Monday 10:30 AM

Big group gathering in the Fellowship Hall.

​

Monday 1:00 PM

Effective Event Planning: How to take the stress out of planning a large event

Kim Apthorp

Lake Room South

Learn how to plan and execute a successful large event without feeling overwhelmed. This practical class will walk you through the key steps of effective event planning—from setting clear goals and creating a realistic timeline to organizing volunteers, managing supplies, communicating with your team, and preparing for the unexpected. You’ll discover simple strategies and tools to stay organized, delegate effectively, and keep your event running smoothly from start to finish.

​​

Beyond Attendance: Measuring What Matters and Communicating It Well

Rev. Kirsten Jones and Rev. Brian Lawson: Ministry Leadership Center

Lake Room North

​How do we know if our ministry is making a difference? Attendance and participation tell us what happened, but not necessarily what changed. In this workshop, we’ll move beyond counting heads to identify the transformation we hope to cultivate and explore practical ways to recognize, measure, and communicate ministry impact. Participants will learn how to use meaningful indicators to tell a compelling story of transformation in their ministry.

​

Games & Ice Breakers for Ministry Leaders

Tyler Karges

Fellowship Hall

Spend time with Ministry Staff from Warren Willis Camp. Tyler and Josh are responsible for brining the Summer Camp Theme to life each year. They will lead a discussion-based session for Children, Youth, and Family Leaders to collaborate ideas and resources for larger-than-life group games and effective small group ice breakers.

​

Leveraging Tech in your Worship Space

Blake Trent

Chapel

Does the technology in your worship space feel like it's not helping you share the good news, but making you dread sundays? Do you wish you had a way to tell your volunteers something other than "good luck"? Do you feel like it might be time to update your space in some ways, but you're overwhelmed with all the options and what you could do? I'd love to share some of my philosophies behind technology in worship, how I've made it flexible in my context, and ways that tech can serve your ministry instead of hinder you.

​​

​

Monday 3:15 PM

Congregational Care

Rev. Dr. Sally Campbell-Evans

Lake Room South

Sally will be sharing with our group in a large session. She has agreed to stay after the session to elaborate on topics of Congregational Care, referrals, how to care for children, youth, and their families when their needs go beyond our abilities. What are our boundaries, and how can we develop a support system for ourselves and our congregations?

​

Working Through It Together:

Group Coaching for Youth and Children’s Ministry Leaders

Rev. Kirsten Jones and Rev. Brian Lawson: Ministry Leadership Center

Lake Room North

Bring the questions and challenges you’re navigating in youth or children’s ministry to a group coaching session with MLC leaders Rev. Kirsten Jones and Rev. Brian Lawson. Your questions will shape the conversation as Kirsten and Brian help the group explore possibilities, learn from one another’s experiences, and consider practical next steps for your ministry.

​

Bridging the Gap: Transitioning Kids Ministry into Youth Ministry

Rev. Michael Leblanc

Fellowship Hall

Every church struggles with this: why do families who are consistent and committed from K-5th grade disappear as soon as their kid enters the 6th grade? How can we make that handoff effective, consistent, and above all "sticky"? Your teacher doesn't know, but he has a ten year old so he is really invested in finding the answer. Join this class if you too are worried your 6th grader is going to magically start hating church... or if your a kids or youth leader that wants to help anxious parents like your teacher.​

​

Starting a Youth Band

Blake Trent

Chapel

If you have youth services, and especially if you have youth interested in worship, how do you create a space for them to work together that allows them to grow? Cultivating worshippers is difficult in any space, so let's sit down together and talk through some things that might help your youth start a worship team and thrive.

​

Monday 4:30 PM

Ministry As Career

Rev. Dr. Debbie Allen

Lake Room South

​Together we’ll explore the processes for candidacy in the Florida UMC, review the ordination of process for deacons and elders, and what it means to serve in different areas of the church. This is both for people interested for themselves and for those who want to be more informed to help educate congregations, students, worship teams, and others.

​​

​Children's Ministry Idea Swap​​​

Kim Apthorp, Holly Carter, and Hannah Stelter

Lake Room North

This will be a guided sharing opportunity. Bring your favorite ideas, the "things that worked" folder on your laptop, and your go-to resources for children and family ministry at your church. Our hope is to cultivate great conversation, and share our best (and maybe worst) ideas and stories. 

​

The Care Compass: Creating a Culture of Hospitality

Kimberlyn Gallo

Fellowship Hall

What if you had a simple tool to help transform the way people experience your ministry? The Care Compass introduces five practical principles: Neighbor, Welcome, Experience, Stewardship, and Care, to help teams create spaces where people feel seen, valued, welcomed, and connected. Discover how this easy-to-use framework can strengthen your team, shape your ministry culture, and turn everyday interactions into meaningful moments of care!

​

A Listening Session with Rev. Dr. Jenn Stiles Williams 

Chapel

Rev. Dr. Jenn Stiles Williams

Join us for a listening session focused on how our local churches can be vital, life-giving partners in the communities we serve. Together, we’ll explore the opportunities, challenges, and needs present in our communities and in our local churches.
We’ll consider questions such as:

• Where do you see the greatest needs in your community?

• What needs is your local church experiencing?

• How can our connection collaborate more effectively and equip one another for ministry?

• What would it look like for us to serve our communities, state, nation, and world more faithfully and effectively?

• How might we live more fully into our calling to create disciples for the transformation of the world?

This will be a space to share, listen, dream, and imagine together—because the wisdom and experiences of our local churches matter.
Jenn will also highlight several upcoming events and initiatives the conference is supporting this year, including the Love First Journey, Beloved Community Summit, and Quarterly Catalyst.
Come ready to share your experiences, your hopes, your challenges, and your ideas for the future of our connection.

​

Tuesday 10:15 AM

UMC Theology 101

Rev. Michael Leblanc​

Lake Room South

So what the heck is a United Methodist? In this class we will help you learn the basics of what we mean when United Methodists talk about God. We will also give you some of the tools you will need to help communicate what we mean when we talk about God. Above all this class will be fun and we promise to explain why your pastor cares so much about ordination and stuff.

​

Launching Graduates: From High School to College Campuses

Greg Rusch and Rev. Joel Pancoast

Lake Room North

What students from your youth groups end up at a Wesley Foundation? What are the trends we are seeing on the college campus? What does it take to walk across campus, ride your bike, scooter, car to your first campus ministry meeting? What takes a student from attending to thriving in a campus ministry?

​

Staying Centered in the Midst of Ministry

Rev. Dr. Debbie Allen

Fellowship Hall

Ministry is beautiful and wonderful AND it can be a lot at times too. Together we’ll explore some more contemplative spiritual practices that can help you stay spiritually centered in the midst of the busyness of all our different ministries within the church. And you can take these back and share with others as well.

​

Lyrical Theology

Jeremy Hearn

Chapel

LYRICS MATTER, Y’ALL! Whether you are leading children, youth, or adults the songs we select and lyrics we sing shape our theology. In this session we will unpack our “sung theology” with attention to children, youth, and adult worship.

​​​

Tuesday 11:30 AM

Making Training Fun and Engaging

Kaitlin Francavilla

Lake Room South

Training is needed for the safety and empowerment of volunteers and staff. But training doesn't have to be just a chance to check off doing it. It can be a team building experance and something that staff and volunteers look forward to.

​

Cultivating Community and Growing Leaders through

Sports and Recreation Ministry

Brian Witstruck and Ben Haines

Lake Room North

In this workshop, we will explore how sports and recreation can strengthen children’s and youth ministry in a church setting. We will discuss how these activities can bring people from different backgrounds together and build community. We will also explore ways sports and recreation can help young people grow in confidence, self-esteem, and leadership.

​​

Confirmation

Rev. Jason Gant​

Lake Room South

Teaching confirmation for the first time or looking for a fresh start, this class will introduce a variety of curriculums, discuss different formats, and cultivate conversation about this intentional discipleship opportunity in our churches tradition. 

​​

Trauma Informed Worship

Ryan Ganaban and Sofia Friedley Fernandez

Chapel

Every person brings their unique story into worship. Some carry traumas that make them reticent to participate in certain expressions of worship. How does trauma affect a person's participation in worship, and what can we learn about various experiences of trauma and their effects to better create safe worship experiences?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​