Ten years ago, on a porch swing in southern Illinois, Shawn McMullen decided he wanted to start a program to encourage leadership in small church communities.
That program, the Energizing Smaller Churches Network, will present "Maximize Your Ministry" today at the Christian Campus House.
Mark Pike, campus minister at Christian Student Fellowship, said he expects 60 to 70 church leaders from East Central Indiana to attend.
Standard Publishing and Christian Student Fellowship will sponsor the conference.
McMullen is an editor for The Lookout magazine, part of Standard Publishing. About 10 years ago, this job led him to speak at asmall-town church in southern Illinois where the minister was very involved in the community, he said.
"He confided that even though he had all this good stuff going, he kept comparing himself to leaders of bigger churches," McMullen said.
McMullen found that "ministry self-esteem issues" were common among small congregations, and he wanted to create a network to encourage leadership among small churches, he said.
Participants may go to two of five workshops where they can learn about maximum ministry, teaching, maturity, leadership and making an impact.
Tom Ellsworth, the pastor of Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, will be the keynote speaker, Pike said. According to a press release, Ellsworth has helped his local church grow from 80 to 2,500 members.
"There is so much good going on across America in small communities, and it needs to be celebrated," McMullen said.
The Hartford Institute for Religious Research identified that 59 percent of Americans worship at a congregation of seven to 99 people, and 35 percent of Americans worship at a congregation of 100 to 499weekly worshipers.
The first ESCN conference took place four years ago at Cincinnati Christian University, initiating McMullen's goal to "validate small churches," he said.
As word of the conference spread, three more universities asked the network to host conferences at their schools that same year. This year the network will host 14 conferences, two of which will be in Canada.
"Standard Publishing saw the value of this network, and about two years ago, it asked if we would like to go under its umbrella," McMullen said.
McMullen said that most of the conferences are held on Christian college campuses, and he is excited to lead a conference at a largestate university.
The cost can be expensive, McMullen said, but it is always $10 for students.
"We recognize that college students have a strong background and may be future leaders in the church," he said.
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