Save the Date for the 5th Annual Compelled by Love Conference featuring Jon Ferguson

The 5th Annual Compelled by Love Conference will take place on March 16, and will feature pastor and author Jon Ferguson. This event will be taking place at Calvary Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Tickets are $30, which includes coffee all day, snacks and a catered lunch. I believe that this event will be an encouraging, equipping and empowering event for local church and ministry leaders.

Jon Ferguson. Compelled by Love. Lancaster, PA
Each year, Water Street Mission hosts the Compelled by Love Conference for ministry and pastoral leaders in the area of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This annual one-day event, is a gathering of church and ministry leaders that sparks conversations and hopes to ultimately inspire a contagious and compassionate movement in our backyard. That hoped-for movement is simply that churches and followers of Jesus learning how to effectively and practically love their neighbors and neighborhoods. This conference, Compelled by love, believes that a movement of loving your neighbor will in turn develop greater impact for and with the Kingdom of God in our various contexts and communities.

This fifth annual Compelled by Love Conference will feature author, pastor and thought leader Jon Ferguson. Jon, co-authored the top-selling book B.L.E.S.S., with his brother Dave. Dave and Jon are both pastors at Community Christian Church, which has campuses throughout the Chicagoland area. They have released several books over the years, addressing church planting, missional engagement, leadership development, and church multiplication. Dave and Jon have also been involved in coaching and resourcing church multiplication through their work with the NewThing Network and the Exponential Conference. In B.L.E.S.S., they provide a framework for readers (individuals, small groups, and church communities) to develop a better understanding of how they have been blessed, so that God can empower them to be a blessing to others. The book also offers strategic, compassionate, effective and practical ways to be that sort of blessing in the places that you live, work, and play.

Over the past decade, the emergence of the missional movement has reawakened an interest in the missionary nature of the local church community. This missionary adventure has also led to the development of an excess of resources and books exploring what an intentional and incarnational missiology would mean for our approach to ecclesiology. Though it may seem that we have exhaustively explored the theological and methodical implications of loving our neighbor, various studies on the state of the church reveal that we have not yet fully embraced this understanding into our communal identity as a local Jesus-following movement. Into that reality, pastoral leaders Dave and Jon Ferguson release a practical book, B.L.E.S.S.; constructed in a way that embraces not only opportunities for self-reflection on this topic of incarnational-evangelistic-behavior, but more importantly it introduces a missional framework in a way that benefits groups as a communal study. This short read, explores five everyday ways to love your neighbor and change the world – so we can own the mission in our communal culture.

I have had the chance to read Jon’s books - and even I have had the opportunity to see him speak several times at Exponential in Orlando, Florida. Both experiences have let me quite excited for this one-day event where John will be the primary thought and conversation facilitator. I believe Compelled by Love is bringing about an important conversation for the church today.  Even more, I believe this conversation is needed for committed followers of Jesus who are looking to creatively collaborate (embody, demonstrate, and announce) God’s goodness and good news in the places that they live, work, and play. This conversation needs to also be happening in our churches, and it is a posture that needs modeled by our churches. I believe this conversation will be a spark that can equip our local churches in practical ways.

We all know that God commanded us to love God and to love our neighbors and that the two commands are deeply connected. Our horizontal posture of loving our neighbors should be a distinctive expression that naturally flows forth from our identity and experience in the love of God. Yet, too often it seems that many – individuals and churches - struggle to know how to practically love others. I believe that this one-day Compelled by Love Conference with Jon Ferguson will encourage, equip and empower you and your church in practical ways.

Thursday, March 16, 2023
5th Annual Compelled by Love Conference
Feat. Jon Ferguson (Co-Author of B.L.E.S.S.)
Calvary Church

More Information & Registration 

I grew up inspired by Jesus, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the California Raisins, and The Clash. I'm an avid fan of baseball, boardwalks, beaches, and books. Additionally, I am currently a doctoral student at Kairos University, and finishing a third master's degree, an MBA in Executive Leadership, at City Vision University. Previously I have earned two master's degrees - one in Theology and Ministry and another in Leadership - both from Fuller Seminary. I also graduated summa cum laude with a Graduate Certificate in Non-profit Management and an Associate Degree in Christian Ministry and Leadership from City Vision University.

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