MPact is just a little over two weeks away! You really don’t want to miss this one. We’ll meet at the Marriott Delta Hotel, 2301 Colonial Drive, Helena, on March 7 and 8. We’ve been building up to this MPact for many years. These two days are focused on revitalization and mobilization. You can find the schedule and registration information at www.mtsbc.org/mpact. Here are some highlights of what to expect.
On Thursday, March 7, Mark Clifton, director of church replanting and rural ministry at NAMB, will be with us the entire day. If you’re trying to figure out how to get your church going, Mark is the guy you need to hear. Mark is leading two plenary sessions on church revitalization. I encourage you to bring your church leadership so they can hear an expert talk about how to re-energize your church. Mark will also be leading two breakout sessions on overcoming depression in ministry. I don’t know about you, but I could have used what he’s going to be sharing when Denise and I were planting a church in Denver.
On Friday, March 8, we’re going to be all about mobilization. You really don’t want to miss this if you’re ready to get your church going. Leadership from the International Mission Board will be with us to talk about how you can take your church on an international mission trip. Our own Montana Sent IMB missionaries to Mexico, Chris and Sara Armstrong, will be there to talk about mission opportunities with them. Our representative on the IMB board of trustees, Sacha Hasenyager, will be there to talk about the recent mission trips Explore Church in Missoula has taken. She’ll share from her own experience about organizing a mission trip and actually doing it. Want to take a team on an international mission trip? These are the people you need to hear.
Also, on Friday, we’ll have a bunch of folks with us from Alberta, Canada. As you know, we’re in the middle of a mission partnership with our Alberta brothers and sisters. COVID shut that down for a while, but we’re ready to make up for lost time. Jeff Christopherson, the executive director for the entire Canada Convention, will be with us to talk about ministry opportunities and challenges in Canada. We’ll also hear from the Send City missionaries for Edmonton and Calgary and from pastors and church planters in Alberta. Alberta is an easy way for you to dip your toe in international missions. For most of us, all we have to do is point our cars north and start driving and we’ll be in Alberta in no time. If you think you have challenges to ministry where you are, you need to hear about what our sister churches in Alberta deal with and then plan to go and serve alongside them. You’ll be the Lord’s instrument to change lives, encourage churches, and bring back stories of God’s power that will motivate the rest of your folks to be on mission at home and beyond.
Maybe your church hasn’t been doing much for missions because the people haven’t experienced missions for themselves. Friday is the day to start turning that around. Bring your missions and outreach leadership to MPact and I’m confident that you’ll have energized champions for missions in your church who will be ready to go and to join you in calling your church to go with them.
Affinity Groups are back again this year, too. We’ve set aside nearly two hours of unscheduled time for you to meet with people who share your ministry interests. It will start at 10am on Friday morning and go through lunch. So, you could potentially have several hours to share together in prayer, fellowship, and planning for something you and others are passionate about in ministry. Already, we have groups planning to get together to talk about international missions, Alberta missions, student ministry, ministry as pastors’ wives, Native American ministry, the Montana Southern Baptist Women’s ministry, and ministry in the Glacier Association. If you want to get together with some folks about something of interest to you, why not gather your own affinity group together. Reach out to our events coordinator, Shaina Delker, at [email protected] and let her know that you’re going to gather some people together to talk about a shared interest during the Affinity Group time. Shaina will help you find a space to get together. People are already going to be there, why not get together with them to talk about a shared interest?
We’ll also have all kinds of breakout sessions during the two days. In addition to the breakouts I’ve already talked about, experts in their fields will be sharing about everything from student ministry, to church involvement in the public square, to missions, to evangelism, to children’s ministry. And then, don’t forget the breakout for our pastors’ wives. Sara Armstrong will be with the ladies to share with them about her ministry in Mexico and how she deals with daily challenges of being a wife, a mother, and on mission with the Lord. Brother pastor, you need to try to make sure your wife can be a part of this powerful, encouraging, and challenging time in the Lord. We’re waiting for a couple more breakout leaders to give us the descriptions for their breakouts and then we’ll have the breakout sessions posted online, too. You can see more about the breakouts at www.mtsbc.org/mpact/.
In addition to all of this, we’ll be blessed once again by the ministry of the worship team from Crossway Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri. These folks love the Lord and love to lead God’s people in singing praise to Him. Bring your worship team and let them get a renewed vision for worship in your church or maybe just an opportunity to give themselves to the Lord in worship with hundreds of fellow Montana brothers and sisters doing the same.
Take a look at the schedule. Register for MPact while you’re there and get your hotel room reserved while rooms are still available. As always, the MTSBC will pay for the hotel for all of our pastors. Don’t miss these two days of equipping, worship, and fellowship. I look forward to seeing you there.
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