In just a few weeks, the fifth annual report Church & Culture Conference will take place at Mecklenburg Community Church (Meck) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
If you haven’t already attended, you may be wondering what the vision is for this event.
God knows that the Christian world does not need another conference which looks like every other conference. You know the drill: the same eight or ten speakers currently on the circuit, the same discussions that are not so thinly veiled as book promotions, the same “pep rally” atmosphere. Yes, they serve a purpose, but we have them in reserve.
In his early years, Meck proposed what we call the “Conference on the new job. It was aimed at church planters and we served countless people. We stopped after a while because we had become distant from our own church planting days and the church planting world was changing rapidly. There were simply churches better suited for this role.
But it was rich while it lasted. For what? Because it really filled a niche. So we waited for another very clear niche to present itself.
It made.
There are conferences that bring the latest information on leadership, but where is the conference who brings the latest information on culture?
And not just cultural insight, but practical applications for the local church light of these ideas? If our mission is to evangelize and transform culture through the centrality of the local church, then two things must follow: we must understand the times and then know what to do.
We need to understand our culture and know how best to respond to it.
…enter it
… reach it,
…And transform it.
And we need to figure out how to do that through the local church. It is not that other means do not exist for mission, but Jesus created and commissioned the Church to be at the forefront.
So the vision for the year Church & Culture Conference is simple: bring out the last information on culture, then explore how to concretely respond as a church in light of these information.
This year is no different. We will bring entirely new content and new challenges rooted in Meck’s living laboratory, which sees over 70% of its growth among those who were previously unchurched. And not only is the content entirely new, but we’re also excited to offer the ability to live stream the event if you can’t be here in person.
So, what’s left on the docket for #CandCConference?
In the first session, “The New Digital Reality,” we will uncover the lost art of missionary thinking by analyzing in detail why Meck ended its multi-site approach to growth, what going digital is and how it works. importance of continually evaluating strategies for reaching the unchurched.
An entire session will follow on “Parenting and protecting Generation Z in our post-Christian reality.” In light of our ever-deepening post-Christian culture, it is more important than ever to equip parents, youth pastors, and student ministry leaders. navigate the cultural waters. What does it mean to be “informed, involved and responsible”? With the cultural emphasis on not being overprotective, what does it mean to avoid “underprotecting”? Parents must be equipped to raise and guide this new generation of children, Generation Z. If you are in any capacity, train someone who has the opportunity to be a person of influence among young people. Today, this session is essential for you. .
And finally, we will discover the art of “being a church to the unchurched.” Churches often think they are a church for the unchurched, but when you scratch the surface, you see that many are not. The reality is that many churches have talk but no reality. Countless decisions must be made week after week for us to reach the unchurched in our ever-changing culture. Discover the latest information to reach those who are far from Christincluding a look at the most pressing topics of our day.
I sincerely hope you will join us.
James Emery White
About the Author
James Emery White is the founder and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and assistant professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as its fourth president. His latest book, Meeting Generation Z: Understanding and Reaching the New Post-Christian WorldEast available on Amazon. To benefit from a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit the website ChurchAndCulture.org, where you can view past blogs in our archives and read the latest church and cultural news from around the world. Follow Dr. White on Twitter, Facebook And Instagram.
!function (f, b, e, v, n, t, s) { if (f.fbq) return; n = f.fbq = function () { n.callMethod ? n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments): n.queue.push(arguments) }; if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n; n.push = n; n.loaded = !0; n.version = ‘2.0’; n.queue = (); t = b.createElement(e); t.async = !0; t.src = v; s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0); s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s) }(window, document, ‘script’, ‘//connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘228399734010278’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
fbq(‘track’, ‘ViewContent’);
//Facebook (function (d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0); if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js. id = id; js.async = true; js.src = “http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#version=v3.3&xfbml=1”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs) ; } (document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
Author
