TIME: 11:00am
LOCATION: Mix Auditorium 

SUMMARY: Having listened to the stories from over 80 shut down or struggling church plants from all around the world, this workshop will examine recurring themes mentioned as to why things didn’t go as planned or hoped. From there we can then ask honest questions as to whether we need to re-think the framework of some of our planting practices.

PRESENTER: Dan Steel is a market researcher turned pastor/planter based in Oxford, UK who’s been involved in church planting for the past 25 years. He’s currently the Ministry Program Director for The Lanier Trust and is the author of Wise Church Planting: Twelve Pitfalls to Avoid in Starting New Churches.

TIME: 1:00pm
LOCATION: Mix Auditorium 

SUMMARY: Having listened to the stories from over 80 shut down or struggling church plants from all around the world, this workshop will examine recurring themes mentioned as to why things didn’t go as planned or hoped. From there we can then ask honest questions as to whether we need to re-think the framework of some of our planting practices.

PRESENTER: Dan Steel is a market researcher turned pastor/planter based in Oxford, UK who’s been involved in church planting for the past 25 years. He’s currently the Ministry Program Director for The Lanier Trust and is the author of Wise Church Planting: Twelve Pitfalls to Avoid in Starting New Churches.

TIME: 11:00am
LOCATION: Room 211

SUMMARY: Multiplication Matters: The Bible is clear: churches plant churches. It's not just about growing bigger, it's about multiplying and impacting more lives for Christ. This workshop will equip you to:
- Discover the key elements of a sending church.
- Consider a clear sending vision for your congregation.
- Encounter tools that will help you build a residency program that prepares church planters.

PRESENTER: Jason Crandall is a church planter and pastor who has leveraged his church towards planting churches. Having planted 12 churches in 10 years Jason is the Church Planting Leader for Send Network in Texas. His heart is to see churches develop a passion for multiplication to make an exponential impact for the gospel. He's the author of Proliferate: A Church Planting Guide for Everyday Churches and holds a doctorate degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

TIME: 1:00pm
LOCATION: Room 211

SUMMARY: Houston will need scores of churches that are committed to multiplication to see our growing and diverse city saturated with the gospel. Join the board of HCPN as they share best practices of how they are working towards becoming multiplying churches. We’ll also discuss how churches across Houston are planting together and how your church can collaborate with others to be part of a growing movement of churches right here in Houston.

PRESENTER: HCPN Board (Bruce Wesley - Pastor of Clear Creek Community Church, Lawrence Scott - Pastor of One Church @ Harvest Point, Jeremiah Morris - Pastor of Seven Mile Road, Jarrett Stephens - Pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church, Blake Wilson - Pastor of Crossover Bible Fellowship)

TIME: 11:00am
LOCATION: Room 210b

SUMMARY: Discovering one's calling to plant a church is a profound journey that requires self-reflection and a deep understanding of God's purpose for your life. In this workshop we will explore the essential elements and characteristics of thriving Church Planters. You will gain valuable insights and practical tools to assess whether you are called to embark on the transformative and challenging path of church planting. We will aim to resource and equip you as you take your next steps towards planting a multiplying church.

PRESENTER: Josh Gosney is the Founder and Lead Pastor of Wake Church in Conroe, TX. With nearly a decade of Church Planting experience, he serves as a coach for the Houston Church Planting Network and Stadia. In addition, he aided in the launch of Ministry Pass in 2015 and currently serves as their Senior Graphic Designer.

TIME: 11:00am
LOCATION: Creek Kids — B

SUMMARY: Church planting begins with making disciples and healthy churches grow through the multiplication of disciples. Join us as we discuss how to develop a disciple making culture in your church that transforms lives and multiplies on mission disciples.

PRESENTER: West was born and raised in Houston and attended college at the University of Texas at Austin. During his senior year, he met Mary Lowry and they married a year after graduation. West and Mary moved to Colorado shortly thereafter to attend Denver Theological Seminary. They made the move back to Texas after West received a call to be the Youth Pastor at First Evangelical Free Church in Austin. After 4 ½ years in Austin, the Brazeltons moved to Mammoth Lakes, California, where West became the Senior Pastor of Grace Community Church. West and Mary moved back to Houston 20 years ago to plant Grace Bible Church. GBC exists to glorify God by making disciples who transform the world. The church has experienced steady grow because of God’s grace transforming people through disciple making relationships. West and Mary have 3 mostly adult kids.

TIME: 1:00pm
LOCATION: Room 201b

SUMMARY: Having experienced being a wife and daughter in a church plant – we both see how vital the “helper” (Gen. 2:18) role is during this season. While the titles and responsibilities of women in church planting may vary in degrees and position, we want to discuss how women, being made in the image of God, are uniquely designed to serve, and lead in the church. This workshop will explore those gifts and hopefully give encouragement in how best to use them within the body of believers. We’ll talk about engaging your family unit in the church and ways to feel known in what some would call an isolating position.

PRESENTER: Mother and Daughter Duo. Susan Wesley and her husband, Bruce planted CCCC in 1993. She has served in various roles on staff with the church and is currently leading their PIN (People in Need) ministry. She has three adult daughters, awesome son-in-law’s, and 9 precious grandchildren. Micah (Wesley) Squires has worked with HCPN for the last 8 years. Her husband Reid pastors Sojourn Montrose, a 10-year-old congregation in the center of the city. They have three children and very little time for anything else.

TIME/HORA: 1:00pm
LOCATION/UBICACIÓN: Room 202

SUMMARY: Latinos are the fastest growing population in the United States: The 2020 census recorded 62 million and projected Latinos to represent 1/3 (132 million) of the US population by 2050. We need to plant many churches just to keep up with the pace of growth. However, as Latinos, we have arrived late to the church planting conversation. Before 2000, only 9% of Hispanic churches were new plants and 32% after 2015, according to a Lifeway study. The same study also revealed that 81% of these churches have been planted in urban or semi-urban areas. If this trend continues—and there are no indications to the contrary—we need to rethink the imported attractional model of church that is currently being planted in Hispanic contexts.

As Latinos, we are highly relational and missional. We need to rediscover the dynamics necessary to catalyze a Hispanic church planting movement in urban areas, learn how create systems of highly relational collaboration, and analyze the key elements for the multiplication of healthy and missional urban churches in our context.

Plantando en Contextos Hispanos/Latinos
RESUMEN: Los latinos somos la población de más rápido crecimiento en los Estados Unidos: El censo de 2020 registró 62 millones, y se proyecta que serán 1/3 (132 millones) de la población de los EE. UU. para 2050. Necesitamos plantar muchas iglesias sólo para mantener el ritmo de crecimiento. Pero como latinos, hemos llegado tarde a la conversación sobre la plantación de iglesias. Antes del 2000, sólo el 9% de las iglesias hispanas eran nuevas plantaciones y el 32% después del 2015, según un estudio de Lifeway. El mismo estudio también reveló que el 81% de estas iglesias han sido plantadas en zonas urbanas o semiurbanas. Si esta tendencia continúa, y no hay indicios de lo contrario, necesitamos repensar el modelo importado/atraccional de iglesia que actualmente se está usando en el contexto hispano.

Como latinos, somos altamente relacionales y misionales. Necesitamos redescubrir las dinámicas necesarias para catalizar un movimiento hispano de plantación de iglesias en áreas urbanas, aprender cómo crear sistemas de colaboración altamente relacionales y analizar los elementos claves para la multiplicación de iglesias urbanas saludables y misionales en nuestro contexto.

PRESENTER: Victor Marte

Victor Marte has planted and replanted urban churches in his native Dominican Republic, New York and Houston for the past 25 years. Victor serves as a Church Consultant for UBA, working mainly with Latino churches, and created the first-of-its-kind Hispanic Urban church planting residency and Hispanic church planter assessment center. He also works as a catalytic leader for Latino movement with the City to City North America’s Latino initiative, AVANCE.

TIME/HORA: 11:00am
LOCATION/UBICACIÓN: Room 202

SUMMARY: There are currently between 300,000 and 500,000 churches in the United States. 80% of those churches are either plateauing or declining in number. In this transformational workshop, we will look at some basic principles of church multiplication. Focusing on the specifics of helping churches identify where they are on the multiplication scale (Levels 1 – 5) and what’s needed to become a Level 5 multiplying church, you will be equipped to rethink the operating system that’s producing growth but not producing multiplication—and aim for more healthy Kingdom growth that’s focused on multiplication.

RESUMEN: Actualmente hay entre 300.000 y 500.000 iglesias en los Estados Unidos. El 80% de esas iglesias están estancadas o disminuyendo en número. En este taller transformacional, veremos algunos principios básicos de la multiplicación de iglesias. Al centrarse en los aspectos específicos de ayudar a las iglesias a identificar dónde se encuentran en la escala de multiplicación (Niveles 1 a 5) y qué se necesita para convertirse en una iglesia multiplicadora de Nivel 5, estará equipado para repensar el sistema operativo que produce crecimiento pero no produce multiplicación, y apuntar a un crecimiento más saludable del Reino que se centre en la multiplicación.

PRESENTER: Andrés Zelaya is the Executive Pastor of The Latino Initiative at Christ the King Houston. The son of a church planter/re-planter, he has been involved in church planting for over 10 years. He is currently working on a doctoral degree focused on church multiplication, exploring the intersection of missional disciple-making, Christianity in Latin America, and Western secularism.

PRESENTADOR: Andrés Zelaya es el Pastor Ejecutivo de La Iniciativa Latina en Christ the King Houston. El hijo de un plantador/replantador de iglesias, ha estado involucrado en la plantación de iglesias por más de 10 años. Actualmente está trabajando en un doctorado enfocado en la multiplicación de iglesias, explorando la intersección del discipulado misional, el cristianismo en América Latina, y el secularismo occidental.

TIME: 1:00pm
LOCATION: Creek Kids — C

SUMMARY: There are many challenges to planting in the urban context. This workshop will discuss the need for more urban church planters and the challenges they face along with best practices and methods in supporting the vital mission of urban church planting.

PRESENTER: David Hill is currently the Pastor of Restoration Community Church in Houston Tx. He has served in multiple urban church plants in cities like Chicago, Atlanta, and Jackson Ms. Having over thirty years of inner-city ministry and urban church planting experience. David not only has a passion for preparing the next generation of urban church planters but he also has a heart to connect urban and suburban churches in the gospel mission of redeeming the cities.

TIME: 1:00pm
LOCATION: Creek Kids — B

SUMMARY: What does it take to be a part of a church plant? When talking "church plants," we all think about the planter. But what does it mean to be a part of the team? Listen as Pastors Russell and Andrew share what has succeeded, what has failed and how to operate on a successful team that will last.

PRESENTERS: Russell Cravens is the Founding and Lead Pastor of Neartown Church in Houston, Texas since 2011, bringing visionary leadership and establishing a Christ-centered congregation. In addition to his pastoral responsibilities, Russell is the Founder and Lead Coach of CLead, providing invaluable team development support to marketplace leaders across various industries. Russell is married to Jeanie and has four children.

Andrew Johnson has been a staff Pastor at Neartown Church since 2015. He has helped guide the discipleship, operations and staff during this time. He is also the co-host of the Ephesiology Podcast and currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry. Andrew is married to Meagan and has three children.

TIME: 11:00am
LOCATION: Creek Kids — C

SUMMARY: With more churches than ever declining and closing their doors, replanting and revitalization have become hot topics in the church space. In this workshop we will hear from Pastor John Wethington who replanted a dying church in Houston that has now grown to three campuses (all replants) across Greater Houston. We will examine the common mistakes people make in renewal efforts and share best practices for replanting/revitalizing that are working today. A lot of what you hear will likely surprise you.

PRESENTER: John Wethington is the leader of HCPN Replant and is the Senior Pastor of the New Day Family of Churches, a unified family of church replants

TIME: 1:00pm
LOCATION: Room 210b

SUMMARY: Houston is more than a city, it's part of a complex network of municipalities, neighborhoods, ethnicities, identities, and economic realities. In this workshop, we'll look beyond the demographics to how the metro works through interconnected variables, what the needs are, and how church planting can expand the kingdom of Christ and serve the peace of the city (Jer. 29:7).

PRESENTER: Josh Ellis is the Executive Director of the Union Baptist Association (UBA). UBA is a collaborative network of churches that work to cooperate and send their people to Great Commission tasks while also offering help to struggling churches so they can be revitalized. Josh has been in church staff and ministry consulting roles for the last twenty-seven years.