. She directs the staff of both the children and student ministries at Covenant so that the gospel is taught to all age groups through passionate, trained teachers. Each ministry also partners with parents to assist them in the discipling of their children at home as well as at the church. Sherry is a widowed pastor’s wife and brings many years and experiences to serving the church. She has 3 children and 2 grandchildren.
Dr. John C. Kwasny is the Director of Discipleship Ministries at Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Ridgeland, Mississippi. He is a Biblical counselor, an adjunct professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, and Director of One Story Ministries—authoring a complete discipleship curriculum for the church, home, and school (children and youth). John has written several books, including Established in the Faith, Suffering in 3-D, and Pursuing a Heart of Wisdom: Counseling Teenagers Biblically. He also does a weekly podcast called Biblical Counseling Today, dealing with individual, marriage, and parenting problems. John and his wife, Martie, have eight children, three sons-in-law, and one grandson.
Burress McCombe loves living in the Shenandoah Valley and has had the privilege of serving there at Covenant Presbyterian Church, Harrisonburg, VA as the Pastor of Worship. Burress also takes great joy in being a husband and a dad. He cares deeply for the church and desires to be a part of aiding the church in singing rich, biblically sound theology. He enjoys playing guitar, running, laughing and being bald.
Joseph Parker is the Next Gen Discipleship Pastor at Village Seven Presbyterian Church. For the past 30 years he has served in church plants to large size churches, from inner city to suburban settings. He has a passion for relationally engaging both our covenant as well as our community families with the gospel, equipping adults to disciple our next generation in such a way they grow to become Christ-changed, hope-filled, productive adults. Joseph is head over heels in love with his wife Kelly for nearly 20 years, and are parents of their adopted boys Jacob and Makiah, now 13 and 14 years old.
Dana Russell has been a member of Christ the King Church in Cambridge, MA for nearly 25 years and has volunteered in the children’s ministry since its beginnings when the first children were born into the congregation. Her early years of service were spent on the nursery committee and teaching Sunday School at multiple grade levels. Dana has served as the Children’s Ministry Director since 2013 and is passionate about equipping teachers and parents in guiding and growing children in faith. She and her husband, Greg, an elder at CTK, are currently navigating raising three teenaged girls.
Becky Sinclair is the former Children’s Director at Clemson Presbyterian Church in Clemson, SC. She has a passion for teaching children God’s Word and encouraging memorization of Scripture. She loves to encourage those involved in children’s ministry as well as parents in the discipleship of children. Her hobbies include spending time with her husband, David, and their adult children and grandchildren, reading, and knitting.
B.A. Snider has more than 20 years’ experience as a children’s director in churches ranging in size from 200 to 4,000 but finds her passion is the same no matter how many children she’s serving. Show the children Jesus. Teach the kids all of the Bible so they see that the stories from the Old Testament point to Jesus and that the New Testament shows how Jesus fulfilled God’s promises—yesterday, today, and forever.
B.A. began her formal ministry as a children’s director and consultant in 1993, but she has taught and led music for children since she was in junior high school. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Tennessee and taught college until the Lord called her to seminary and full-time ministry. She graduated with a master’s degree in Christian Education from Columbia International University. Speaking at conferences, consulting with leadership, and training teachers brought her to Great Commission Publications (www.gcp.org) in 2014 as the Children’s Ministry Consultant and Marketing Director.
Laney Stayton – In one way or another, children’s ministry has been a part of Laney’s life – starting as the child of a pastor and missionary, then through volunteering at her local church as a young adult, and now as a mom of two with another one on the way. After taking a quick detour as a certified shorthand reporter in Texas, the Lord called her to serve as the children’s ministry director of North Shore Fellowship in Chattanooga, TN. She has always had a love for children and desire to help them grow in their understanding of God through His Word, and she loves the opportunity her current role gives to welcome multi-generations to do the same.
Lisa Updike is the Director of Children’s Ministries at Covenant in Harrisonburg, VA and doesn’t remember a day when she didn’t love Jesus. Her ministry experience includes teaching, special education, leading children’s choirs, and curriculum writing. She has also spearheaded children’s programs in several churches. She and her husband, Kevin, have been married since 1989 and are blessed with 4 adult children, 3 of whom joined their family through adoption. Lisa and Kevin stay busy with church activities, creating art, and best of all, doting on their two grandsons.
