The Leadership Conference // Save The Date: October 11-13, 2012

2011 Main Session Videos

Here are the videos from the main sessions of the 2011 Leadership Conference. The audio from workshops will also be available here by the end of November.

Session 1: Leading in the Public Square

A Lead Where You Are Story by Mark Batcheck
Keynote by Joshua Dubois
Q&A with Rich Nathan

Session 2: Leading as a Woman

A Lead Where You Are Story by Linda Reiter
Keynote by Dianne Leman

Session 3: Leading to Transform Our Cities

A Lead Where You Are Story by Kerry Davis and Will Shearer
Keynote by Dave Workman

Session 4: Leading in Our Universities

A Lead Where You Are Story by Chris Meekins
Keynote by Alec Hill
Closing Thoughts by Rich Nathan

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ABOUT

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, God is calling you to leadership - to influence and impact whatever environment you find yourself in for Christ. Whether in the workplace, your neighborhood, or in your dorm room, you are called to lead where you are to influence and impact people for Christ.

The Vineyard Columbus Leadership Conference is a gathering of people who have a heart to make a difference in the world for Christ. We will gather to learn and grow. We will gather to pray and worship. We will gather to be inspired and refreshed. We will gather to meet with God so that we can influence the world for Christ!

The 2012 Leadership Conference will be on October 11-13, 2012. Please mark your calendar and make plans to join us. This conference is open to EVERYONE!

What To Expect

Inspiring Teachings
Great Worship
Engaging Workshops
Vision for Leadership
Make New Friends
Delicious Coffee

2011 CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

THURSDAY (10/13)

6:00PM-7:00PM Registration
7:00PM-9:30PM MAIN SESSION #1 (Joshua Dubois)

FRIDAY (10/14)

9:00AM-11:30AM MAIN SESSION #2 (Dianne Leman)
11:30AM-1:30PM Lunch Break
1:30PM-3:00PM Workshop Session #1
3:15PM-4:45PM Roundtable Discussion & Workshop Session #2
4:45PM-7:00PM Dinner Break
7:00PM-9:30PM MAIN SESSION #3 (Dave Workman)
9:30PM-10:30PM Extended Worship and Ministry Time

SATURDAY (10/15)

9:00AM-11:30AM MAIN SESSION #4 (Alec Hill)
11:30AM-12:00PM Closing Comments (Rich Nathan)

2011 CONFERENCE SPEAKERS

Alec Hill

Alec Hill is the President of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, which is a nondenominational ministry serving 35,000 students and faculty on 560 college and university campuses nationwide. Prior to coming to InterVarsity in 2001, he was the Dean of the School of Business and Economics at Seattle Pacific University as well as Professor of Law and Ethics. He has also served as a Regional Director with World Relief. Alec is the author of Just Business: Christian Ethics in the Marketplace, published by InterVarsity Press. Alec holds a B.A. in History and a M.A. in Biblical Studies from Seattle Pacific University, and a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law. Alec and his wife, Mary, live in Madison, Wisconsin, and have two grown daughters, Laura and Carolyn.

Joshua Dubois

Joshua DuBois is a Pentecostal minister and the son of an African Methodist Episcopal pastor. While studying at Boston University, Joshua became an evangelical Christian and joined Calvary Praise and Worship Center, a small African-American Pentecostal congregation in Cambridge. Although just a teenager, he preached when the pastor was away, and was named an associate pastor there at age 18. Now he is the Special Assistant to President Obama and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. In this capacity, Joshua leads a council of 25 influential religious and nonprofit leaders to help both faith-based and nonprofit groups make a bigger impact in their communities by providing everything from social services to job training.

Rich Nathan

Rich Nathan has been serving since 1987 as the first senior pastor of the Vineyard Columbus. Prior to pastoring, Rich taught business law at The Ohio State University for five years. He is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and received his Juris Doctorate with honors from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1980. Rich has served on the National Board for Vineyard: A Community of Churches for nearly two decades and is currently serving as the Large Church Task Force leader for the Vineyard. He is a popular national and international conference speaker. Rich wrote Who is My Enemy? Welcoming People the Church Rejects (Zondervan, 2002) and co-authored the book, Empowered Evangelicals (Ampelon Revised 2009) with Ken Wilson. He has written numerous articles on leadership in publications such as Leadership Magazine. Rich was born and raised in New York City. He and his wife, Marlene, have been married for over 35 years. They have two children and six grandchildren.

Dave Workman

Dave Workman is senior pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, a church of 6,000 weekend attendees. Starting in 1985, the Vineyard pioneered a unique form of outreach called servant evangelism. Workman is considered an atmosphere architect in the evolution of the church. After leading worship for twelve years and developing celebration/programming teams for eight weekly celebrations, he began regularly teaching as a primary speaker. In 2000, Dave stepped into the role of senior pastor. He and his wife, Anita, live in Mason, Ohio, with their two children. He is the author of The Outward-Focused Life: Becoming a Servant in a Serve-Me World.

Dianne Leman

Dianne Leman For over 30 years Dianne has partnered with her husband Happy in leading the Vineyard Church of Champaign-Urbana, IL. After receiving her Master’s in Education from the University of Illinois, Dianne’s goal was to be a university professor. However, a radical encounter with the Holy Spirit turned her life upside down and she instead raised five children while preaching, leading and teaching as part of the Vineyard pastoral team. Dianne oversees the National Vineyard Task Force Team for Women in Leadership.

Q&A With The Speakers

Alec Hill

Alec, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?
The most important thing to know about me is that I grew up in Seattle. Became a believer at Dennis Bennett’s church (charismatic Anglican); went to high school with Bill Gates and Paul Allen; live and die (mostly die) with the Mariners and Sonics (sob); met my wife when I was 12 and she was 11 (she lived four blocks away); went to law school at the U of Washington (go Dawgs!); resettled refugees as a World Relief Regional Director; served as Dean of a business school; wrote a book – “Just Business” – on business ethics; raised two amazing daughters.

What gives you the greatest joy in being a leader?
I love seeing my people succeed. There is no greater joy.

What's your biggest challenge as a leader?
By temperament, I am a people-pleaser. I have had to learn to serve one Master (Luke 17:7-10)

Who made the biggest influence in your life as a leader?
Can’t point to just one person. A few names: David McKenna, Doug Burleigh, Jerry White, Denny Rydberg

What advice do you have for those who are in college (or recent grads) who may have a desire to lead where they are and make an impact for the Kingdom?
The impact that a college student or a recent grad can have on their peers is immense. Tim Keller became a believer at Bucknell due to Christian friends. InterVarsity’s new VP of Advancement – Andrew Ginsberg – came to faith five years after his time at Duke due to the faithful persistence of friends.

Do you have any book recommendations for those who will be attending the Leadership Conference?
“Bury the Chains” by Adam Hochschild and “Heroic Leadership” by Chris Lowney.

Dave Workman

What gives you the greatest joy in being a leader?
There is still no greater thrill for me than simply leading someone into a relationship with Jesus. But as a communicator, I love watching the lights come on in people’s eyes as the Holy Spirit suddenly connects when you bring some element of the dangerous message of Jesus Christ. And as a leader, taking people from what you know is an unsatisfactory status quo to a preferred future is breathtaking as others “own a vision” and step into leadership themselves. I love inspiring and maximizing the Kingdom potential of others.

What's the toughest lesson you’ve learned about leadership?
Self-leadership is critical. To be integrous, I am responsible not just for leading others, but first leading myself. The health and scope of an organization is bound up in the heart of the leader, therefore I need—I must—be vulnerable to feedback, critique and input from others and accept responsibility for my personal development. Easily said, difficult to practice.

Who made the biggest influence in your life as a leader?
I’ve had coaching and influence from numbers of different people for various aspects of my life. But as a pastor/leader, I’d have to say Bill Hybels, author and pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. His contagious love for the local church and developing leaders is motivating for my soul and personality-type.

In what ways do you think that Christians can make the biggest impact in our communities?
I believe being an “incarnational Christian community” is ultimately the answer, but how it’s played out is so dependent on the cultural context. That’s why I believe a healthy and radically-committed local church has the potential for being the most influential and humbly high-powered organization ever. And in its universal form, Jesus said nothing could short-circuit it. Servant-hearted, outward-focused, grace-giving, merciful and justice-hungry people living life authentically together is refreshingly shocking—and I believe welcomed—in a broken world.

Dianne Leman

Dianne, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?
My husband Happy and I are the co-senior pastors of The Vineyard Church in Urbana IL—a church we planted in 1978. We have grown to be a multi-site church in East Central IL with 5 campuses. This was not our life plan or dream. We met at the University of IL in 1969 while Hap was completing his MBA and I my Masters in Education. Both of us were working in our chosen fields when a devastating diagnosis of infertility led us to a miraculous encounter with the Holy Spirit. We received God’s healing, gave birth to our first son and God birthed a church out of our experience. Since then, we have labored side by side in leading the church. Our gifts are very different but we love working in partnership with the Spirit, one another and an ever-changing team. I oversee our Preaching Team of men and women, lead The Alpha Course, serve on our Senior Team, and pray, pray pray!

What gives you the greatest joy in being a leader?
My greatest joy as a leader is seeing people, both men and women, come into a vibrant relationship with Jesus, discover He is real, loving and powerful and have their lives transformed by the Person of the Holy Spirit. I then love helping people discover who they are in Christ Jesus and what good things He has planned for them as part of His Body. Watching them grow and mature brings me much joy!

What's the toughest lesson you’ve learned about leadership?
My toughest lesson as a leader is the ongoing revelation that I CANNOT!! I cannot do anything apart from Jesus, whether it is fix people’s problems or preach a good sermon! Learning to totally trust the Indwelling Christ continues to be my greatest challenge as I lead others. This has brought me face to face with my deep fear of failure and an even deeper faith in the One whom I believe. He has never failed me. That is my message for all those I am privileged to lead.

Who made the biggest influence in your life as a leader?
My husband Happy was the very first person to say to me, “You are called to preach.” He has continued to be my biggest encourager and supporter while navigating the criticisms and differing beliefs about women in leadership in the church. Because I am a voracious reader, I have learned much from mentors I have never met in person but whose writings have changed my life as a person and as a leader.

What advice do you have for women who want to serve in a leadership capacity either in their church or community?
The most important advice I have for a woman (or a man!) is to faithfully serve in many different arenas in the church and community until you to discover whom Jesus has made and gifted you to be. As I served, I was affirmed in my leadership gift. Even when some opposed me (usually as a woman) I had confidence that Jesus had gifted me to lead. Stay teachable, stay in relationship with other believers and keep laying down your life in order to find the real you whom Jesus has called.

2011 WORKSHOPS

Small Group Ministry: Getting Started

What do you need to know to start a small group? How do you gather people? What kinds of factors should you consider about time, place and content? a practical introduction to getting a small group started.

Small Group ministry: Multiplying and Dividing

You've been successfully leading a small group and realize that you might need to think about birthing a new one. How do you go about recognizing and developing leadership, and birthing a new group in a way that is a blessing to both groups?

Small Groups in the Workplace

The workplace can be a challenging but fruitful field for evangelism, discipleship and spiritual growth. How can a small group in the workplace be used to further the kingdom of God?

Bringing the Kingdom of God to the Workplace

How do I live out my Christian faith in the workplace in such a way that it is the aroma of Christ to those around me? How do I go about being part of bringing the Kingdom of God into my workplace? From day to day interactions to sharing the gospel, this can be done well or it can be done poorly. We want to do this well - come and find out how!

What Next? For Moms With Kids in Middle and High School

As moms, we spend a significant number of years ferrying kids to and from sports events, school activities, lessons, etc. Perhaps we have had limited opportunities to lead or be involved in ministry during this time. What does it look like to re-engage or expand our involvement in ministry as our kids become more independent?

Calling Isn't Just About Being a Pastor

Most of us are not called to full time vocational ministry, but this doesn't mean that we don't have a calling. How do we discover and walk out the calling that God has on our lives as we live and work in the world around us?

Reconciliation: Being a Change-Agent Wherever You Are

Race and gender continue to be divisive issues in the schools, the workplace and the neighborhood. Bringing the Kingdom of God means bringing reconciliation, sometimes one person at a time.

Being Interruptible: Being Led by the Spirit Anywhere, Anytime

What does it look like to be interruptible, to allow the Holy Spirit to stop you in your tracks for divine appointments?

Ministry to the Muslim Community in your Back Yard

We have an ever increasing population in our neighborhoods and cities who come from a Muslim background. What are the cultural issues we need to be aware of? How can we begin to build friendships so as to open doors for the gospel?