North America: The New Mission Field (The Rev. Dr. Winfield Bevins)
North America: The New Mission Field…We live in an increasingly multicultural, secular, and global context, and because some churches in the United States do not understand these shifts, they have either stopped growing or are in decline. These shifts, however, have created tremendous opportunities for mission, as the mission field has now come to us, along with fresh voices from the global church from which we can grow and learn. Dr. Winfield Bevins, Director of Church Planting at Asbury Seminary will be sharing how each one of us can join in God’s mission to reach North America with the gospel of Jesus Christ through personal evangelism, church planting, and revitalizing existing congregations.
The Rev. Dr. Winfield Bevins is an author, artist, and speaker whose passion is to help others connect to the roots of the Christian faith for discipleship and mission. He is the Director of Church Planting at Asbury Theological Seminary. Prior to coming to Asbury, he was a pastor, college professor, and planter of Church of the Outer Banks (Diocese of the Carolinas). He has taught on four different continents, speaking at conferences, churches, and seminaries on a variety of topics. He has a Doctorate of Ministry from Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. Having grown up in a low-church background, Winfield eventually found his spiritual home in the Anglican tradition, but freely draws wisdom from all church traditions.
Tomorrow’s Leaders in Your Church Today (Nicole Shirk & Elliott Simko)
Tomorrow’s Leaders in Your Church Today: How to reach and form college students as leaders for the Church…Local, national, and global leaders for tomorrow are students on college campuses today. 53% of these students report feeling hopeless. Only 4% of this generation of students has a Biblical worldview. Regardless of the size and style of your church, there are important ways you can help to bring the hope of Jesus Christ to campus and disciple next generation leaders for ministry in the Church and the world. Join in an interactive session to discuss best practices in reaching college students with the Gospel and integrating them into the life of your parish.
Nicole Shirk serves as the Executive Vice President for Campus Ministry of the Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO), providing leadership to all facets of Campus Ministry, Recruiting, Fellowship Program, and Support Raising Ministries. She attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina and had plans as a student to serve the Lord through economic development in West Africa. The Lord had other plans. Now in her 17th year of ministry with the CCO, Nicole delights in God disrupting her life with better plans than she could imagine. Nicole’s work with the CCO has included ministry to Carnegie Mellon University students, regional leadership, and executive roles overseeing the CCO’s ministry to students in partnership with local churches.
Elliott Simko has served with the Coalition for Christian Outreach in the Metro Philadelphia region since graduating from college in 2008. During that time, he served as CCO campus staff in partnership with Manoa Community Church, reaching students at Haverford College and Eastern University. Elliott then worked as a Partnership Coordinator for the Metro Philadelphia region, and he recently took on a new role as Director of Campus Ministry, through which he provides leadership to the CCO’s regional leaders and helps develop CCO church partnerships nationwide.
