Some of today’s most renowned and influential worship leaders and artists are coming together for a first-of-its-kind virtual training event designed for anyone involved in worship ministry in the local church.
The Resourcing Worship Virtual Conference, scheduled for Aug. 1, will feature more than 60 speakers and artists delivering keynote addresses and breakout sessions in an interactive online event. Confirmed speakers and worship leaders include Keith Getty, Matt Redman, Shelly Johnson, Mike Harland, Matt Boswell and others. The vocal group Veritas will lead in times of worship throughout the daylong event.
Cost for the event is $15 per person through July 18 and $20 per person after July 18. Groups of five or more can register for $10 per person through July 18. Group members do not have to be from the same church, but a distinct email address for each individual must be submitted at the time of the group registration.
Registrants can access and view all of the conference content for 90 days following the conclusion of the online event.
More information and registration details are available at resourcingworship.com.
“We are striving to equip our churches amid these times of not being able to gather in large groups,” said Kenny Lamm, senior consultant for worship and music with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, who is one of the event’s organizers. “This event is made very affordable as a joint venture of worship consultants from state conventions across the country. We hope this conference will have global appeal.”
The conference was birthed out of conversations among worship ministry consultants at nearly 20 Baptist state conventions at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. The event is believed to be one of the first partnerships between numerous state conventions and other Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) entities for a large-scale ministry training event.
“We are doing something together that would be impossible for a single state convention to do alone,” said David Manner, associate executive director of the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists, who also works in the areas of leadership and worship. “By providing this virtual conference experience, we have been able to bring together internationally known worship leaders to provide high-quality teaching and training on a variety of topics at a fraction of what it would cost to attend a comparable event in person.”
In addition to Manner, Lamm and other state convention worship consultants, faculty members from SBC seminaries as well as local church pastors and worship leaders will lead more than 60 breakout sessions addressing various topics related to worship ministry.
During one of the breakout sessions, Manner will facilitate a panel discussion on “Worship and the Racial Divide” that will include pastors and worship leaders from two local churches in Topeka, Kansas, whose respective congregations are made up primarily of individuals from different ethnic backgrounds.
Other sessions will address a variety of biblical, theological, practical and technological aspects of worship and local church ministry. Several sessions have been designed for senior pastors, as well.
“It doesn’t matter what the size of your staff or congregation is, this virtual conference offers something for everybody at a price that is so affordable,” Manner said.
In addition to details about the virtual worship conference, the resourcingworship.com website includes additional resources for pastors and worship leaders that are collected and compiled from worship ministry consultants at various Baptist state conventions and other sources.
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Chad Austin is editor of communications for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.)
