The 2012 ABC/Ohio Leadership Conference April 27 to 28, 2012

Reserve your place now for the 2012 ABC/Ohio Leadership Conference! Pastors Day is Friday, April 27 while all Pastors, Leadership Teams and Members are invited to join in on Saturday, April 28. Our theme is "Healthy Churches are Sending Churches: Building a Biblical/Theological Understanding of the Missional Church."  All pastors and members will be blessed by attending this conference. The facilitator for this enriching event is Dr. Craig Van Gelder, Professor of Congregational Mission, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN and Consultant with The Missional Network. All pastors and members will be blessed by attending this conference at Karl Road Baptist Church, 5750 Karl Rd, Columbus, OH 43229. Download REGISTRATION FORM BROCHURES (Registration Form is on page two) and promote the Church Leadership Conferencet with a PROMOTIONAL POSTER and BULLETIN INSERTS (click on each to download).

Craig Van Gelder holds a Ph.D. in Missiology (1982) as well as a Ph.D. in Administration in Urban Affairs/Public Policy (1985). He has served since 1998 as Professor of Congregational Mission at Luther Seminary, which was preceded by ten years serving as Professor of Domestic Missiology at Calvin Theological Seminary. This field of study utilizes biblical and theological frameworks in developing a missional approach for helping congregations in the U.S. engage changing contexts while pursuing adaptive change and transformation.

Ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1984 and the Christian Reformed Church in 1990, Van Gelder combines a practical and academic interest in helping congregations participate more fully in God’s mission. Much of this interest stems from his work as a consultant over the past three decades alongside his teaching duties in assisting congregations with discernment planning and processes of organizational change. 

He is author of The Essence of the Church (2000) and The Ministry of the Missional Church (2007); is co-author with Rick Rouse of  A Field Guide for the Missional Congregation (2008), and co-author with Dwight Zscheile of The Missional Church in Perspective (2011); is editor of Confident Witness-Changing World (1999), The Missional Church in Context (2007), The Missional Church and Denominations (2008), and The Missional Church and Leadership Formation (2009); is co-editor with Richard Bliese of The Evangelizing Church (2005) and with George Hunsberger of The Church Between Gospel and Culture 1996); and is a contributing author to Missional Church (1998).