Together in Christ - One Big Family Reunion
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Benjamin Kreps
Hey everyone, and welcome to the podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our Executive Director. Mark, as we record this episode, we are officially less than three weeks away from the Pastors and Leaders Conference. Each day we draw closer — are you excited about it? I know you've been working hard. Talk about the conference.
Mark Prater
Working hard to prepare for the conference, but really very, very excited. It's less than three weeks away — yikes. We have right now about 1,585 people registered. So between 1,600 to 1,700 folks is my guess. All gathered there in Orlando. And probably — at least from 15 different nations, probably more, once I looked through the registration report — as we say every year when we have our Pastors' Conference, it's like one big family reunion. So this is like an epic, really big family reunion that we're going to have in Orlando in less than three weeks. And I can't wait.
Benjamin Kreps
Excellent. Well, there are so many people — twice as many, it seems, than maybe even last year — because you have invited not just pastors and wives, but specifically leaders in the churches of Sovereign Grace. So this is a different kind of conference. It's going to have a little bit of a different feel and focus. Why did you and the leadership team decide that you wanted to do a Pastors and Leaders Conference this time around?
Mark Prater
We've actually been talking about this for several years and began to plan it probably two years or more ago, because we just wanted this opportunity to take one of our Pastors' Conferences and invite all the leaders in our churches — to do several things.
First of all, is to thank the leaders. Any pastor knows when you've got these leaders in your church who are doing a lot of service, caring for people, and getting ministry done — you're just very grateful for them. And we as a leadership team want to convey, along with our pastors, our gratefulness for all the leaders that are in our churches.
Second is to equip them. So we've designed all of the main sessions and breakout sessions for them with specific topics. If you just look through the breakout session list, there are sessions that speak to their soul, that speak to their family, that talk about our shaping virtues. And then the last set of breakout sessions are all ministry-sphere related — children's ministry, worship, college-age ministry, all of those — to equip our leaders for the various ways they serve the church.
So we want to thank them, equip them, and encourage them. One of my prayers has been that our leaders — and our pastors and their wives, of course — would leave this conference feeling very encouraged: encouraged by singing together to the Lord, encouraged through the fellowship we'll share, encouraged through hearing a number of updates we have planned, which we typically do throughout our conference.
And then lastly is this category of partnership. One of the effects of a Pastors' Conference is that our pastors come back home knowing that they are together with other like-minded pastors in partnership, advancing the gospel. We want to broaden that experience to our leaders. That's actually one of my biggest prayers — that every leader and member of a Sovereign Grace church attending this conference would leave and experience the joy of partnership, as Paul talks about it in Philippians 1, verses 4 and 5. The joy of partnership — that they are with other like-minded leaders in Sovereign Grace churches throughout the world, advancing the gospel. We just can't wait for that to happen.
So one of the ways we're cultivating partnership is the theme of our conference: Together in Christ. We've tried to think through how we capture that theme. We're going to have a whole area near the meeting room where we'll have a Sovereign Grace merchandise table, booths from every Sovereign Grace department that wanted one — the Pastor's College, Sovereign Grace Music, church planting, communications, evangelism, and so on. We might do our coffee breaks there. And we've invited 10ofThose — which is a publishing company we've used to sell our resources — and they're going to be there with a book table. All of that will be in one big area where people can gather together and benefit from Sovereign Grace and its resources, pick up some free merch, and just get to know others from other churches.
Those are just some of the ways we are looking to cultivate partnership. And please pray that those purposes would be realized as he works among us in just a few weeks.
Benjamin Kreps
Amen. Mark, I'm just thinking as you're talking — you know that first song when we all get to sing together the first evening? What a joy. To hear all those voices erupt. To have 1,600 people in that room together — I mean, the roof is going to blow off.
Mark Prater
Yeah, it's going to be — we're going to be held liable for it.
Benjamin Kreps
I know you guys on the leadership team are grateful that there are so many leaders from our churches coming. I know there's a bunch coming from Covenant Fellowship — we're bringing a bunch of people. I keep hearing that's how we get to 1,600 — double the size of our normal attendance. And I know you're grateful for all those who are taking time off work, the financial costs, the time investment, and so forth. Share with us some of the ways you guys have planned and worked to make this affordable and doable for everybody who's coming.
Mark Prater
We're really grateful for our churches that have emphasized this. I just am so grateful — regardless of the size of the church, they're bringing a group of people. I just got an email this morning from Chris Oswald. He said, "We're bringing a large group" — he's in Kansas City — and we just can't wait to be together. Emails like that are so encouraging.
But we're realizing that the churches and the leaders are making real sacrifices, including financial sacrifices, to be there. So we thought, how can we help make this more doable? One of the things we're going to do is provide breakfast for every conference attendee on Thursday and Friday morning. Now, this won't be a big buffet breakfast, but it will be breakfast sandwiches, bagels, cheese, maybe some yogurt, and coffee — just as a way to pick up one expense for a meal on both those days.
For those actually staying at the conference center in the sleeping rooms at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace, we are covering the resort fee for them, so they don't have to pay that. Just different ways to bless people throughout the conference. Those are a couple of specific ways we're trying to make it more affordable.
Benjamin Kreps
Well, thank you — that is very helpful, especially for all of us who are bringing a big group and looking to get them fed. This certainly helps immensely. So thanks for the thoughtful way that you guys have been seeking to serve us as we arrive in a couple of weeks.
Mark, this is your last conference leading Sovereign Grace as the Executive Director. Next week, actually, is our Virtual Council of Elders meeting — your last "state of the union" address as well, that I know you're working hard on. Before we end the podcast, any more thoughts you'd like to share as you consider this last hurrah — your last conference leading as Executive Director? Certainly, we trust and pray that it won't be the last conference you attend or are a part of.
Mark Prater
Well, thank you for asking. A few things. I look back and I'm just so grateful that I've been able to serve in this role — I've been saying that a lot to the Lord recently. It really is one of the greatest privileges God has given me: to be able to serve this particular family of churches, this particular group of pastors and their wives. And for the Lord to arrange it — we didn't really plan it all this way, honestly. We're not that good as a leadership team. But to have a bigger group there and to be able to convey gratitude like that — I'm looking forward to that opportunity. That's the first thought.
The second is I know that Jon is going to lead them very well in the future, and I want to do what I can to help him do that.
And then third — you lead a number of conferences and you just realize how dependent upon the Lord you are. Because you can plan and you can prep, but you've got to pray. If the Lord does not work, if his presence isn't among us, it just won't be a good conference. So if you're listening to this episode, please pray. Pray that God would be glorified in all that we do. Pray that God would fill us with his Spirit and that we would be tangibly aware of his presence and that he would lead us. Pray for those who are preaching — the main sessions and the breakout sessions — that they would preach and teach in the power of the Spirit that God gives, and that we would just encounter God there together.
I think if everybody left that conference having experienced not just partnership, but saying, "That was a great conference because of how we encountered God himself" — that would make me very happy. So please pray for that if you would.
Benjamin Kreps
Amen. May it be so. You said you're grateful that you've had the opportunity to serve in the role you're in. Well, we are so grateful that you have served — and you've served us well. I think I can safely say on behalf of anyone checking out this podcast: you are a gift from the risen Christ that we do not deserve. And so we are looking forward to joining you at the conference, celebrating the last 13 years, even as we look forward to the future, and praying that we would meet with God as 1,600 of us descend on Orlando, Florida in a couple of weeks.
Mark Prater
Thank you. It will not be the same without all of you.
Benjamin Kreps
Thank you for your thoughts, and thank you all for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.