Ridgecrest, NC
June 30 – July 4, 2008

The Disciple’s Life: Living in Fellowship with God
(Live in the Word, Pray in Faith)

In just 5 days, you can equip all of your church's discipleship and evangelism leadership with the knowledge and skills necessary to implement an ongoing, intentional, biblically-based, disciple-making process!

The National Discipleship & Evangelism Conference, set in the heart of the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center, is a unique training event for the leaders who serve your church through childhood, student, adult, men's, women's, family, and chaplaincy ministries, in both small-and-large-group experiences.

The conference features top church leadership practioners providing the best in discipleship and evangelism training through ministry-specific seminars. Plus, hear top speakers such as Henry Blackaby, founder and president emeritus of Blackaby Ministries International; Daniel L. Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; and Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. And enjoy worship with Jim Van Matre, minister of music and morship at Dauphin Way Baptist Church.

Plan now to bring all of your discipleship and evangelism leadership. Who should attend?

• Pastors
• Deacons and Wives
• Chaplains
• Lay Leaders
• Church Staff
• Age-group Leaders
• Senior Adult Ministers
• Family Ministry Leaders
• Women’s and Men’s Ministry Leaders

Don't forget the families! The National Discipleship & Evangelism Conference also offers the perfect opportunity for ministry leaders to escape with their families to a peaceful retreat, to renew the bonds of love for one another, and build memories their families will cherish for a lifetime. Family activities during the week include time to renew friendships and make new ones.

National Discipleship Core Tracks for 2008

Women’s Ministry Track  |  Track information
Discusses the basics of women’s ministry, helps for ministers’ wives, strategic volunteer leadership, small-church issues, women in crisis, ministry projects for women, stress management, and the spiritual life of the leader. Includes an “idea share” time.

Student Ministry Track
Offers an opportunity in which student ministers, pastors, and those responsible for student discipleship will: see models of effective discipleship strategy; explore what it takes to make life-changing connections with students; take a “hands-on journey” through evangelism discipleship resources; network with other leaders from around the country and discover what “ministry” to, and with, today’s student “looks like”; and take home so many ideas, it won’t be possible to pull them all off in the next year!

Preschool and Children's Leaders Track  |  Track information
Explores why we do what we do with preschoolers and children at church. Equips childhood leaders to lay and build on spiritual foundations that will produce strong Christian disciples in the church of tomorrow.

Discipleship/Evangelism Track  |  Track information
Provides church leaders (including ministers of education and church evangelism and discipleship leaders) an opportunity to explore ways to build a biblical model of discipleship in churches. This includes developing a strategy, equipping discipleship leaders, developing covenants, and exploring spiritual assessments. Participants will leave with a holistic plan for implementing a discipleship ministry for new believers and growing believers in a church.

Deacon and Deacon Wives Ministry Tracks  |  Track information

Men's Ministry Track  |  Track information

Boomer and Senior Adult Ministry Tracks  |  Track information
Reveals ways to meet the physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of boomers and senior adults through an examination of characteristics and needs of the people in these life stages. Explores avenues of ministry to and with boomers and senior adults: offering a balanced church program, promoting resources, and emphasizing strategies for effective ministry.

Small Groups — Doing Life Deeply Together Track  |  Track information
Presents the small-group movement and how it’s changing the way people do church. This core conference teaches: the principles and practices of healthy home groups; how to lead a group; how to have experienced group life; and how to be a small-group leader that develops leaders and multiplies groups. Attendees can receive the script and presentation from this session to use in their home church.

NEW! FAITH Evangelism Track  —  Ignite a Spark of Evangelism in Your Church!
With the debut of the NEW FAITH Evangelism 1, LifeWay Christian Resources wants to equip you to effectively implement FAITH Evangelism in your church. Dialog will also include various training models through which your church, your association or your state convention can provide training for other churches desiring to implement FAITH Evangelism.

Concurrent Programs for Family Members Attending the National Discipleship & Evangelism Conference

With the outstanding experiences awaiting preschoolers, children, and students, we encourage you not only to bring your child, but others from your church as well!

Preschool Children
Kids play, learn, and grow in a loving, caring, and safe preschool environment. Using LifeWay materials, preschool workers are trained to give quality care and individual attention to your child. He or she learns about God’s love and His creation through songs, activities, stories, and play. Focus on the ministry training experience, knowing that your children are happy and safe.

Day Camp
Children (who have completed 1st through 6th grades) are in for a full week of day camp fun and adventure while family members attend training sessions. Using LifeWay curriculum specifically designed for a Christian day camp, children have a blast with games, Bible stories, crafts, hiking, and recreation.

Students
In previous years, students who came with their parents attended the ZONE. This year we are maximizing your experience here through Centrifuge, a discipleship camp providing an environment for life-change. Because ministry best takes place in the context of relationships, Centrifuge features small-group Bible study led by quality staffers. The staffers also provide team-building recreation, special-interest track times, and powerful worship. Through these elements, staffers invest in the lives of campers. Meet together in the evening with other youth who came with their parents to share and debrief the day and grow together. Learn more at the Centrifuge Web site.

Download the National Discipleship & Evangelism Conference 2008 brochure