We have just returned from Youngstown, Ohio, where, in my estimation, we conducted one of the best regional conferences ever for our leaders and ministers. It was a wonderful event! We held a Leadership Workshop on Sunday, July 9, with 47 members in attendance, and a ministerial conference for 82 ministers and wives, from Sunday night through Tuesday afternoon, July 11. The Northeast region is the largest of our regions and includes our home office ministry. The regional pastor for the Northeast region is Steve Myers.

This was the 17th such conference that Chris Rowland and I have organized and attended, since late 2012. I very much appreciate his attention to all the details and administrative aspects of these gatherings. Our purpose is to provide instruction as well as receive feedback in an environment where we can interact with one another. Because the home office ministry was also present at this conference, elders had the opportunity to interact with those of us who work in areas other than Ministerial and Member Services.

At the Leadership Workshop on Sunday, we emphasized our leadership model that is founded in service. It was defined by Jesus Christ in the 20th chapter of Matthew: "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:25-28 NLT).

We were pleased to have several attendees in their 20s who are keen about doing more in their local congregations and who took the time to travel—some driving from several hours away.

Leadership Workshop

Darris McNeely's session explored Christ's vision for the New Testament Church. The focus was on the earliest evangelistic efforts of the first Christians, whose work brought forth great success. We cannot be a Church that just defends its faith, but a Church that reaches out proactively with the gospel message. What more could we be doing that the early Church did in Antioch, for example?

Steve Myers presented a session entitled "Reaching Out and Lighting the Way" that addressed what we can do as members and local congregations to make our message known. I spoke about what it really means to be a disciple and what standards apply to disciples. Disciples are also to make more disciples.

The ministerial conference then began Sunday evening. Along with learning and discussion, the event provided fellowship for all of us, many who have known one another for years. We also had personal discussions with pastors about their local congregations, possible relocations, retirement and more. On Sunday night, we introduced our two new ministerial trainee hires, Steven and Danielle Britt as well as Joshua and Lizzy Creech. We introduced our newly ordained ministerial couples as well as two couples who attended from Canada. Our Canadian ministry is always invited to attend our regional conferences. It was so heartening to see growth in the new hires and new ordinations.

We tried to make our lectures interactive, as much as possible, and welcomed questions from the ministry. I am very grateful for the additional lecture support that I have had for these conferences from Darris McNeely and Steve Myers. They have both been long-time pastors who are now working at the home office and performing other functions in Beyond Today media and as Ambassador Bible College instructors. They have served generously in helping MMS with ministerial education, as well. Steve Myers is also the pastor for the Cincinnati congregations.

Session on Pastoring Young Adults and Building Relationships

The conference began with a presentation from Matthew Fenchel and Andy Lee entitled "Pastoring Young Adults and Building Relationships." They presented the findings of a project commissioned by Roy Holladay in April 2015. The objective of that project was to develop recommendations for education and mentoring of young adults (age 18 to 30+) within the Church.

This year, instead of creating a camp video (which we have done every year before), we are working on a video to highlight some of the findings of this young adults initiative. The theme of the video will be Ephesians 6:14: "Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness."

The conference continued with a video presentation of pastor Scott Hoefker that was recorded at our Southeast conference, called "Resilience, Change and Focus in a Stressful World." We all know that ministers are human. We received instruction about the importance of guarding our physical and mental health in the challenging work of the ministry.

In our previous round of conferences, we discussed how important it is for the Church to speak with one voice on our beliefs. We have safeguards in place to protect us from doctrinal drift and our ethical standards require that our elders teach as they have been taught.

The recent letter sent from Chairman Don Ward and myself reiterated to the ministry what we teach about the nature of God and Christ. Steve Myers spoke on this subject on the second day of the conference. We had some good discussion about this with the group. Steve Myers had given an excellent sermon on this subject a few weeks ago in Cincinnati and a question was asked whether it can be played in congregations for their Sabbath sermon. The answer is YES. It is an excellent presentation that explains the identity of YHWH. Who spoke to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others—and was seen by them? Who was "I AM?" and much more. It can easily be found at this link: https://www.ucg.org/sermons/jesus-god-of-the-old-testament

Darris McNeely ended the conference with a presentation called "Be an Elder at the Gate." In scripture, we see that the elders who sat in the gate of the city were looked to for their wisdom and to protect the integrity of the community. As older, seasoned elders, many of us are at the point in our ministry where we are called upon to mentor the next generation, guard the faith and traditions of the Church and ensure the peace and continuity of the spiritual community.

Attendees of the Northeast region ministerial conference

We parted with a good feeling of brotherhood, goodwill and optimism, for going forward in doing the Work of God. We hope to reach the hearts and minds of the public in our proclamation of the gospel and, as servant leaders, to provide stability, unity and a safe environment for God's people week after week.

In my prayers, I continually pray for our ministry and our congregations. I also pray, as Christ instructed, to deliver us from evil, or the Evil One. We must not be unaware of the Evil One who wants to tear us apart. The Apostle Peter warned of the roaring lion who would like nothing better than to scatter us (1 Peter 5:8). Our job in the ministry of Jesus Christ is to be shepherds who guard our flock and who would be willing to give our lives for them.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.