We want to thank Generis for their sixteenth year as a sponsor. Brad Leeper has served in church leadership roles and has real-life experience to offer far beyond that of most industry consultants. We welcome Generis’ Principal and President, Brad Leeper.

Generis is a church consulting firm passionate about helping ministries of all sizes bridge the gap between vision and resources by engaging the hearts of givers and accelerating generosity. Generis has served over 13,500 churches, helping them raise more than $13.5 billion for Kingdom expansion.

For the tenth year as a sponsor, we welcome HH Architects. For 45 years, HH Architects has had the privilege of working with and planning campuses for many of the fastest-growing and top-attended churches and private Christian schools across America.

HH Architects has worked with a broad range of churches and schools on a wide variety of facilities, from first-unit buildings to 7,000+ seat Worship Centers, providing Strategic Positioning, Master Planning, Architectural, and Interior Design services for nearly all aspects of religious facility projects.

We welcome for the fourth year, Batts Morrison Wales & Lee. Batts Morrison Wales & Lee (BMWL) is a national CPA firm exclusively serving churches, ministries, nonprofits, and their affiliates through audit & assurance, tax, and strategic advisory services. BMWL understands that you want to protect the financial health and reputation of your church. Their service model is built around that very idea.

BMWL will help your church protect your mission, maintain strong donor trust and confidence, produce highly effective financial reports, strategically budget for improved financial condition, improve overall risk management, maximize tax exemption, protect your exempt status, provide board member governance orientation and training, simplify your financial administration, and be better informed. Please visit nonprofitcpa.com to learn more.

For the third year, we welcome Vanderbloemen Search Group. Vanderbloemen helps churches and ministries build great teams by finding their key staff. Vanderbloemen is an industry leader in executive search for the church, having worked with ministries in nearly every state and several countries. God has uniquely called and positioned your church to do what only you can do, and having the right team members in the right roles is vital to fulfilling that calling.

From finding the right worship leaders to children’s ministers and senior pastors, Vanderbloemen helps discover your church’s DNA and then conducts a nationwide search for whom God is calling to your church. Whether you’re planning your next hire, reorganizing your staff, analyzing your compensation structure, or need help with succession planning, build your best ministry team with Vanderbloemen.

For the third year, we welcome Visioneering Studios. They are the only nationally-licensed, faith-based design-build firm that specializes in commercial, nonprofit and worship environments. Visioneering is not just developers, designers, architects, and builders—they are storytellers. They come alongside partners, who lead movements and organizations that have unique stories crafted by a unique people, place, and passion, to be trusted stewards of their story and space.

Visioneering’s beliefs positively impact the relational nature and integrity of their work. Visioneering Studios’ “look to launch” services include: Real Estate and Development Advisory Services (Visioneering Studios Real Estate), Master Planning, Architecture and Interior Design (Visioneering Studios Architecture), National Construction and Construction Services (Visioneering Studios Construction).

For the second year, we welcome Thrivent Church Financing. Thrivent is a not-for-profit financial services organization that helps Christians on their wise-with-money journey. Thrivent Church Financing has been working nationally with growing ministries for over 100 years by providing flexible financing solutions.

Currently serving more than 1,300 church clients, Thrivent offers flexible solutions, expertise and competitive terms to the financing needs of growing churches. Understanding the unique needs of each church, they offer a variety of loan features including long-term fixed rates and fully amortizing loans up to 30 years in duration. In turn, ministries can live out their wise-with-money journey.

For the tenth year, we welcome Middlebrook | Goodspeed, The Church Lawyers. They are dedicated to providing outstanding and practical legal services to churches, ministries, and schools of all sizes across the nation with their Church Lawyers Team program. Their team of attorneys and paralegals have transactional, tax and litigation experience and are attuned to the unique legal needs specific to religious nonprofits.

They handle everything from a new church-plant to complex and contested litigation matters, and provide services to organizations of all sizes. “Whether you are just starting out and want the proper foundation, need to stay on track and legally compliant or require an advocate in the courtroom, we are on your legal team.”

For the ninth year, we welcome CapinCrouse. As a national full-service CPA and consulting firm devoted to serving nonprofit organizations, CapinCrouse provides professional solutions to organizations whose outcomes are measured in lives changed.

Since 1972, the firm has served domestic and international outreach organizations, universities and seminaries, foundations, media ministries, rescue missions, relief and development organizations, churches and denominations, and many others by providing support in the key areas of financial integrity and security. With a network of offices across the nation, CapinCrouse has the resources of a large firm and the personal touch of a local firm. CapinCrouse is an independent member of the BDO Alliance USA. Learn more at CapinCrouse.com

For the sixth year, we welcome the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. With its mission of Enhancing Trust, ECFA now certifies nearly 2,300 Christ-centered churches and ministries based on its high standards in financial management, governance and gift administration.

ECFA is also a leading provider of church resources, including the free ChurchEXCEL subscription at ECFA.church.

Check out the XPastor page and free items at ECFA.

For the second year, we welcome Pushpay. Pushpay builds world-class giving and engagement solutions to help organizations grow their communities. We deliver a donor management system, including donor tools, finance tools and a custom community app, to help the faith sector connect with their congregation. Pushpay recently acquired Church Community Builder, the industry-leading church management software. Together, they serve more than 10,000 customers.

For the first year, we welcome Gloo. Gloo revolutionizes personal growth through data science and analytics—serving organizations dedicated to strengthening people and communities. Gloo, who is powering Barna’s State of the Church 2020 with interactive dashboards and secure insights, would like to invite you into this journey, equipping you with the resources to understand the state of your Church. Join us as an early insider to get a first look at this historic project!

The XP-Seminar has been a career and a life changer for me. Thank you for taking the time to put on this event.

Tim Samuel
CPA & CFO, Bridgeway Community Church
Columbia, Maryland

What Attendees Say

“The most important part to me is the ability to ‘network.’ I loved being able to ask questions, probe and encourage the other folks I spent time with outside of the scheduled events.”

“Thank you for continuing to offer this most wonderful vehicle for growing, learning and stretching in service to Him!”

“A few of the beneficial things for me: The structure of the conference. The speakers are accessible. The large room is comfortable. The free material is amazing. Chatting between speakers.”

“I love that the conference is small. I liked the clarity I received regarding, ‘What I should do as a new XP?’” —attendance limited to 200 people—

“Thank you so much for the obvious work that was put into the conference. It was my first time attending and it was very beneficial. The Open Forum Workshop was great. It’s so helpful to dialogue and process out loud with other XPs.”

“On our flight home, my XP said to me, ‘So was the conference worth it for you?’ I answered, ‘Yes it was.’ He agreed as well.”

“I appreciated hearing from two Senior Pastors regarding their partnerships with their XPs. And, it was great to hear from David, Mike and Paul about navigating challenges. Those kinds of stories are unique in seminars where typically it’s all success.”

Enrich your life and ministry

5 Best Practices in Training a Board Member

Do you think something’s amiss when volunteer parking attendants for church services or ministry events get more training for their work than the volunteer board members who govern the church or ministry? Join us for a session in which we discuss five best practices in training a board member. It doesn’t have to be as complicated or time-consuming as you might think.  And the outcomes could have a lasting and positive impact on the accomplishment of your mission.

Mike Batts is the managing partner of Batts Morrison Wales and Lee. He has more than 30 years of experience serving nonprofit organizations in a variety of ways. Mike actively engages in nonprofit legislative matters at the federal and state levels. He has served on and chaired the boards of nonprofit organizations, both nationally and locally.

Pastor Tax 101

At this session, you will be provided with an overview of the federal income tax benefits and rules applicable to ministers. Topics will include: Who is eligible?; Dual Tax Status; Exemption from Social Security Coverage; Housing Allowance Exclusion; Exemption from Income Tax Withholding; Honoraria and Minister Gifts; The Deason Rule; Accountable Plan Rules; and more.

Michele M. Wales, CPA, is a Partner and the National Director of Tax Services at Batts Morrison Wales & Lee.  She has supervisory responsibility for the firm’s tax practice, with expertise in federal, state, and local tax issues affecting nonprofit organizations. Michele has more than 20 years of experience in public accounting, and has also served as chief financial officer for a large nonprofit social services agency and controller for an airplane manufacturing company. She is also a Chartered Global Management Accountant. She has been a conference speaker on nonprofit taxation issues at both the local and national levels.

Where Are We At with Electronic Giving?

By now most churches have rolled out some form of electronic platform as a way for members to conveniently and safely give to the church’s mission. What is the current status of electronic giving? Has it been embraced across all generations? What are the trends with new technology and ways to ensure they are secure? This workshop will answer these questions and also address how can church leaders use donor analytics derived from an electronic giving platform to foster a culture of generosity, bring first time contributors to a path of generosity and help established givers organize and control their donations.

Steven A. Hron is Vice President of Cass Commercial Bank, Church and Ministries Division.

Dustin Bosscher is the Co-Founder of Gyve Generosity Services, a division of Cass Commercial Bank.

Key Metrics to Manage: Session 1

As a ministry executive, figuring out what needs to be measured is of critically high importance. Our time together will be spent learning about key financial metrics that every ministry executive should be paying attention to. We will be sharing 10 metrics that may help create a good environment for success. Come find out as we study these metrics together. Feel free to attend both sessions or just one!

Teresa Loker is the Director of Church Loan Underwriting at Thrivent Church Financing. Teresa has been helping ministries nationwide with their financing needs for the last 25 years. She was previously with Bank of the West in their Religious Institution Lending Division. As the Managing Director of Credit, she oversaw a $1.3 billion church loan portfolio with direct management of the underwriting team. During her tenure, she was also a relationship manager and played a key role in business development. Her career experience also includes jobs in retail banking, commercial real estate and asset based lending. She is also fluent in Spanish.

Chris Lewis is the Senior Relationship Manager at Thrivent Church Financing. Born in Brazil, where his parents served as missionaries, Chris learned 3 languages: Spanish, Portuguese and English. In 2006, after assisting the church he was attending with a capital campaign, Chris discovered that there was a need for lenders to work with growing ministries. Over the years, Chris has worked with growing ministries by providing sustainable financing solutions for construction, acquisition and refinancing.

The Fast-Changing Landscape of Retaining Talent

The most expensive hire you will ever make is the wrong person. So how can you discern who’s the right person and then build a culture that retains them? Staffing is one of the greatest challenges church leaders face. Building a thriving culture is hard work, but it’s crucial to retaining a high capacity church staff. How can you do that when you have a congregation that needs you and Sunday to prepare for each week? In this session, you will learn what the best churches across the country are doing to align vision, develop leaders, and build a culture where staff and volunteers are lining up to get on board.

William is an author, speaker, and founder/CEO of Vanderbloemen, an executive search firm serving churches and Christian organizations with hiring and succession planning. He is the author of NEXT: Pastoral Succession That Works and Culture Wins: The Roadmap to an Irresistible Workplace. William and his firm have completed over 1,200 staffing assignments for Christian organizations, with a specific focus on succession planning.

The 8 Key Indicators of Church Staff Health

In ten years of helping churches build their best teams, Vanderbloemen has identified eight key indicators that are benchmarks for church staff health. If you’ve ever felt like your team is misaligned or there’s something missing that you just can’t put your finger on, it’s likely one of these key indicators. In this session, you’ll learn how to spot these eight indicators and how to improve them to lead your team to health so that together, you can achieve your church’s mission.

Holly Tate is the Vice President of Business Development at Vanderbloemen, an executive search firm serving churches and Christian organizations with hiring and succession planning. The firm has completed over 1,200 staffing assignments for Christian organizations, with a specific focus on succession planning.

Key Metrics to Manage: Session 2

As a ministry executive, figuring out what needs to be measured is of critically high importance. Our time together will be spent learning about key financial metrics that every ministry executive should be paying attention to. We will be sharing 10 metrics that may help create a good environment for success. Come find out as we study these metrics together. Feel free to attend both sessions or just one!

Teresa Loker is the Director of Church Loan Underwriting at Thrivent Church Financing. Teresa has been helping ministries nationwide with their financing needs for the last 25 years. She was previously with Bank of the West in their Religious Institution Lending Division. As the Managing Director of Credit, she oversaw a $1.3 billion church loan portfolio with direct management of the underwriting team. During her tenure, she was also a relationship manager and played a key role in business development. Her career experience also includes jobs in retail banking, commercial real estate and asset based lending. She is also fluent in Spanish.

Chris Lewis is the Senior Relationship Manager at Thrivent Church Financing. Born in Brazil, where his parents served as missionaries, Chris learned 3 languages: Spanish, Portuguese and English. In 2006, after assisting the church he was attending with a capital campaign, Chris discovered that there was a need for lenders to work with growing ministries. Over the years, Chris has worked with growing ministries by providing sustainable financing solutions for construction, acquisition and refinancing.

Church Governing Documents | Challenges and Opportunities

A practical presentation and discussion of some of the issues frequently seen in our firm and ways that you can seek to bring clarity while minimizing risk in your governing documents. Issues such as the legal hierarchy of governing documents (and other documents), religious liberty including sexual orientation and gender identity, Robert’s Rules of Order, corporate members versus congregants/spiritual members, succession planning and others will be addressed.

David Middlebrook advises his clients on a wide range of legal issues including corporate structure and governance, employment and volunteer practices, intellectual property, and compensation practices. He serves as outside general counsel to a number of nonprofit organizations, while many others use his services as special nonprofit corporate counsel. David also serves his clients in the role of literary and music agent and is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars on legal subjects affecting religious nonprofit organizations. He is an award-winning author and has published numerous articles on nonprofit topics.

Steven Goodspeed regularly engages in a broad range of projects, including general corporate matters, tax, exempt securities transactions, risk management, mergers and acquisitions and negotiating and drafting complex intellectual property, real property and employment agreements. He earned his dual-degree Juris Doctor and Masters in Business Administration from The University of Oklahoma College of Law and Price College of Business. Mr. Goodspeed has been a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys since 2008, specializing in the legal needs of private Christian schools and colleges. Mr. Goodspeed served as in-house General Counsel and Director of Human Resources for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Building a Great Experience, Together:
Working with Your AVL Integrator

This workshop will explore pivotal issues in the audio-video world. The first two questions to be answered are: Why an integrator and what does an integrator do? Getting the right answers to these questions then leads to a smooth process from start to finish. The keys are communication and setting the correct expectations. The areas of budgets and performance are essential for the discussion. These steps give you the ability to build rooms that your production team can thrive in. One size doesn’t fit all! Build for the future as technology will change.

Paul Green is the Creative Director at Clark and has been the lead designer on audio, video, and lighting projects for churches of every size for the last four years. He spent eight years on staff as lighting and production director at a church of 8,000 in San Diego and spent time on the road touring with major Christian artists. He is also a freelance show designer, working for nationally televised events.

Invitation Only:
Christianity Today’s Church Law & Tax Forum

Since the early 1980s, Church Law & Tax has focused on helping churches become aware of the threat of sexual misconduct and take action with their prevention efforts. Regrettably, child sexual abuse claims remain the top reason churches go to court each year; sexual harassment claims, though relatively uncommon in church workplaces, still occur in these settings. With the rise of the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements, church leaders can no longer ignore these threats—in fact, leaders increasingly must demonstrate what they are doing to ensure sexual misconduct does not happen on their watch, even if no suspicious activity has arisen.

Through this forum, CLT Editor Matthew Branaugh will look closer at sexual misconduct as the CLT researches and writes upcoming articles and resources devoted to the subject in 2020. The executive pastors who join him will get some sneak peeks into content under development, plus opportunities to receive current CLT resources helping churches prepare well. Additionally, these XPs will have an opportunity to speak firsthand about how their churches are dealing with sexual misconduct, to identify vulnerabilities they need to address, and to share tips and insights that can help fellow leaders at other congregations.

Matthew Branaugh is the Editor of Church Law & Tax at Christianity Today. Matt leads an award-winning team of editors and designers with the planning, creation, and publishing of ChurchLawAndTax.com, ManagingYourChurch.com, five eNewsletters, and numerous print and digital resources. One of his favorite parts of his job is when he visits with church leaders from across the country. Matthew is currently pursuing a law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and is on schedule to graduate next May. He co-leads the Christian Legal Society chapter at Denver Law and recently had his article, “Mandatory Child-Abuse Reporting Laws and the #MeToo Movement: Federal and Colorado Examples and Six Paths Forward,” published by Denver Law Review Online Journal.

Ways to Help Your Ministry Leaders Love Their Work

Regardless of whether you are leading a church or any other organization for that matter, the abundant life you long for is a closer reality when the people you lead actually love their work. But how do you know if that’s the case? In this workshop you will learn how to know if you are really promoting what we call “WorkJoy” … and some helpful tips to make your team love their work even more.

Monty Kelso is a nationally recognized leader and clinician with decades of experience serving the local church. He has served as President of the staffing and coaching firm, Slingshot Group, since its founding in 2007. Monty and his team are leading influencers in the church today. His national network and passion for the church helps keep Slingshot innovative and relational in its solutions and services.

Get at the Core of the Church Growth Flywheel

Are you ready to see your church impact more people than you have ever before? Have you wanted to reach more people in your community but you weren’t sure where to start? Are you worried that your church isn’t reaching its full potential? Thousands of church leaders have read Rich Birch’s book, Church Growth Flywheel: 5 Practical Systems to Drive Growth at Your Church but in this session, he’s going to reveal the biggest takeaways that churches have learned from applying these lessons to their churches.

Rich has been involved in church leadership for over 20 years. He led in one of the first multisite churches in North America, The Meeting House in Toronto, which became the leading multisite church in Canada with over 4,500 people in six locations (today they are seventeen locations with somewhere over 6,000 people attending). In addition, he served on the leadership team of Connexus Community Church in Ontario, a North Point Community Church Strategic Partner. For seven years he served as a part of the four member Lead Team at Liquid Church in the Manhattan-facing communities of New Jersey. In his time with the church, it grew from one campus to six and attendance grew to over 3,500 people.

Trends and Strategy for the Multisite Church and its Real Estate

When a church engages in a multisite strategy and reaches four or more communities, scarcity of resources becomes a driving concern. Is your church trying to grow with Debt or Equity? Debt and debt service are vision killers! Keeping the momentum of multisite growth equal to the cost of expansion is critical. In this brief session, you will have a chance to examine the limited real estate options in which a new campus can land in, how to maintain a balanced real estate portfolio, and how portability can be the handiest tool on your multisite toolbelt!

Jeffrey Beachum at Portable Church® is the Multiplication Specialist. Jeff comes along side church leaders who are engaged in multisite and planting. While he speaks to organizational development issues, his primary purpose is to help churches determine strategies for choosing new communities, choosing right property/facilities, and developing a balanced affordable portfolio of real estate. Jeff brings a rich background to his current role with Portable Church®. Armed with a business degree, Jeff worked in the commercial real estate appraisal profession both before and after serving number of years as pastor in the local church. Following service on a denominational leadership team, Jeff led the Indiana Commercial Board of Realtors for several years before being called back to his home state of Michigan. Using this cacophony of opportunities Jeff has had, he is now helping church leaders build and grow the momentum of their multisite strategies or planting new churches.

Board Precision Tune Alignment

After 30 years of working with larger churches, Dave Travis is convinced that church boards are underutilized and under led. While some pastors see boards as a hassle and in the way, they can be your most strategic asset for future flourishing. In this workshop Dave will focus on four tools that help staff move boards toward greater alignment so that boards are engaged in the right way, doing the right things to help you go the right directions for the future.

Dave Travis has a wealth of experience from pastoral ministry and the business world. He has worked as a pastor as well as consulted with many churches in different contexts. Through Leadership Network he has had the privilege of learning from many esteemed mentors. His involvement in this network has taken him all over the country to work with various ministries and with some of the country’s leading pastors. Dave earned a Masters of Divinity in Pastoral Ministry from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a B.S. in Management from Georgia Tech. He also did a short course at the Harvard Business School in Strategic Perspectives for Nonprofit Management. These accomplishments combined help Dave to offer a unique perspective for the churches with which he consults. Dave is the author of three published books and is a noted speaker and consultant to megachurches across the country.

Discover the Essentials to Creating a Great Strategic Plan

Too many churches jump from vision to tactics, omitting one of the most critical steps. If you skip strategy, you’ll run from idea to idea and never get traction. In this session you’ll learn the 6 components to creating a strategic plan that is clear, unifying, and designed for extraordinary results.

Jenni Catron is the founder of The 4Sight Group, a consulting group focused on developing healthy leaders and thriving organizations through coaching, consulting and culture workshops. She is also a writer, speaker, and leadership expert committed to helping others lead from their extraordinary best. Jenni’s passion is to lead well and to inspire, equip and encourage others to do the same. She speaks at conferences and churches nationwide, seeking to help others develop their leadership gifts and lead confidently in the different spheres of influence God has granted them. Jenni is the author of several books including Clout: Discover and Unleash Your God-Given Influence and The 4 Dimensions of Extraordinary Leadership. Jenni blogs here and contributes to a number of other online publications as well. Outreach Magazine has recognized Jenni as one of the 30 emerging influencers reshaping church leadership. She has served on the executive leadership teams of Menlo Church in Menlo Park, California and Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to ministry leadership, she worked as Artist Development Director in the Christian music industry.

Defend Your Church from Cybersecurity Threats

Data security breaches are constantly in the news, but the threat of phishing scams and ransomware attacks aren’t limited to large companies. In fact, ministries are increasingly under attack by savvy cyber scammers. That’s why it’s crucial for church executives to understand ministry-specific cybersecurity risks and how to proactively defend their digital assets and information. This presentation will equip you with the tools and knowledge to protect your ministry against cyber threats and to evaluate your cybersecurity coverage needs.

Christopher Harvey, CPCU, is Assistant Vice President – Network Architecture and CISO with Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company. He joined Brotherhood in 1998 as a senior network engineer. He became manager of network services in 2008 and assumed his current position in 2011. Chris holds a Management Information Systems degree from Ball State University. Chris is also a graduate of General Electric’s ISMP program and has technical certifications from Microsoft, Novell, Lotus, and IBM. Today Chris oversees two teams at Brotherhood Mutual (Office Services and Network Services) and fulfills the role of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). He focuses on the stability, security, and performance of the company’s information systems. This includes primary oversite of networking, data security, communication services, computer equipment, and application servers.

Best Practices for Mentoring & Coaching Your Staff and Volunteers

Coaching your staff and volunteers can be a very rewarding investment but it doesn’t always yield a return on your time investment. This workshop will give you an overview of the best practices that Dr. Baxter continues to use and now trains others to use in his coaching certification course. “I have put in my 10,000 hours of coaching others and a bunch of those hours didn’t go so well. If I can offer my colleagues a summary of what I learned over the last 25 years then I would love to help them avoid some of the wasted hours I experienced.”

Nathan is a former XP and SP and now is an executive leadership coach. Every month, both corporate and ministry leaders from around the country fly to Tulsa for a two-day private coaching session with him. In 2008, Dr. Baxter founded Lead Self Lead Others and has coached with over 3,300 people—from CEOs to pastors to physicians. Also, he has recruited and trained eight Leadership Coaches who work with him to meet the demand for his services. Nathan and his coaches work with leaders to help them create a personal and professional growth strategy. He loves to follow up with each person to help keep them on track.

Building a Successful Team

Unity is strength … when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved–Mattie Stepanek. Who doesn’t like to succeed? We all like to hear job well done–especially when embarking on a building project. Before starting any project, one of the most impactful decisions you will make is determining the team who will shepherd it forward. The success of your project is directly linked to a successful relationship of the team driving it. So what does a successful team look like? We believe there are five motivational areas to consider when building your team.

Bruce Woody is President & CEO for HH Architects and a frequent speaker on both large and small-scale church/faith-based campus planning projects. Since joining the firm in 1990, he has served as Design Lead or Principal-in-Charge on the vast majority of the firm’s large-scale projects, many of which are award winning. Bruce is best known for his creative problem-solving skills and the passion he has for design, which is evident in each long-standing partnership he has developed through his 30 years with the firm. He currently serves on the boards of Sunny Glen Children’s Home and the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design Dean’s Association. He is an active member of Texas Society of Architects, American Institute of Architects Dallas Chapter, and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

Mark R Ashcraft is a senior associate of HH Architects. He serves as the Creative Director for the firm and has been blessed to work with many ministries during his 18 year tenure. He is passionate about sharing the strategic thinking behind faith-based design, how it shapes the user experience, and the importance of being ministry driven in those efforts.

“Headline-Proof” Your Church–10 Integrity Tips

Your church is under the microscope. Especially in today’s era of soundbites and social media, perceptions have the power to bring your church’s mission to a screeching halt. Participate in this interactive discussion with Dan and Michael from ECFA for 10 integrity tips to help “headline-proof” your church and demonstrate the highest standards in board governance, financial management, and stewardship.

Dan Busby, President of ECFA, is co-author of the just-released Lessons from the Church Boardroom. He has written or co-authored 10 titles in over 60 editions including Zondervan 2018 Church and Nonprofit Tax and Financial Guide, and also Zondervan 2018 Minister’s Tax and Financial Guide. He has over 40 years of experience serving the Christ-centered church and nonprofit community and frequently speaks nationally on related issues.

What Effective Church Boards Do Best – and What to Do Now to Improve Your Board

Would your church board members describe themselves as thriving? Do you and they know specific ways to improve as a board? The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) recently conducted two surveys in which 2,543 board members reveal startling and practical insights, especially about “board effectiveness.” Get the highlights of what effective church boards do best, with plenty of time to discuss the implications. Receive a walk-through of several new tools, such as ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance.

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Vice President of Research and Equipping for ECFA, an award-winning author of 31 books for church leaders, and a nationally recognized thought leader on issues of church leadership, growth and health.

Why Are You Still Here?

Just when you think you’ve hired the perfect person, the team is complete, we’ve finally got the culture we’ve wanted … BAM! Someone quits, someone implodes, someone’s spouse gets relocated, and you start all over. This workshop will provide practical and applicable tools and processes to build and maintain a healthy staff culture regardless of transitions, whether they are positive or not.

Jon Wright has worked as an entrepreneur and Executive Pastor. He leads the Generis Effective Ministry Team bringing 30 years experience in innovation and execution in multiple settings; corporate, non-profit, church, and global missions. He is passionate about the local church and endeavors to create healthy, dynamic teams that lead growing and effective ministries.

The Top 3 Things XPs Should Know About Church Benefit Strategies

Join the conversation as the church benefit experts from GuideStone® discuss best practices they’ve seen firsthand regarding retirement, medical plans and property and casualty. Learn several applicable takeaways from their collective experience across the nonprofit world that you can immediately implement in your day-to-day routine as an XP.

Greg Love is Director Retirement Solutions. Dixie Beard is Sr. Business Development Manager. Eddy Huskey is Relationship Manager. Jim Welch is Managing Director P&C.

6 Ways to Transform Your Church Property into an Asset

For many churches, only a fraction of their budget goes towards fulfilling their mission. Instead, the vast majority of resources are consumed by underutilized facilities and overhead costs. But what if that facility could be transformed into an asset instead of a liability? During this session, we will teach you how to rethink the use of your facilities by turning them into economic engines to help fund the future of your mission.

As the Vice President of Strategic Design at Visioneering Studios, Dave Milam stands firmly at the intersection of ministry, design, and visual storytelling. Having served in the church for over 20 years, Dave has a heart for guiding pastors through unique challenges of ministry to awaken the beauty that God has placed within them and their facilities. His writing has been featured in LifeWay, Outreach Magazine, Influence, Christian Standard and other national periodicals.

Derek Bartlett is the CEO of MBS Solutions. With a Master’s Degree in Christian Ministry and an MBA from Liberty University, Derek has taken his love for business and ministry and is using it to help churches all over the country rethink the way they leverage their property by transforming it from a liability to an asset. With 8 years of experience in ministry and a proven background for creating embedded ministry, Derek is using his experience and education to teach ministries how they can leverage their property to generate revenue and people-flow.

Digital Giving Trends

The state of church giving is in transition. In fact, charitable giving has experienced an overall decrease in the United States, and the percentage of giving going to churches in particular is down 29% compared to the 1980’s. Churches everywhere are feeling this dramatic slide. As a pastor, it’s hard to know whether your experience is the norm. You might look at your church’s giving habits and wonder if they’re similar to what other churches are experiencing. Troy Pollock, the chief ambassador at Pushpay, will discuss recent research and trends in digital giving and how to maximize technology to increase generosity and drive engagement in your church.

Troy Pollock is the Chief Ambassador at Pushpay. As the first U.S. employee, Troy helped shape Pushpay to be one of the fastest growing SaaS companies today. Troy pioneered the Customer Success Department from humble beginnings to an Award Winning team that partners with churches and non-profits internationally. After studying Communication & Sociology at SDSU and Theology at ORU, Troy helped pioneer a healthy church in Southern California, where he served as an Executive for 6 years. These experiences allowed Troy’s transition to Pushpay to facilitate his calling and desire to help faith organizations ignite generosity and drive engagement within their communities.

7 Church Design Trends That Will Supercharge Your Planning

Supercharge your planning and discover the emerging church design trends for 2020. In this workshop, you’ll get a peek into the future and see what your staff will be wanting before they even ask. Save money by learning how to avoid deadly mistakes and leverage your resources to design for the future.

As the Vice President of Strategic Design at Visioneering Studios, Dave Milam stands firmly at the intersection of ministry, design, and visual storytelling. Having served in the church for over 20 years, Dave has a heart for guiding pastors through unique challenges of ministry to awaken the beauty that God has placed within them and their facilities. His writing has been featured in LifeWay, Outreach Magazine, Influence, Christian Standard and other national periodicals.

The XP Role in Funding Your Church Vision, Capital and Operations

In all things financial, the role of XP will change in this new decade. Over the years, the XP role has evolved. It will continue to morph as cultural changes in church life and the marketplace, especially as it relates to how churches receive financial gifts. As we enter this new decade, an effective XP cannot rely on the practices and predictabilities of the last few years. Learn how to lead your church board, senior pastor, and staff to fully fund your church ministry. Leverage 2020 to create systems and approaches to foster increased financial resources over the next years. Don’t get left behind as things change in the area of church giving.

Brad Leeper is the President and Principal of Generis Partners. His unique approach allows him to serve larger and growing churches with significant funding requirements. Brad has a strong understanding of the multi-site church strategy and other pioneering church movements. He is drawn to larger, innovative, growing churches and the challenges of helping them expand in the area of generosity practically and spiritually.

Is Your Board Providing Adequate Financial Oversight?

Church boards hold the fiduciary responsibility for overseeing the church’s financial situation. In addition to fulfilling their duties, this also helps boards receive the financial insight they need to make informed strategic decisions. Learn the key financial information, measurements, and controls your board should be monitoring.

Rob Faulk is a partner at CapinCrouse. He has 35 years of financial leadership experience in serving both for-profit and nonprofit entities, as well as eight years of direct ministry experience as Executive Pastor and CFO of large churches. Rob previously served with a Big Six accounting firm, where he was the lead manager on the project that developed the COSO Internal Control framework.

Barna’s State of the Church

Gloo is powering Barna’s State of the Church 2020 with interactive dashboards and secure insights. The start of a new decade is a determinant moment. What will the Church look like in the future? Barna is launching its most comprehensive research project: State of the Church. The goal is to learn what is real and working, then know the best ways to move into the future. See how State of the Church will offer unique benefits for your church in the fast pace of culture and lead confidently in an age of complexity.

Chris Nelson is the Director of Ministry Development at Gloo. He has been helping churches for 8 years in a variety of roles so that they get the most out of their church technology. His experience includes consulting on the following church technologies: Data Management, Church Management, Giving, Websites, Messaging, Accounting and Social Media.

Technology and the Ancient Art of Teamwork: The Ephesians 4 Church

Churches today have an unprecedented array of technology available to them. But just using technology isn’t enough because, used ineffectively, technology can silo data, people, and ministries. In this session we’ll talk about how churches can leverage church management systems to improve communication, coordination, and care among staff, leaders, and congregants.

Jeff Otero is the Head of Design at Church Community Builder.

Leading a Church in a Time of Sexual Questioning: Grace-Filled Wisdom for Day to Day Ministry

Discover how to navigate your church through sexually turbulent waters with practical, theologically sound wisdom. Our responses to sexually charged questions are potentially explosive in our combative public discourse. Ultimately the gospel of Jesus Christ is at stake because the unchurched, especially millennials and Generation Z, are keenly watching how churches respond to LGBT+ people. Learn how we can practically lead churches to show grace and stand for truth in the messiness of a fallen world.

In 1997 Bruce founded Christ Fellowship where he serves as the senior pastor. He taught Systematic Theology at Dallas Seminary and began the Centers for Church Based Training, which creates strategies and curriculum to help churches disciple people and develop leaders. Bruce has authored many books, including: A Fresh Look at the Sermon on the Mount, When God Makes No Sense, A Fresh Look at Daniel, Your Church in Rhythm, Your Life in Rhythm, and Leadership Baton. His latest book (on on XPastor’s book table) is Leading a Church in a Time of Sexual Questioning.

Hot Topics for XPs

This is an open Q&A time with Fletch. At the beginning of the workshop, attendees suggest hot issues, everyone votes on their favorites and the topics with the most votes will be discussed. This format with Fletch is always a blast.

Thanks again for the conference. Thanks for the privilege (and I mean that, privilege) of sharing a slice of life experiences with the conference participants. You continue to provide a necessary, stimulating, and exciting energy to many of us in ministry—Paul Utnage, XP