MarkHowellLive.com » Conferences

Join Us for GroupLife Midwest 2012

Mark Howell — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:02:48 +0000

Looking for a fantastic small group leader training opportunity?

I want to invite you to join us for GroupLife Midwest 2012: Staging Ground for the Leadership Expedition! February 3 & 4, 2012 at Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, Illinois (southwest Chicago).

We’ve lined up a great speaker (Steve Gladen, Small Group Pastor at Saddleback) and an all-star cast of breakout speakers:

Bill Donahue
Rick Howerton
Mindy Caliguire
Garry Poole
Eddie Mosley
Casey Tygrett
Jason Anhalt

Sound good so far? It gets better! GroupLife Midwest 2012 is FREE! You buy your own lunch on Saturday…but what might turn out to be the best small group leader training event in the midwest, is FREE!

So many times small group ministry conferences are designed to meet the needs of small group champions (paid and volunteer, small group pastors and directors). GroupLife Midwest is designed to help you to train and encourage your small group leaders.

Friday night, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. February 3-4, 2012.

Don’t have a budget for leader training? No worries…it’s FREE! Can’t afford to put your group leaders up for the night? Join us on Saturday morning!

Update: Online registration is closed. Walk-ins are welcome! You can register and choose breakouts at the door on Friday night or Saturday morning.

Have a question? Want to let us know you’re coming? Email Me and I’ll get you squared away. We don’t want anyone to miss the best lineup of small group experts at any conference in 2012.

Twelve: The Global Online GroupLife Gathering

Mark Howell — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:50:35 +0000

Have you made plans for September 14-15, 2011? That’s when 2011′s biggest online grouplife event happens.

2 days. 3 tracks. 8 sessions. Featuring 36 top small group thinkers…this is a seriously good list. The best news? Through June 29th you can register for as low as $25!

Three Tracks

Essentials Track: This is a highly interactive track taught by Saddleback’s small group pastor Steve Gladen, with small groups director Carolyn Taketa and author and small groups pastor Bill Search. You’ll learn the principles that God has used to create one of the most successful small group ministries in the nation at Saddleback Church, one that has been successfully used in churches around the world of all sizes and virtually all denominations.

In eight sessions over two days you’ll learn how your church can start and grow a healthy small group ministry, can’t-miss principles, and how to connect your community and your church for spiritual health. Steve is joined by two dynamic leaders of small group ministries in other churches.

Experience Track: This interactive track is taught by over a dozen working small group ministry leaders at churches of all sizes around the country. Each topic explores what happens when you apply ministry principles that work in one size church into practice in other types and sizes of churches. You’ll gain street-level insights from leaders who have hit the walls and found ways over, around, through or under them. You’ll gain breakthrough ideas and practical knowledge to successfully apply exponential small group ministry principles in your church (Full disclosure: I’m presenting in the Experience Track).

Planning Track: In this track, Ron Wilbur, Chip Kelly and Ben Reed will take you through the process of mapping out an 18-month plan for your small group ministry using the essentials of exponential small groups. You will tailor the plan to your church, your issues, your road blocks and your strengths and weaknesses. You’ll have some initial prep work to do before the event to help you get even tailored to your church. You’re encouraged to enlist any other members of your team, staff or non-paid, who need to be invested in the ministry for the implementation phase. Embedded in the planning process are the 50 key area learnings that came out of the successful Saddleback model that now has more people in weekly small groups than attend weekend services.

My Personal Recommendation

Twelve is going to be great! It will be an easy way for you to expose your team (key leaders, coaches, other staff, even prospective team members) to some of the very best grouplife thinking.

Plan a two day confab at your offices. Invite pastors and point people from nearby churches.

This will be an investment that will pay off in a big way. Yes, I am doing a session (teaming up with Mac Lake), so you’d expect me to be enthusiastic. But these speakers are the experts I listen to. This is a no-brainer.

Register: It’s easy to register. You can do that right here.

Learn More: Need more information? You can get everything you need right here.

Join Me at Radicalis? (2/22 – 2/25)

Mark Howell — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:03:26 +0000

I’m looking forward to some great interaction at Radicalis in just a little over a month! Hope you’re planning to check it out.

In case you aren’t aware, Radicalis is a great conference. 4 days with a super wide variety of speakers (this year the list includes Matt Carter, Steven Furtick, Dave Gibbons, Pete Wilson, Shawn Lovejoy, and Serio De La Mora). You can see their bios right here.

They’re actually billing it as 14 Conferences in 1 (so you can bring your whole staff). You can see the list of all they’re offering right here. Looking this list over, I’m going to have a hard time choosing where to be at any one time.

I do know this though, I always run into the coolest people and have the best time connecting during the breaks. Hope to see you there!

By the way…their best pricing ends on January 31st.

Story (Ben Arment’s Conference for Creatives)

Mark Howell — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:16:08 +0000

Story, the conference for creatives, is coming to Chicago on September 23-24. I’m trying to figure out a way to go. Part of my strategy is to post this link (if I post the link I get entered into an “occasional drawing to win some creative resources.” Hoping I can trade the resources to go to the conference!).

Don’t Miss the Bill Donahue and Steve Gladen Webinar

Mark Howell — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:27:47 +0000

Don’t miss the upcoming FREE 60 minute webinar with Bill Donahue and Steve Gladen! It’s a rare opportunity anytime you get a chance to hear both of these guys at the same event. If you had fun watching The Summit: A Convergence of Small Group Experts, this will be a can’t miss event.

“Leveraging Mid-Size Groups to Build Community” is part of a series of conference calls and webinars developed by the Group Life Training Network to promote their October simulcast Unconventional. I really like the way they’re positioning this webinar:

Medium-sized groups in churches of all sizes, often become an end point – a final destination for church attendees as opposed to a bridge to community. Learn from Bill Donahue and Steve Gladen’s experience on staff at two mega churches and consulting with hundreds of churches around the world. Discover strategies and tactics that will help mid-size groups catalyze growth in your small group ministry and get answers to your current challenges.

That sounds like something just about all of us need help with. If you’ve got an existing Sunday School or ABF structure, this would be a good conversation for you to catch.

Wednesday, June 16th, 1 p.m. Eastern, 12 p.m. Central, 11 a.m. Mountain and 10 a.m. Pacific

Click here to register for Leveraging Mid-Size Groups to Build Community.

Breakout Chicago 2010

Mark Howell — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:07:19 +0000

Looking for a way to provide training for your small group leaders? If you’re near Chicago you may want to take a look at Breakout Chicago 2010. Coming up on Saturday, April 20th, the training event features 10 breakouts to choose from on a wide range of topics presented by a top notch panel of practitioners, authors and speakers. The best part? At $29 per person it’s a great value (there’s also a 10 pack price that brings the per person fee down to $25).

With the cancellation of Willow’s onsite small group conference, Breakout Chicago 2010 is a very good training opportunity. Do you have a local opportunity I could help get the word out on? Let me know! I’d be glad to help.

Resource: A Convergence of Small Group Experts

Mark Howell — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:34:52 +0000

If you missed The Summit: A Convergence of Small Group Experts you missed a great 90 minutes. But it’s not too late! They filmed it and you can watch it right here. What a great conversation! Bill Donahue, Steve Gladen, Carl George, Lyman Coleman, Bill Search, Reid Smith, Rick Howerton, Randall Neighbour, Eddie Mosely, and Greg Bowman.

This is a great 90 minute conversation. You’ll definitely come away with some great takeaways, some concepts that will immediately become part of your thinking. Whether you watch it now or later…don’t miss it. You can watch it right here.

The Summit: A Convergence of Small Group Experts

Mark Howell — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:28:12 +0000

If you haven’t heard about The Summit: A Convergence of Small Group Experts, now is the time to jump in and register. This FREE 90 minute online event features many of the most recognized small group names including Lyman Coleman, Bill Donahue, Steve Gladen, and Carl George.

Thursday, February 18, 2010, 10:30 a.m. to Noon Central Standard Time

You can find out more or register for this free event right here. I want to encourage you to take advantage of his online event. I learn from these experts every time I’m around them.

Got Plans Saturday? Join the Group Life Action!

Mark Howell — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:51:54 +0000

Saturday morning at locations across North America some 8500 group leaders will gather for encouragement, training and challenge. This Changes Everything, the Willow Creek Association’s 2009 Group Life conference kicks off at 9:30 a.m. (Eastern and Mountain), 8:30 a.m. (Central and Pacific).

It’s not too late to jump in! You can find a location right here.

If you can’t get there, join us on Twitter or Facebook. It’s easy to do. Go to either spot:

Twitter: Click Here to open up a window that will keep track of all the #grouplife tweets throughout the day.
Facebook: Head over to the Facebook.com/grouplife. You’ll see a steady stream of updates throughout the day.

Where will you be on Saturday? Hopefully at a satellite location somewhere near you or checking in on Twitter or Facebook. Where’ll I be? Catching what I can and typing like a crazy person. Want to keep up with me? It’s easy.

Follow me on Twitter
Friend me on Facebook

Any way you can…hope to see you on Saturday!

Innovation3?

Mark Howell — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:35:45 +0000

Anybody planning on catching Innovation3? Be sure and let me know you're going to be there. Always good to get time to connect!