MEET OUR Breakout Speakers
Breakout A
The Family Blueprint - Maureen Brown
What would change in your church if parents were equipped not just to manage their families, but to disciple them with intentionality, grace, and vision? This practical and encouraging breakout will highlight a guided experience designed to help parents prayerfully discern the kind of family culture they want to build and the faith they hope to pass on to their children.
The Family Blueprint can help parents move beyond survival-mode parenting, into intentional spiritual leadership at home. Through reflection exercises, meaningful conversations, and practical planning tools, parents begin developing a personalized Family Blueprint focused on grace, discipleship, values, and long-term family vision. Ministry leaders will discover a ready-to-use resource that can be brought into their church as a parenting seminar, small group series, retreat, or family ministry initiative to strengthen and encourage the families they serve.
Preschool 101 - Katelyn Dyck
Join us for a look into Sunday morning preschool ministry with this practical and encouraging breakout! Whether you’re new or just need a refresher, we’ll cover the essentials for creating a safe, engaging, and Christ-centered classroom. Learn how to structure your time with a simple schedule, use play-based learning to help little ones grow, lead meaningful (and fun!) worship with preschoolers, and confidently greet and connect with parents. You’ll leave with practical tools, fresh ideas, and the confidence to create a welcoming space where preschoolers can experience God’s love.
The Girls are not Ok: The Issues - Jen Kramer
In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that many girls, both children and teens, are facing significant challenges. In this workshop, Jennifer Kramer (M.Ed) will explore the factors contributing to these struggles, drawing on current research and personal insights to shed light on this critical issue.
Overwhelmed? - Erin Walsh
In Erin’s workshop we will be discussing overwhelm through the lens of mental health. We will cover what it is, what creates overwhelm, what to do in different scenarios where you feel overwhelmed and how to limit general overwhelm. We will discuss these topics from a research and evidence based approach with neuroscience, biblical integration, and practical steps.
Breakout B
Rethinking Evangelism: Our Job vs God's Job - Josh Denhart
Leaders in ministry focus SO MUCH on the “Tactical and Practical” that we often neglect the Theological. This session encourages those on the front lines to pause, think and consider our role in relation to God’s role when it comes to matters of salvation. During this session we will ponder the biblical intersection of God’s Sovereignty and Our Human Responsibility. This breakout is a powerful reminder that there is more to ministry than filling the tame tag printer and laboring to find volunteers. The Gospel is central and this breakout recenters our thinking.
Elementary 101: Finding Balance in Kids Ministry - Cindy Bayles
How do we create a Sunday morning experience that is both engaging and well-managed? In this practical breakout, we’ll explore the tension between fun and boundaries, define what success looks like, and walk through each part of a typical Sunday morning—from arrival to dismissal. Through discussion and shared ideas, participants will gain practical strategies for transitions, behavior expectations, and program management that helps kids thrive and volunteers lead with confidence.
The Girls are not Ok: The Solutions - Jen Kramer
In this follow up to The Girls Are Not Okay: The Issues, Jennifer Kramer (M.Ed) will share actionable strategies, rooted in biblical principles and supported by research, to address the emotional, spiritual, and social challenges girls face. Participants will gain tools and insights to foster resilience, faith, and well-being in the lives of the girls they mentor, parent, or teach.
Before You Teach: How Personal Bible Study Shapes Children's Ministry - Dawn Grunau
We spend countless hours preparing lessons for children—but how much time do we spend allowing God’s Word to shape us first? Lasting faith is formed less by polished programs and more by authentic leaders whose lives are rooted in Scripture.
This practical workshop will explore how personal Bible study can become more than lesson preparation, equipping you to engage God’s Word faithfully and allow it to transform your character, relationships, and ministry. Together, we’ll discover a simple approach to studying Scripture that leads to personal growth and faithful teaching. Whether you’re a volunteer, ministry leader, or pastor, you’ll leave with practical tools for studying the Bible well and a renewed vision for leading children and families from the overflow of your own walk with Jesus.
Breakout C
How to Reach All + Lose None: The 3 R’s of Teaching - Josh Denhart
We must teach the Bible in a way that reaches kids who have never heard of Jesus but not bore the child who has a deep understanding of the Bible. We must reach all and lose none. Learn the interrelated balance of the 3 most important components in our teaching: Relationship, Rigor, Relevance. Take away one of these 3 “R’s” and the learner quickly “checks out” and learning can cease. You will walk away from this breakout as a better Bible teacher!
Setting the Stage for Positive Ministry: Strategies for reaching kids of all needs and abilities - Nicolas Inder
Working with kids has always required strategies. There are so many differences between us as leaders and the children we serve and it is our job to bridge those differences. There have been many thoughtfully created mechanisms to bridge these gaps in communication, teaching, and reasoning; and we use many of them in our ministries to help a child understand and know the love of God. Some strategies are hundreds of years old, and some are brand new. All of these strategies can be great and useful, but not every strategy is right for every kid, and some strategies are wrong for some kids. Instead of picking strategies as a one-size fits all, let’s be mindful about what we are communicating to these kids about who God is and what the church is because the first and most important strategy for us as leaders is self-reflection.
This session includes a short but helpful ‘toolbox’ of strategies for working with kids of all kinds and abilities, but the goal is to better prepare you with the implementation of those strategies, and to use the right ones for the right kids to communicate the right things about God. Our kids often forget what we teach them, but they remember how we treat them and what that says about us and our good God.”
Before You Teach: How Personal Bible Study Shapes Children's Ministry - Dawn Grunau
We spend countless hours preparing lessons for children—but how much time do we spend allowing God’s Word to shape us first? Lasting faith is formed less by polished programs and more by authentic leaders whose lives are rooted in Scripture.
This practical workshop will explore how personal Bible study can become more than lesson preparation, equipping you to engage God’s Word faithfully and allow it to transform your character, relationships, and ministry. Together, we’ll discover a simple approach to studying Scripture that leads to personal growth and faithful teaching. Whether you’re a volunteer, ministry leader, or pastor, you’ll leave with practical tools for studying the Bible well and a renewed vision for leading children and families from the overflow of your own walk with Jesus.
Overwhelmed? - Erin Walsh
In Erin’s workshop we will be discussing overwhelm through the lens of mental health. We will cover what it is, what creates overwhelm, what to do in different scenarios where you feel overwhelmed and how to limit general overwhelm. We will discuss these topics from a research and evidence based approach with neuroscience, biblical integration, and practical steps.