From MarketPlace -
August 20, 2008:
Five years ago, when our church was asked to commit to help make first rate leadership training available to both members of our congregation and the whole of our region by hosting a satellite event called the Leadership Summit, I was excited, but a bit skeptical. My questions were: “Could we do it well; and if we did, would people come?”
Fast forward five years. On August 7 and 8 we celebrated our fifth year of hosting the Leadership Summit. A number of people felt that it was perhaps the best event they’d ever attended. As a matter of fact, in the opinion of so many of our leaders, there’s nothing not to like about the Summit. During the event, over and over we’re reminded why we’re here; and recall that the Church is the hope of the world. Couple that with the opportunity for our own church leaders to be fed and grow, with the realization that people from all over our region are in our beautiful facility and feel the warmth of so many of our volunteers - and you begin to see why it is worth every bit of our prayer and effort.
This year’s Summit faculty wasn’t as well-known as in years past, but did not disappoint. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a more effective presentation than the one made by Gary Haugen, CEO of International Justice Mission. Haugen’s faith has led him to establish an international human rights agency that rescues victims from violent forms of oppression, including slavery and sexual exploitation.
Among the other highlights for me were the presentations made by Wendy Kopp, founder and CEO of Teach for America, an organization dedicated to eliminating educational inequity in our country by enlisting the most promising future leaders in the effort; and Catherine Rohr, founder and CEO of Prisoner Entrepreneurship Program, which with the help of more than 1,000 business executives and 400 MBA students from 24 programs (including Harvard and Stanford) seeks to redirect inmates’ talents by equipping them with values-based entrepreneurial training so that they might be able to have a productive re-entry to society. When graduates of Rohr’s program were introduced and presented, the presence of God was strong and powerful. There was not a dry eye or heart in the building. We were reminded that one single leader with a Goddirected vision can make an eternal difference.
In my opinion the reason we are able to host the Summit so well is because of the fact that our Operations Team is made up of a group of incredibly high-quality leaders. Wynn Pope served as our Promotional Strategist; Steve and Judy James served as our Conference Information coordinators; Jack Upton served as our Facility Coordinator; Bob Ball served as Food Coordinator; Danny Barden served as Head Usher; Til Tillery and Amy DeBruyker served as Prayer Coordinators; Beth Tracey served as Registration Coordinator; Ethel and Trish Glenn served as Resource Coordinators; Kay Harmon served as Volunteer Coordinator, Harold McLeod served as Transportation Coordinator; Rob Hutchinson served as the Summit’s Producer; and Joe Wood served as Technical Director. That’s no doubt the best Operations Team in the country. Our Scott Nowlan served again as our Onsite Event Manager. It is Scott’s passion for the event and commitment to detail that have allowed us to make the whole of the high quality event available to almost 1,500 individual leaders over the past five years.
I have told you often that I need the infusion of values-based leadership training and inspiration that I get from the Summit every year. Frankly it makes me a better leader, and even more committed to sharing the Gospel with a world that God so powerfully loves. Thank you for being a part of another incredible event, through your service, thoughts and prayers. May God continue to bless West Market and the community it serves as we move forward.
Dave Melton