About Refuel

Dear Church Leader,

Another Conference? That’s a conversation I had with my staff recently. It seems like there’s a church conference every week somewhere in the US, and I wanted to pray about whether we needed to host a conference this year at Thomas Road.

We’ve truly enjoyed REFUEL the last few years, but I don’t want to have a conference just because we have had them in the past, and I certainly don’t want to ask you to give up precious time with your family and your congregation for just another conference.

As I have prayed through this over the past few weeks, I believe God does not want us to put on a standard event. However, I do sense from God that we need to gather together as pastors and church leaders to be refreshed, to encourage each other and to seek God’s face together.

So, this May, I am asking you to join me for just a few hours on May 15th and 16th. We will call it REFUEL, but it will be different than years past.

- We will meet Tuesday afternoon through lunch on Wednesday

-Lance Witt will teach a session called “Replenish” on Tuesday afternoon

- Ed Stetzer will lead us on Tuesday evening

– James McDonald will share with us on Wednesday morning
- We will have a time of worship, prayer, communion, teaching and conversation

I believe this will be a great time for you to reconnect with friends and brothers in ministry, while also providing a refreshing time outside your normal environment so you can connect and refocus on God’s call on your life and ministry.

Oh, and one more thing. God has put it on my heart to provide this ministry free of charge to you. No fees. Just come.

We do ask that you register so that we can know how many to plan for. You can do that right now by clicking here. We are limiting attendance to the first 500 who register, so I encourage you to register today if you are planning to attend.

I look forward to seeing you in May. I am continuing to pray that God will use this time to refresh our hearts and minds.

Jonathan Falwell
Senior Pastor, Thomas Road Baptist Church

 

The 2012 Refuel Event Schedule

Tuesday May 15th

Replenish (2:00-4:00 p.m.) – Lance Witt

Break for Dinner (4:30-6:30 p.m.)

Main Session 1 (6:30-9:00 p.m.) – Ed Stetzer and Jonathan Falwell / Q&A to follow

Café (9:00-11:00 p.m.) – Casual conversation with peers over coffee and dessert

 

Wednesday May 16th

Main Session 2 (9:00-11:00 a.m.) – James MacDonald and Jonathan Falwell / Q&A to follow

Coaching Sessions (11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.) – Your choice of 6 different break-outs to attend on various topics

 

 

Main Speakers

Jonathan Falwell

In 2007, Jonathan Falwell became the senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. In his role as pastor, Jonathan preaches each week to thousands, with his messages also appearing on a variety of national television outlets.

Apart from his duties at TRBC, Jonathan also serves as the executive vice president of Spiritual Affairs at Liberty University,  He also oversees the School of Religion and Liberty Theological Seminary programs to ensure their adherence to the overall mission of the university, and assists the university in long-term planning.

The 45-year-old church planter, author, and pastor has also appeared as a guest on numerous local and national television and radio programs, including Oprah, CNN and the Fox News Channel.

 

James MacDonald

As a church planter, pastor, and  broadcast minister, James MacDonald has been given the opportunity to minister on a truly amplified platform.

In 1997, a Bible teaching broadcast ministry named Walk in the Word was established, which now reaches more than three million people weekly. In 2002, a church planting ministry called Harvest Bible Fellowship was born and has given birth to over 70 churches across North America and around the world.

James’ extensive ministry also includes a training center for pastors, a year-round camp, a biblical counseling center, a disaster recovery organization, and a Christian school—all used to reach more people with the life-changing message of God’s Word.

 

Ed Stetzer

Ed Stetzer has planted and pastored multiple churches, written dozens of books, and is currently the President of LifeWay Research.

Ed is a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, he serves on the advisory council of Christianity Today’s Building Church Leaders and Sermon Central, and has been cited or interviewed in major news outlets such as USA Today and CNN.

Along with serving on the Church Services Team at the International Mission Board, Ed is also the acting Missiologist in Residence at LifeWay, the Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and the Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

 

Lance Witt

Lance Witt has been called a Pastor’s Pastor. Lance’s broad spectrum of ministry experience, his strategic thinking gifts, and his passion for spiritual formation give him a unique ability to peer into the soul of a leader and the soul of a church.

Lance is the founder of a ministry called REPLENISH and has a new book by the same title. His ministry is dedicated to helping those in Christian leadership live spiritually healthy lives and build spiritually healthy teams.

He served 20 years as a senior pastor before serving 6 years as an Executive/Teaching pastor at Saddleback Church in Southern California. He led Saddleback’s Spiritual Growth Campaigns, such as 40 Days of Purpose and 40 Days of Community. He also developed the training tools and resources that thousands of churches used in their own implementation of these campaigns.

 

Refuel will be providing lunch and breakout options on Wednesday from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM.

WEDNESDAY BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Daniel Floyd ~ Planting and Leading a Healthy Church
Understanding that it takes more than great vision, passionate people and a large bank account to plant a successful church and keep it healthy, this session will give you some practical tools to avoid common pitfalls in church planting. We will also offer tips on how to lead a strong and healthy church.

 

Charles Billingsley & Scott Bullman ~ Avoiding Monday Mourning: Planning Worship with No Regrets
Because there is often tension between an efficient worship service and a spirit-led worship service, this breakout offers a time of dialogue about practical ways to plan and lead both a God-honoring and effective worship service.

 

Panel Discussion ~ Leading the Church Team
This panel discussion features key executive staff at TRBC, sharing staffing strategies and principles to help you manage a growing church.

 

 

Lance Witt ~ Live Well So You Can Lead Well
As today’s ministry is full of opportunity to potentially limit your effectiveness for God, we will explore topics ranging from embracing our God-given limits, to loving Jesus more than your ministry. (Session is repeated from Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 PM)

 

 

Purpose

The purpose of Refuel stems from the vision of Pastor Jonathan Falwell. A vision that the best way to cultivate church growth is to ensure the spiritual growth of its leaders. Having this goal in mind, our team has come up with two distinct ways to help transform the life of a leader.

First, an annual event called Refuel will be held in order that powerful insight on current issues and topics can be gained from keynote speakers, various breakout sessions, and peer collaboration.  This portion of the event is designed as a potent retreat for the heart, soul and mind of the church leader as well as their staff.

Second, a regular Refuel Podcast, is made available to anyone who wishes to continue in a deeper understanding of the event topics. These leader insights are designed to perpetually refuel leaders and reinvigorate their ministries with practical and transformational principles and methods.

We can’t wait to help you get Refueled!