HCT Creative Workshop Retreat

Helping Churches Thrive Creative Workshop Retreat

Today’s landscape of church leadership is challenging but also full of opportunity. To thrive in this environment, congregations need new systems and practical tools for both paid and volunteer leaders. That’s why CBFNC’s Helping Churches Thrive ministry is hosting the Creative Workshop Retreat, an essential event for church leadership teams (deacon boards, finance committees, personnel committees, properties committees, other church leadership teams and church staff). This retreat offers impactful large group presentations that examine the changing spiritual landscape, listen to the longings of our neighbors, learn from thriving congregations, reimagine how we invite others into the life of faith, and imagine the future God is calling us to embrace. It also includes practical learning tracks, collaborative learning spaces and small group sessions focused on the needs of today’s churches. Click here for a flyer to share with your church.

Retreat Schedule

DAY ONE

9:30 a.m.	Check-In Begins
10:30 a.m.	Opening Session
11:30 a.m.	Learning Track One
12:45 p.m.	Lunch
1:45 p.m.	Learning Track Two
3:00 p.m.	Congregational Group Break
4:00 p.m.	Learning Track Three
5:30 p.m.	Supper
6:30 p.m.	Plenary Session One
8:00 p.m.	Wrap

DAY TWO

8:30 a.m.	Morning Coffee
9:00 a.m.	Plenary Session Two
10:30 a.m.	Break
11:00 a.m.	Learning Track Four
12:15 p.m.	Lunch
1:00 p.m.	Plenary Session Three
2:30 p.m.	Conclude

• LEGAL, GOVERNANCE & ABUSE PREVENTION/RESPONSE
  Session 1: Best Practices of Incorporating Known/Suspected Sexual Offenders (Led by Jay Kieve, CBF Global director for leadership development, abuse prevention, and church safety)
  Session 2: Current Legal Issues for Churches(Led by Jason Cogdill, CBFNC legal resource partner)
  Session 3: Threat Assessment (Led by Jay Kieve)
  Session 4: Why Am I Here and How Long Will it Take?  Giving the Gift of Clarity to Your Lay Leaders (Led by Nathan Edwards, Missional Business Services)

• FINANCE & PROPERTY
  Session 1: Altering Sacred Spaces: Emotional, Relational, & Practical Realities of Church-Owned Property Change (Led by Josh Owens, pastor, FBC Lumberton)
  Session 2: Building a Giving Culture of Generosity in Your Church (Led by Jack Glasgow, active interim & retired pastor)
  Session 3: Loving our Littlest Neighbor: Addressing Community Need Through a Church-Based Preschool (Led by Jess Tankersly & Lee Richie, Ardmore Baptist ministry staff)
  Session 4: Heaven on Earth…Creating a Church with Financial Freedom (Led by Nathan Edwards)

• PERSONNEL & SEARCH TEAMS 
  Session 1: You Are Not Alone: Search Team Support and Resources (Led by Lou Ann Gilliam, CBFNC ministerial equipping director)
  Session 2: The Art of the Call (Led by Matt Cook, director, Center for Healthy Churches)
  Session 3: Confidentiality, Employment Contracts, Hiring/Termination, Staff Reviews, Insurance and Benefits (Led by Jason Cogdill)
  Session 4: Healthy Evaluation Practices for Ministers … How to Help Your Ministers be Their Best Minister for You (Led by Jay Kieve)

• CONGREGATIONAL LEADERSHIP 
  Session 1: Building a Leadership Culture of Collaboration in Your Church (Led by Jack Glasgow)
  Session 2: Simplify to Strengthen: Rethinking Congregational Leadership for Sustainable Ministry (Led by Todd Stillerman, deacon chair, St. John’s Baptist Church)
  Session 3: Leadership Development—New Models for a New Season (Led by Matt Cook)
  Session 4: New Models for Church Organization: Increasing Congregational Effectiveness While Maximizing Leaders’ Gifts and Passions (Led by Larry Hovis, CBFNC executive coordinator)

• NAVIGATING DIFFERENCES
  Session 1: Beyond Fight or Flight (Led by Matt Cook)
  Session 2: Maybe the Greatest Thing to Fear is How We View Others (Led by Andy Hale, CBFNC associate executive coordinator)
  Session 3: Research to Disprove Confirmation Bias Confirmed I Was Right All Along (Led by Andy Hale)
  Session 4: Conviction without Contempt: Christian Unity Amidst Diversity (Led by Stacy Nowell, pastor, FBC Huntersville & Marion Horton, CBFNC moderator)

• EVANGELISM/EMBODYING INVITATIONAL DISCIPLESHIP
  Session 1: Speaking to a Secular Age: Lessons from Interviews with Five Non-Christians (Led by Stacy Nowell)
  Session 2: Evangelism as an Essential Church Value (Led by Rob Tennant, pastor, Hillside Church)
  Session 3: The Sacred Art of Listening (Led by Wanda Kidd, retired campus minister and director)
  Session 4: Invitation…To Whom? To What? (Led by Randy Carter, CBFNC vocational formation director)

People today continue to long for authentic relationships, meaningful purpose, spiritual depth, and communities where they can belong. While many have stepped away from organized religion, they have not abandoned their desire for lives shaped by hope, love, justice, and grace. 

This year’s plenary series invites us to explore what it means to become the church people are looking for—a faith community where all can flourish. Together, we’ll examine the changing spiritual landscape, listen to the longings of our neighbors, learn from thriving congregations, reimagine how we invite others into the life of faith, and imagine the future God is calling us to embrace. 

Rather than asking how to return to what once was, we’ll ask how our churches can more faithfully embody the way of Jesus in ways that help people, congregations, and communities flourish.

• • PLENARY SESSION ONE A 
    Seeing the Opportunity: The Church is ministering in a rapidly changing world, where trust in institutions is shifting, spiritual curiosity remains strong, and communities are searching for authentic connection and purpose. This session invites us to consider not only what is changing around us, but also how these changes create new opportunities for congregations to faithfully embody the hope of Christ in their communities. (led by Brian Foreman, CBF Global coordinator of congregational ministries)

• • PLENARY SESSION ONE B
    Becoming the Church People Are Looking For:What makes a church a place where people genuinely want to belong? Rather than offering a formula, this session explores the characteristics of faith communities that cultivate belonging, authenticity, spiritual growth, and meaningful relationships. Through reflection and lived experience, we’ll imagine what it means to become congregations where all can flourish.(led by Kristen Tucker, senior pastor, FBC Smithfield)

• • PLENARY SESSION TWO A 
    Helping Every Generation Flourish: Healthy churches recognize that every generation brings unique gifts, perspectives, and needs to the life of the congregation. This session explores how churches can move beyond simply serving different generations to becoming communities where people of every age learn from one another, lead together, and grow together in faith. (led by Colin Kroll, CBF Global young adult ministries manager)

• • PLENARY SESSION TWO B 
    Invitation Over Attraction: In today’s world, people are often drawn to faith through relationships long before they are drawn to institutions. This session explores how congregations can cultivate a culture of hospitality, presence, and everyday witness that naturally invites others into the life of Christ and the community of faith. (led by Rebecca Stempniak, associate pastor, FBC Albemarle)

• • PLENARY SESSION THREE 
    One Faithful Next Step: Every congregation has an opportunity to help shape the future of the Church—not by returning to what once was, but by faithfully responding to where God is leading today. As we conclude our time together, this session invites us to imagine the future with hope and to consider how our churches can continue growing into communities where all can flourish. (led by TBD)