The Midwest Region Conference gathered for their bi-annual conference sessions at Danville Area Community College in Danville, IL. The theme for the conference was Peacemakers and saw delegates travel from Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.
Thursday evening, June 20th, opened with a cookout at Kickapoo State park. Despite the fierce heat, the food was tasty, and the fellowship was sweet. It’s always good to see brothers and sisters come back together (and see new brothers and sisters meet for the very first time).
Friday morning opened with a pre-conference session. Urban Light Community Church provided the worship team for the weekend and led us in a beautiful mix of worship music that celebrated God’s goodness, greatness and faithfulness. The bulk of Friday morning’s offerings focused on rest and sabbath. Pastor Travis Bodden, director of the MRC led a panel with several pastors from the region around the theme of rest and sabbath and how to recapture the created order of working from a place of rest. Several pastors on the panel shared their own experience in the MRC Pastoral Renewal Program. The grant program is provided to help strengthen pastors through renewal and reflection. A grant is made available to help pastors step away from their responsibilities for a week/weekend for spiritual renewal and retreat. At the end of the morning, pastor Jeff Rockey led the group in a time of reflective prayer.
Friday afternoon, the conference sessions opened with more worship from Urban Light and the first of three keynote addresses from Brant Hansen on the theme of being peacemakers. Hansen (https://branthansen.com/) is an author, nationally syndicated radio host, and advocate for healing children through CURE International. You may be familiar with some of his work: Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better, The Men We Need: God’s Purpose for the Manly Man, The Avid Indoorsman, or Any Man Willing to Show Up, or his most recent release, Life is Hard, God is Good, Let’s Dance: Experiencing Real Joy in a World Gone Mad.
Brant’s themes explored what’s necessary for us to become the peacemakers that God calls us to be. Namely, that there is no such thing as righteous anger outside of the person of God, so anger needs dealt with quickly and forgiveness is a key to addressing the anger in our lives. Jesus’s promise to always be with us, and the assurance of his presence means we don’t have to be afraid or anxious about a world that’s off the rails. Lastly, goodness of the kingdom of God and the opportunities we have to catch glimpses of God’s kingdom, of things being made right and new, are all around us and remind us of how this story ultimately ends – We don’t have to fight or fret or thrash about against the culture.
There were three different breakout session times where delegates could choose from a wide array of topics and pertinent themes related to local church ministry. The conference celebrated the good leadership of pastor Lezlie McCrory as she completed her term as conference president and welcomed pastor Steve Keagle to continue leading the region in this next season. Delegates went home energized and inspired to keep looking for the Kingdom of God in their midst and to ultimately find their peace in the kingdom of God and to share that peace with everyone they encounter.
The MRC's commitment to helping pastors doesn't stop once the breakouts are over. Interested in the MRC's Pastoral Renewal Program?
The MRC Pastoral Renewal Program is provided to help strengthen our Pastors through renewal and reflection. It is designed to help Pastors step away from their responsibilities for a week/weekend for Spiritual Renewal and Retreat. This getaway is not a vacation, but a time to recharge, hear from the Lord and fill your own spiritual tank through reflection and rest. A Limited number of grants are available this year up to $1,000 to assist in the cost of travel, event registration, lodging, & meals for an experience that will aid in Spiritual Renewal. Grants will be administered by the Pastoral Renewal Task Force. The approval process and notification of program acceptance is open and will continue while funds are available.
If you're from the MRC and interested, fill out the PDF form here: Pastoral Renewal Program
Christ’s Peace,
Lance
CGGC eNews—Vol. 18, No. 26
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