Steve Sjogren
Servant Evangelism Offered Wed. 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
Servant evangelism is one of the most powerful ways we can bring the love of God to our cities. “SE” is a simple idea that can revolutionize the way we relate to others. We will be looking at the simple but effective ways we can walk out of our current outreach setting and into something that will allow us to both walk in a heart for God and a heart for people.
Steve Sjogren is a pastor, best selling author and outreach coach. Regarded as the “father” of servant evangelism he teaches “doable” evangelism. Emphasis is placed on showing the love of God in helpful ways, which in turn, opens avenues to people’s hearts. Servant Evangelism is creating a wave of excitement across North America as churches are grasping its simple but powerful evangelistic effects. Sjogren addresses both the practical and spiritual benefits to this type of outreach and how it can become “doable” in any church. Steve’s talks are enriching, humorous, and filled with creative incentives to “love thy neighbor.” Check out KindessResources.com and ServCoach.com.
Sarah Wilke
Leadership Offered Thurs. 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
Sarah Wilke is publisher of the Upper Room Ministries, where she oversees, the Nashville-based operation, most notably producing The Upper Room, a daily devotional guide with a 2.2 million worldwide circulation. Upper Room Ministries is a division of the General Board of Discipleship for the United Methodist Church, and Wilke, 47, also serves as an associate general secretary of the GBOD.
Previously, Wilke served five years as the chief executive officer of UMR Communications, a national communications ministry based in Dallas that includes the United Methodist Reporter, the UMPortal, and UMDigital printing. Prior to joining UMR, she served as the North Texas Annual Conference’s urban strategist for four years. In this extended-cabinet-level position, she led Dallas inner-city efforts to form new congregations, revitalize existing churches, and spearhead community-development initiatives.
In 1997, she joined a district superintendent in launching Project Transformation, which recruits college-age interns to provide free after-school tutoring and a summer day camp for children in low-income families. The initiative – which drew dozens of churches and several United Methodist institutions into collaboration – has grown to serve thousands of children over the years at a host of inner-city and suburban sites.
Wilke also spent 14 months in the U.S. Peace Corps, helping Costa Rican women develop small cooperative businesses. An accomplished public speaker who is also fluent in Spanish, Wilke regularly addresses groups on such topics as church communication, community collaboration, youth, poverty, and violence.
A native of Kansas, Wilke earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Kansas in 1984. She earned an executive MBA at Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University, in 2004.
Bridgette Young
Workshop: Offered Wed. & Thurs, 3:30 p.m.
Bridgette is the Assistant General Secretary for Campus Ministry and College Chaplaincy at the Division of Higher Education. Young works with campus ministers and college chaplains providing support, resources, networking, and continuing education. She trains annual conference Boards of Higher Education and Campus Ministry, and serves as a consultant to annual conferences, local churches and campus ministry groups. Young is liaison to the United Methodist Campus Ministry Association, the National Association of College and University Chaplains, and the Ecumenical Campus Ministry Team. She also advocates across the wider church for support of ministry in higher education.
David Blackwell & Dana Hernandez
How to Run a Prayer Room Offered Wed. & Thurs. 1:30 p.m.
Stewart Grant and Jackson Dunn
Pre-Conference Seminar: Marriage Refresh Offered Mon. 9a.m.-4p.m.
5-6 hour Pre-Conference event designed for those in Campus Ministry
The hope and intent of this event is to strengthen the marriage of campus ministers as they prepare and strengthen dating, engaged and newlyweds for the marriages. A resource list covering marriage ministries will be provided along with free curriculum for premarital and marital enrichment groups.
- First Things First—An Intimate look at Theology
- What’s the Diff?—Hope focused Adjustments
- Boundaries—Building an Alliance
- Take to the Cross—How to Fight for Love
Workshop: Pre-Marital Foundations Offered: Wed., 3:30 p.m.
An hour and half seminar on the needs and areas of critical concern in premarital ministry. This session will cover the latest research and resources for premarital work. Topics will range from the crisis-oriented, quick and dirty scenarios to the couple committed to a thorough preparation for a lifetime. The session is designed to help the campus minister see present and future reality and then build a framework that meets the needs of their students.
Workshop: Dating Offered: Thurs., 3:30 p.m.
Do we really need to teach this stuff? Absolutely! Think of this hour long session is a primer to unlocking your relational and emotional genius. Personality, attachment, and discernment issues are addressed so the campus minister can teach how to date smart.
About Stewart Grant
Stew Grant is the Marriage Champion Coordinator for the NWA Healthy Marriages program and joined the staff at the CRE January 2009.
Stew earned his Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He is a doctoral candidate in the Marriage and Family Counseling program at Denver Seminary. He has served in pastoral ministries for 12 years in both large and small churches.
Stew and Shelli have been married 20 years and have four children. Together, they have led many marriage programs, seminars and couples retreats. Their passion is to continue educating and enriching couples in areas that lead to successful and satisfying marriages.
Stew, Shelli and kids live in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. He and his wife, Krista, and their boys Jack and Sam, live in Siloam Springs, AR.
About Jackson Dunn
Jackson Dunn serves as the Premarital Program Coordinator for NWA Healthy Marriages. This includes the implementation of the Premarital Enrichment Program (PEP) on college campuses. PEP reaches out to college students to provide them with lessons and skill-sets to help them form strong relationships while they are still dating and making life decisions. He also oversees the services provided for engaged and seriously dating couples as they seek to assist them in building a solid foundation for a healthy and lifelong marriage. The key aspects of these programs are dating workshops, premarital seminars, as well as personalized feedback sessions.
He is also the University Relationships Coordinator with The Center for Relationship Enrichment at John Brown University. He works closely with various departments at the university as well as undergraduate students to design and deliver programs to help students cultivate emotional and relational maturity during their undergraduate experience. Jackson has spoken about the importance of premarital and marital enrichment in Universities all over the country. He earned his M.S. in Leadership and Ethics and his B.A. in Biblical Studies from John Brown University.
He and his wife, Krista, and their boys Jack and Sam, live in Siloam Springs, AR.
Jim Griffith
Workshop: Offered: Wed., 1:30 p.m.
Jim is the Founder of Griffith Coaching Network. A veteran of 6 church plants, Jim focuses on assessing, training, and coaching new church starts. Since 1996 he’s assessed over 1900 church planting candidates, trained over 7,000 planters, and coached over 1500 projects in their efforts to reach the mission field around them. He works with over thirty (30) organizations. Jim will be the keynote for the morning on the 16th.
Workshop: Starting Alpha on Your Campus Offered: Wed. & Thurs, 1:30 p.m.
Jeff is Minister of Discipleship and Men’s Ministry at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
