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ACMS TRACKS and SESSIONS – DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS
GENERAL SESSIONS
Friday Night Service – Making Cross-generational Pentecostal Disciples
Music – Tommy Connor and Evangel Church Team
Message – Wes Bartel: Making Cross-Generational Pentecostal Disciples
The American Church is in a discipleship crisis. Wes takes us back to the Bible to see what true disciples look like, how they are made, and how to do this across the age groups in our churches today. We must pass this Pentecostal faith on to another generation of disciples.
Saturday Morning General Session –
Wes Bartel – Creating A Christian Conscience
Many Christians today have a malformed conscience corrupted by cultural values. It is essential that the Church understand its role in developing a Christian conscience. Wes defines the conscience, how it works, how it is formed, and how the church and family must work together to create a Christian conscience.
Jay West – From Assimilation into Discipleship
Pastor Jay West of Kingwood Assembly will profile how their systematic assimilation process moves newcomers seamlessly from welcoming gatherings into the discipleship ministries of the church.
Michael Sharp – A Whole-church Discipleship Model
Michael Sharp and a team of presenters preview an integrated discipleship model that includes the whole church in a discipleship series. Adults, youth, and children are taken through the same subject week by week, as the Pastor, Youth Pastor, and Children’s Pastor cover the topics in their venues. Small Group guides and daily devotions for adults, teens, and families powerfully reinforce the truths being learned.
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CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES
S1 - Recruiting, Equipping, and Keeping Your Team –Tim Jones
Children’s ministry is made far more effective when the Children’s Pastor has a committed, competent team with which to minister. This session will cover important aspects of recruiting, equipping, motivating, and keeping the right people for your children’s ministry team.
Tim Jones is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He attended Southeastern University. Tim and Marcia have been in children’s ministry for over 25 years. Their heart is to see boys and girls grow up knowing God, not just knowing “about” Him. They incorporate students in their services to help mentor and disciple them and to help them find their place of ministry in the church. Tim and Marcia have been serving at New Life Church in Westover, Alabama as Children’s Pastors for over 17 years. They also travel doing camps and crusades for children.
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S2 - Integrating Your Children’s Ministry: Parents, Rangers, Girls, - Jon McCluey
The various ministries to children in a local church are often dis-integrated. They are all covering different material, there is no coordination, no integration of curriculum or goals, and often competition for personnel, time, and money. Most seriously, parents are often not directly involved in these ministries with their own children. This session explores ways to coordinate or integrate the various children’s ministries of your church, and include parents in the process.
Jon McCluey is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He is a graduate of Central Bible College (2003, Bible). His nine years of children’s ministry includes four at Phenix City First Assembly, and five at Butler First Assembly where he now serves.He has been married toDede for ten years, and they have two children.
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S3 - Discipleship Curriculums for Children’s Ministry – Chris Argo
Children’s Ministry has grown tremendously in the past 30 years. In many churches it is now the main ministry to children. As such, it is essential that your church’s children’s ministry regularly use good curriculums facilitating systematic discipleship, and enabling parental involvement through the week reinforcing what is being learned in Children’s Church. This session will profile such curriculums.
Chris Argo is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He is a graduate of Southeastern University (1995, Church Ministries), Southwestern Assemblies of God University (2007, Accounting), and is finishing a Masters in Christian Thought at Bethel Seminary, Minneapolis, MN. Chris has served in youth and children’s ministry since 1995, and as Pastor of Children and Administration at The Crossing since 1999. He has been married for 18 years to Aimee, and they have two daughters.
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S4 - Children’s Pastors Roundtable – Tim Jones, Jon McCluey, Billy Lawley, Chris Argo, MattSasser
This roundtable / panel will address various current issues in children’s ministry and answer questions from those attending. Included in the discussion will be how to plan a children’s service: choosing your topic, keeping it simple, maintaining focus, choosing object lessons and games, keeping their attention, managing your transitions, and closing for maximum effect.
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CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
S2 - Understanding the Basics of Parliamentary Procedure – David Edwards
This workshop will introduce you to the reasons for parliamentary procedure, the rationale behind Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RRONR), and a summary of the most basic activities, motions, or rules, such as voting, minutes, debate, etc. RRONR are meant to keep discussion civil, orderly, and rational. They are meant to ensure that powerful personalities or majorities do not dominate or railroad other people or minorities. They are meant to provide a protected, ordered space for clear discussion of relevant facts, and not for pushing someone's agenda through, not for obscuring facts, not for blocking discussion, and not for demagoguery. Our resources will be Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised IN BRIEF (Fully Updated 2nd Edition), and Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised 11th Edition.
David J. Edwards is an ordained Assemblies of God minister, and a graduate of SEU (1984, Pastoral Theology). He served ten years as a youth pastor, four as a hospice chaplain, and thirteen as a Lead Pastor, the latter including at Calvary Assembly, Mobile, since 2007. He has served on the District Presbytery and on numerous sectional and district committees, and currently serves on Secretary/Treasurer of the Mobile Sectional Committee. For twenty-five years he has been married to Beth, who serves as Principal of Calvary Christian School.
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S3 - Foxes in God’s Storehouse– Church Embezzlement Causes and Cure – Ed Wilson
In this session we define embezzlement and how does it occur in the House of God. What are the consequences of embezzlement and what should be done when it occurs? Who should know about the embezzlement if it occurs, and how are they to be made knowledgeable of the act?
S4 - Church Administration – Ed Wilson
Edward Wilsonis an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He has served as District Secretary-Treasurer for the Alabama District Council of the Assemblies of God since 2002. This position requires him to account for millions of dollars a year while keeping the district files current on more than eight hundred ministers and three hundred and sixty five churches. Edward has pastored five churches in the Alabama District and served as Executive Director of Alabama Teen Challenge. He and his wife, Edna, have one daughter, Misty, who is married to Chad Basinger and they have nine year old twin boys, Riley and Hayden.
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CHRISTIAN COUNSELING
S1 - Counseling Those Addicted to Pornography – Dr. Robert Carter
Use of and addiction to pornography is an epidemic in modern America. This silent addiction affects people in all of our churches. We must encourage those so addicted to seek help, and we should be prepared to provide it. This workshop will explain the nature of this addiction and share effective methods for deliverance and healing. We will cover the do’s and don’ts of this counseling.
S2 - Effects of Personality on the Church and Home – Dr. Robert Carter
The different personalities have strengths and weaknesses, and positive or negative effects on our lives. This session will identify personality types, explore these personalities, examine how they interact, and consider the resulting effects on our lives in the church and in the home. For those brave enough, I will do a personal analysis during the session. We will have lots of fun.
Dr. Robert Carter, Jr. is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He has served as a Senior Pastor for seventeen years in four states, and is presently serving Centenary Assembly. He has served on and led numerous committees in each district. Robert is an SEU graduate (1971), holds an earned Doctorate in Christian Counseling, and is certified as a Christian Therapist and Certified Mediator. He helped found Evangel Christian Academy in Montgomery, and founded and leads Barnabas Counseling Ministries. Dr. Carter serves as a counselor and mediator for the Alabama District. He has been married to Helen for forty years, and they have three children and four grandchildren.
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GIRL’S MINISTRY(Missionettes) – Traci Mitchell
The Momentum Leadership Development series will help volunteers get to a higher level of preparation by helping them to sharpen their skills and become more effective in the classroom. The material covered is vitally important to all who minister in the local church. Units incorporate strategies to help develop or further enhance a teacher’s skills in various areas of education, community, and personal growth. In this unit, you will foster your understanding of the unique needs of every student. The unit includes two sessions: The Dynamics of Mentoring, and Understanding Learning Styles.
S1 - The Dynamics of Mentoring – Sherry Sowers
Sherry Sowers has been attending Montgomery First for nine years, teaching Rainbows for four years, and a JBQ coach for two years. She is transitioning to teaching the Daisy Girls Club in September. Sherry is married to David, and they have four children and 2 grandchildren.
S2 - Understanding Learning Styles – LaDonnaLeMaster
LaDonnaLeMasterhas been a teacher at Evangel Christian Academy for twelve years and has been involved in the Girl's Impact Club / Missionettes, and Children's Ministry for twenty-five years in three different countries.She currently serves as the Montgomery Section Girl's Impact Club Coordinator. LaDonna and her husband Bill have served on the Pastoral Staff of Evangel Church for eight years.They have been married for twenty-seven years and have three children and four grandchildren.
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MEN’S MINISTRY – David Wooten
S1 - Reaching the Wild at Heart – David Wooten
This workshop will help you focus on reaching men through the outdoors. Churches and Men's Ministries at large can tap into the drive of men by developing ministry opportunities that take men out of their daily routine and into the wild outdoors. This method of reaching and discipling men has proven very effective in our Men’s Ministry at New Life in Westover.
S2 - Moving Young Adult Men Into Men’s Ministry – David Wooten
It is essential that our churches incorporate their young adults, from age 18 through 30, into the adult ministries of the church as quickly as possible. The Men’s Ministry must take responsibility to do this with the young men of the church. This session will discuss important aspects of this incorporation: coordinating with the youth pastor and other ministries, understanding what interests and motivates young adults, how young men value relationship, and so forth.
David F. Wooten is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He is pastor of New Life Church in Westover, Alabama where he and his wife have ministered for 20 years. David has helped build Men's Ministries in local churches across the state and across denominations. He has served on the Birmingham Sectional Committee for several years, and now serves as Presbyter of that section. David and his wife, Debra, have three boys that are the heart and soul of his drive to build men who have ".... passions for God and love for their family."
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MINISTERS’ TRACK
S1 - The Sex-offenders in Your Church: Policies, Procedures, Liabilities, Ministry – Chad Payne
Two of the strongest themes in God’s Word are redemption for the sinner and protection of the innocent. Living these themes out in the local church when sex offenders are involved is a perilous process. There are many practical, ethical, and legal issues involved. The public, the law, and the Lord will hold us accountable if we fail to protect the innocent. This session will examine the reality of the problem, the correct policies we must have in place, and the consequences if we fail. We will cover what behaviors to watch out for, and how to be both redemptive and realistic.
Chad Payne is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He is a graduate of SEU (1996, Pastoral Ministry), and of Indiana Wesleyan University (2006, Masters in Leadership). He has served as a Lead Pastor for over 15 years, including 13 at New Life Assembly of God, Woodstock. Chad currently serves as the Assistant Presbyter of the Tuscaloosa Section. Chad and his wife, Kim, have been married for 17 years, and have two exceptionally beautiful and bright daughters.
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S2 - Sermon-Based Small Groups – Wes Bartel
Pastors have long looked for ways to deepen their sermon’s impact on the congregation and make disciples through their preaching. One of the best ways to do this is through sermon-based Small Groups. This workshop will demonstrate the several advantages of sermon-based groups, how to write the leaders guides, create discussion questions, maintain focus, and so forth. Wes will demonstrate how to use a simple online tool to create your material.
Wes Bartelis an ordained Assemblies of God minister, and Director of our National Discipleship Ministries Agency. He is an alumnus of Trinity Bible College and SAGU, and is now finishing a masters degree at the Harrison School for Graduate Studies, SAGU. With more than thirty years experience as a pastor, teacher, and leader, Wes speaks frequently at home and abroad on the critical importance of discipleship. “Discipleship is the only effective method for the continued propagation and growth of the Church.” His expertise in Christian education and discipleship is deep, broad, and up to date. Wes is married to Dianne, they have two grown children, and several grandchildren.
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S3 - Building Healthy Relationships: How the Heart of the Church is Broken and Healed – Dr. Wayne Benson
Why do some pastors with limited skills thrive while others more gifted seem to hit a wall? How could most church splits have been avoided? How do we maximize the potential of resources already available to us? Leadership is a function of trust that is built upon strong and healthy relationships. Pastor Wayne Benson will provide a closer look into the “heartbeat” of the church.
Dr. Wayne Benson is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He served as Lead Pastor of Grand Rapids First Assembly of God for 25 years, President of Central Bible College for 5 years, andthe President and CEO of EMERGE Ministries for 5 years, leading each in turn through extraordinary growth or significant ministry advances. In 2010Wayne and Kathy Bensonfoundeda strategic coaching ministry called Paraclete Ministries, providing in-depth assessment and ongoing strategic mentoring to pastors, churches, ministries, and institutions. Known for their compassionate shepherds’ hearts, Wayne and Kathy have seen over 300 people launched into vocational ministry, including their two children, Mark and Tammy, both serving in fulltime ministry with their spouses. They have nine grandchildren.
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S4 - How to Use and Network Your Social Media– Keith Mitchell
Today, more people than ever before are using such social media as Facebook andTwitter as their chosen means of communication. Approximately 60% of Americans under 30 say their social media plays a dominant role in forming their relationships and identity. This workshop will show you how to join, use, and integrate Facebook, Twitter, email, and associated apps to communicate with your parishioners. You will learn the do’s, don’ts, and best and worst uses of each medium. This is an excellent opportunity! Don’t miss it.
Keith Mitchell is an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He was in children’s ministry for over 20 years, serving as an innovative children’s pastor, evangelist, and trainer, conducting camps, crusades, and seminars in many states. Always utilizing the latest in technology for ministry, Keith effectively employs the most current developments in computers, the internet, and social media. He currently serves as Lead Pastor at Vann Valley Assembly in Birmingham / Trussville. He ministers with his wife Traci and their three children – Haleigh, Hillary, and Harrison.
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* SPECIAL FEATURED SESSION …
S5 - Guarding the Gates of our Integrity: The Number One Guarantee of our Ministry Success – Dr. Wayne Benson
Satan has schemed with determination and malice to destroy ministers and ministries. What three forms of protection did God provide through functioning in a heart of integrity? Pastor Wayne Benson will share Scriptural principles and personal stories of his own temptations, challenges and victories as he discovered both his own weakness and God’s powerful strength through integrity.