3 upcoming events for leaders

Springfield | Pastors and church leaders have an abundance of opportunities for refreshing and leadership training over the next few months from IBSA and the North American Mission Board (NAMB).

Revive 23

It all begins with Revive 23 March 17-18 featuring Mark Clifton and Richard Blackaby at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon. Clifton is a pastor and senior director of replanting for NAMB, which is co-sponsor of the event. Blackaby is an author, president of the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary, and the oldest son of Henry and Marilyn Blackaby.

Breakout leaders will include Bob Bickford, NAMB Replant Director; Frank Lewis, Revitalization Pastor, Tusculum Hills Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn.; Joseph Crider, Church Music and Worship Dean and Professor, Southwestern Seminary; and JimBo Stewart, a church replanting expert for NAMB.

IBSA Health Team Leader Scott Foshie said the free summit will “encourage pastors and church leaders while rekindling and refreshing their visions for their ministries and churches.” For more information and to register, visit www. IBSA.org/revive23.

Priority Conference

This year’s Priority Conference promises to develop steadfast followers of Christ, according to IBSA Leadership Development Director Carmen Halsey. “We want to create true followers of Christ who won’t walk away when hard times come,” she said. “Those who cultivate the opportunities with what God is doing in your life.”

Keynote speakers are Dewayne Taylor, Kathy Litton, and Christi Gibson. Taylor is an Illinois Baptist pastor who just celebrated 40 years in the ministry, a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force,

Watch session videos at IBSA.org/ils23 and author of the blog, “Grits with Grace.” Litton is director of NAMB’s Planting Spouse Development and wife of Ed Litton, pastor of Redemption Church in Mobile, Ala. Gibson is a storyteller and teacher who served 30 years in New Orleans. Now widowed, she serves while traveling in a camper van she named Amazing Grace.

The cost is $50 per participant, $25 for the Leadership Breakfast (optional), $15 for the Ministers’ Wives Luncheon (optional). To register or find out more, visit www.IBSA.org/priority.

Ignite Evangelism Conference

Summersville Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon is hosting the first Ignite Evangelism Conference of the year April 30-May 1 featuring John Reed, President of Georgia Baptist Evangelists, and Scott Harris, IBSA Mission Team Leader and Director of Evangelism.

IBSA Church Planting Director Kevin Jones will help lead breakout sessions.

Harris said the conference will “focus on calling out the church to pray for the lost and asking the Spirit of God to help them make an impact for the Gospel.”

The free event will start Sunday at 6 p.m. and includes Monday morning sessions ending with a grab-and-go boxed lunch at noon.

Keep watching www.IBSA.org for more details, registration information, and for additional Ignite Evangelism Conference dates.