On Friday, February 8, this year’s round of regional conferences began in Agoura Hills, in Southern California, as 180 elders, ministry leaders, and members gathered to learn how our connection with Christ translates into more meaningful ministry in our communities. In coming months, similar conferences will be held in eight additional locations in the United States (see box below).

The conference began on Friday afternoon with a presentation by Dan Rogers titled "Who Is Jesus?" He stressed that God thinks before he speaks, or plans before he creates, and he planned to create us and save us before we were even born. He has the love and the creative power needed to bring his creation to completion.

This was followed by presentations by Ted Johnston and Randy Bloom, who spoke on their work as part of the ministry development team. They offer a wide variety of seminars, such as spiritual formation, church health and development, ministry life, ministry skills, children’s and youth ministry, church multiplication leadership training, and reconciliation.

After this, pastoral team members gathered with their district pastoral leaders to discuss developments in the churches, the needs of the pastoral teams, and ways in which Church Administration & Development could assist them in their work. (left: Bermie Dizon, pastor of NewLife Fellowship in Pasadena, leads a discussion. Below, from the left: Don and Anne Cline (Nipomo, CA), Richard and Sally Parker (Long Beach, CA), James Nicholson and Gary and Risa Crowell (Honolulu, HI) at the discussion.)

The keynote address given on Friday evening by Joseph Tkach was titled "The Mystery of Godliness: Connected in Christ." He explained the key elements of a Trinitarian Christ-centered theology: Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God, and he is the lens through which we interpret all the Scriptures. The good news begins with him, and ends in him. Life is meant to be lived in union with Christ, and when we are connected with him, we are also connected to one another.

Above, Ted Johnston presenting a seminar on team-based ministry. Below, Randy Bloom speaks on planting new churches.

Above: Spanish-speaking leaders discuss their ministries. From the left: Soledad and Manuel Ochoa (Westminster, CA), Lorenzo and Rita Arroyo (Antioch, CA), Gildardo De La Rosa (Santa Ana, CA), and Martha Turcios (San Fernando, CA). Below, Dr. Jim Kissee giving a marriage seminar.

Above, Jeb Egbert makes a point at a parenting seminar. Below, Carmen Fleming (Orlando, FL) and Paulina Barrero (Bogota, Colombia). Far left, Neil Earle (Glendora, CA) and John Adams (Union, NJ).

On Saturday morning, Dan Rogers spoke on "Who are we in Jesus?" He began by noting that Christ lives in us, and we live in him. Phrases like "in Christ" or "in the Lord" occur almost 150 times in the New Testament, and we all live and have our being in him.

People sometimes ask, What would Jesus do? But we can also ask, What is Jesus already doing? He works in and through us, the church. We are a community working in participation with Christ, letting him work
through us.

Christ is the master architect of a magnificent building—his church—and we are workers who put up temporary scaffolding in order to help build the structure. Sometimes we forget that our ministry methods are like the scaffolding that was necessary for one phase of the building, but in time it serves its purpose and needs to be removed and perhaps built in a different shape in a new location. Our methods may change from time to time, but Christ is still working through us for his glorious purpose.

No presentations were scheduled on Saturday evening. Some participants chose to gather in informal meetings to share what they learned and to discuss how they might implement these ideas and strategies in their own congregations. Others used the free-time opportunity to gather for fellowship.

The conference ended with a lively worship service and a sermon by Dan Rogers on "Why do we dance with Jesus?" He again stressed that God wants to draw us into the divine life, pulling us into an eternal relationship in which we participate in a joy-filled dance with the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and uncountable others as we encourage more people to join the dance.

In Agoura Hills, three other meetings occurred in conjunction with the conference.

• On February 6-7, District Pastoral Leaders for Arizona, California and Nevada, along with District Pastoral Leaders who are also coordinators for upcoming conferences, met with Church Administration & Development for DPL training.

• After the conclusion of the regional conference on February 10, the coordinators of other regional conferences met to discuss the details of conference administration to ensure consistency in the various regions.

• And during the week after the conference, the eight mission developers gathered to coordinate the work the churches are doing around the globe. We’ll have more to say about their work in future issues of Together.