The Exponential conference is the largest gathering of church planters on the planet. And this year’s Exponential Conference certainly exceeded my expectations! Here are a few of my favorite Exponential experiences.
1. 2 new church plants funded in Latin America. Everything about the Stadia banquet at the Hard Rock Café was wonderful. But, for me, the most wondrous moment came at the end when church planters, churches, individuals and organizations committed $160,000 to launch two new churches in South America.
2. The first ever Wess Stafford Too Small To Ignore award. Scott and Vanessa Pugh were honored with Stadia’s inaugural award that lifts up the value of children. Children in their home, in their local church, in the U.S. and around the world. How cool was it to have Wess Stafford with us to help present the award?
3. Breakfast with Stadia’s 2013 church planters. It was an absolute joy to spend time with our 2013 planters and spouses while sharing breakfast at Mimi’s. I loved hearing about new church plants in Corn Crib, Sedona, the Hispanic community and on and on and on.
4. Bowling at Splitsville with the RiverTree team. Exponential is all about relationships. Having staff together from the church I get to be part of was a blast. Listening to their stories of how the week was impacting each of them reminded me of just how important it is to do life and ministry as a team.
5. Morning walks. Getting out of Northern Ohio and into the sunshine for a few days was refreshing. Walking around the lake at Vista Cay each morning with my wife, Julie, was even more invigorating. Being able to process together what God is doing around the world through new church planting was a very important part of the week.
Thanks to everyone who made the Exponential Conference the best church planting conference on the planet. Thanks to the Stadia team for all of the unique events and experiences that were nothing short of life transforming. Thanks to all of you who partner with us to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the 7 billion people on this planet!