Table of Contents 1 Conference Speakers 2 Conference Supporters and Sponsors 3 Conference Schedule District Reports 4-5 Superintendent’s Report 6-7 Associate Superintendent of Church Health Report 8 District Board Chairman’s Report 9 Central District 2015-2017 Calendar Ministry Reports 10-11 Student Ministry Team 12 Pastor - Church Relations Committee Church Planting Reports 13 Church Planting Board 14 Church Planting—Northern Region 15-16 Church Planting—Southern Region 17 Multi-Ethnic Ministries 18 Churches Seeking Membership 19 Board Approved Church Plants, Associate Churches 20-21 Staff Approved Church Planting Projects 22 Central District EFCA—Multiplication Chart 1990-2017 Organization Reports 23 Hidden Acres Christian Center - Camp Board Chairman 24 Hidden Acres Christian Center - Former Director 25 Hidden Acres Christian Center—Executive Director 26 Westhaven Community Executive Director Financial Reports 27 Church Giving List 28 District Cost of Ministry 29-30 District Cash Flow Summary 31 District Balance Sheet 32-36 Hidden Acres Income & Expenses Budget vs. Actual 37 Student Ministry Financial Statement 38 Central District, Hidden Acres & Student Ministries Financial Reviews District Boards and Ballot 39-41 Current Officers, Board Members and Staff 42-43 Candidate Profile 44 Nomination Ballot Business Agenda, Workshop Descriptions and Valley Map 45 Anticipated Business Agenda 46 Monday Workshop Titles and Descriptions 47 Tuesday Workshop Titles and Descriptions 48 Post—Conference Workshops & New District Teammates 49 Valley Church Map Conference Speakers Dr. Zack Eswine is the current Director of Homiletics and Adjunct Professor of Applied Theology. Dr. Eswine also serves (since 2008) as the lead pastor at Riverside Church in Webster Groves, Missouri. He previously served as lead pastor of Grace Church in Hudson, Ohio. He is a board member for Webster Groves Alliance for Racial Dignity and a visiting lecturer at Grace Theological College in New Zealand. Dr. Eswine is the author of several books including “Preaching to a Post—Everything World”, which received the ‘Preaching Today Book of the Year Award.’ His most recent and award winning book is “The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus”. Alejandro Mandes is the EFCA Leader of All People Initiative. He is passionate about being gospel focused (Great Commission), identifying with the compassion needs of the community (Great Commandment) and developing multiple pathways for leadership development and church planting (Great Community). Alejandro has a Masters Degree in Social Work and a Doctoral Degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. He has personally planted three churches, developed church planters, consulted many churches in developing multiethnic ministries and has created the GATEWAY Theological Institute that helps equip and train pastors to become aligned with the EFCA doctrine. This training has provided a pathway for many to become credentialed with the EFCA. Alejandro’s greatest claim to fame is being married to a Norwegian babe and having five Latin daughters! He is passionate about the church and reaching the lost! Shane Stacey is the EFCA’s National Director of ReachStudents. He has been serving youth and youth workers for more than 20 years. Shane has a passion to help young people discover their unique Ephesians 2:10 role in God’s eternal story. He enjoys reading, camping, and water skiing. Shane lives with his wife and three children in Minneapolis, MN. Dr. Calvin Swan is Superintendent of the Central District EFCA. He is a graduate of Wheaton College and earned his MDiv and DMin at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. His EFC pastoral experience includes serving as a youth pastor in Bartlett, Illinois; as a solo pastor in Big Lake, Minnesota; and as a senior pastor in Muscatine, Iowa. He served on the District Planting Board from 1990 to 1999 as it grew from 55 to 88 churches. He has now served for the past 18 years as District Superintendent, during which time the district has grown from 88 to 135 member churches. Cal is responsible for direction and oversight of the district ministry team but is also directly available for service to pastors and churches, especially in the area of placement and pastoral transitions. 1 FCMM Benefits & Retirement (800) 995-5357 [email protected] Fcmmbenefits.org NextStep Resources (800) 444-2665 [email protected] www.nsresources.com Hidden Acres Christian Center 3837 Union Avenue Dayton, IA 50530 (515) 547-2751 www.hacamps.org Valley Church 4343 Fuller Rd West Des Moines, IA 50265 (515) 226-9973 www.valley-church.com 2 Conference Schedule MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2017 TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2017 8:00 am Registration Opens (Atrium) 8:00 am Registration Opens (Atrium) 8:45 am Worship—Valley Worship Team 8:30 am Plenary #4 with (Auditorium) (Auditorium) Dr. Zack Eswine 9:00 am Business Session (Auditorium) 8:30 am ReachStudents Track with 10:30 am Plenary #1 with (Auditorium) Shane Stacey (Student Ministries) Alex Mandes 9:30 am Break (Chapel) 12:00 pm Celebration Luncheon (Auditorium) 9:45 am Equipping Intensives (Workshops) 1:30 pm Plenary #2 with (Auditorium) -Jeremy Carr—Leading Change Without Dr. Zack Eswine Losing Your Mind 2:30 pm Break (Chapel) (West Central Station) 2:45 pm Equipping Intensives (Workshops) -Allison Greenwald—Contemplative -Dr. Zack Eswine—Preaching Jesus in Pathways: New/old ways to know God a Post-Truth Generation—Part #1 (North Point) (Courtyard Hall) -Brad Wos—A Multi-Cultural -Al Frank & Kyle Bartholic—Four Ministry Panel (C 6/7) Chair Discipling-Part #1 -Dr. Zack Eswine—Preaching Jesus in (East Central Station A) a Post-Truth Generation—Part #2 -Sue Swan—Expectations and the (Courtyard Hall) Pastor’s Wife (North Point) -Al Frank & Larry Austin—Four -Linton Lundeen—Resilient Ministry Chair Discipling—Part #2 (East Central Station B) (East Central Station A) -Dr. Alex Mandes—Reaching the -John Gerhardt—Charity Gives But Nations Among us with the Justice Changes: Social Justice Issues and The Church’s Response Transforming Gospel (C 6/7) (East Central Station B) -Larry Austin—Lessons from the 11:15 am Break (Chapel) Leadership Pipeline 11:30 am Plenary #5 with (Auditorium) (West Central Station) Dr. Zack Eswine 4:15 pm Break (Chapel) 12:30 pm Luncheons—General (Auditorium) 4:30 pm Plenary #3 with (Auditorium) -Pastor’s Wife and Missionary Dr. Zack Eswine Women (North Point) 5:30 pm End of Day 1 -Pastors 45 or younger (East Central A) 6:00 pm Dinner on your own OR -Student Ministry (Student Ministry) Ministry Couples Dinner hosted by - VIP Lunch (East Central B) Cal and Sue Swan 2:00 pm Plenary #6 with (Auditorium) (Biaggi’s Restaurant) Shane Stacey 3:15 pm End of Conference 3:30 pm Foundations Training (Valley Community Center) 3 Superintendent’s Report EXPECTATIONS … When I first entered full time pastoral ministry in 1981 I began with many “expectations.” Over the course of the years I have had many of my expectations come true but in a significant number of areas, what I expected to happen did not happen. In some cases I was disappointed by people, in other cases I found that some individuals far exceeded my expectations. I also realize that regardless of my best efforts I may also have fallen short of what some parishioners expected of me. Perhaps, and hopefully, I also exceeded what some in my congregation expected of their pastor. I have also found this to be true in my calling as a Superintendent. We all live with expectations of others but what may be the most important area to understand is what are our self-expectations. Pastors, at times, are harder on themselves than others would ever be on them. Not living up to our own expectations can be self-destructive. This year our speaker, Zach Eswine, author of the “Imperfect Pastor”, will help us deal with the topic of Expectations. WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT OF ANY LOCAL FREE CHURCH … Above all to be true to the Word or God. While it is appropriate to have high expectations in many ways, sinless perfection is not one of them. The Apostle John said this that “if anyone claims to be without sin, that person is a liar and the trust is not in him.” That is why Paul tells us to be humble, gentle, patient and long suffering with one another. WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT OF ANY FREE CHURCH PASTOR … The Bible itself says that a teacher of the Word will be judged more strictly than others; but that does not mean that the pastor is sinless and above having shortcomings. Every pastor will disappoint his church at some time. He will not meet everyone’s expectations. What the church needs to do is to be very clear in their relationship with the pastor, clarifying expectations and graciously working through those times when expectations are not met. The church and pastor should recognize that they are in this ministry for the long run and that always “changing horse in midstream” each time there is a disagreement is very counter-productive. WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT OF YOUR DISTRICT TEAM AND DISTRICT CONGREGA- TIONS… To get down to specifics, you should expect the district as a whole to focus on the mission we have committed ourselves to as a district of the EFCA. That is, we are committed “To glorify God by multiplying transformative churches among all peoples.” So what have we done this year: 1. Planting: This year we are recognizing three church plants that are becoming member churches of the Central District. In 1990 we had just over 50 churches and today through our planting and extension efforts we are nearly 140 congregations. Your commitment to church planting has been fruitful. Our staff of Mark Doss and Al Frank are deeply committed and successful in this mission. 2. All Peoples: Your commitment to multi-cultural ministry has kept us on the search for a new director of this ministry. This conference we install Brad Wos as our second director of this very important ministry. We were the first district in the EFCA to have a full-time director and now we are still the only district with a full time person in this position. The gospel is for all people and we are committed to that mission. We expect that many of you will want to have a partnership in this mission. 3. Discipleship: Transformation begins at an individual level and that transformation only happens when individual believers are serious about their relationship with the Lord and their desire to help others walk in a significant relationship with Jesus Christ. Larry Austin has committed himself to this ministry that leads to healthy, transformative churches. 4 Superintendent’s Report 4. Support Ministries: Our district is committed to a number of ministries that impact the lives of people from youth to closing years. All of these ministries are focused ultimately on being a blessing to our district churches and our mission. Hidden Acres changes peoples’ lives. This year we bid farewell to Earl Taylor as he retires but also say welcome to Steve Pinkley who is our new Executive Director. We also recognize the significant ministry of Rock River and the role it has in helping individuals listen carefully to the voice of God from Scripture and through prayer and then experience a deeper walk with Him. EXPECTATIONS FOR 2017 AND BEYOND … Let me put it simply, I expect you, as pastors and as church congregations, to remain committed to our common mission. I thank you for your partnership. I serve as your superintendent and this calling is both an honor and a joy. I expect that our district staff will also remain committed to one another and our common mission. I remain thankful that God has called me to serve you and has given to me my wife ,Sue, who remains my faithful partner in life and ministry. I expect my Lord to remain faithful, as He clearly states in Scripture: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Respectfully submitted, Calvin Swan Superintendent “Growing Healthy Churches Together” 5 Director of Church Health “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; greater works than these will he do because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14: 12-13 These words from Jesus to his disciples in the Upper Room didn’t appease their pressing concern about Jesus’ talk of leaving nor did that result in great clarity about what Jesus was about to do in his passion, but what Jesus spoke of in John 14: 12-13 was fulfilled from the day of Pentecost forward as these frightened, insecure men launched the movement Jesus had prepared them for in the power of another Helper—the Holy Spirit. They did the works that Jesus Himself did in the fullness of His humanity and the power of the Spirit. Indeed, greater works they did—not in kind but in scope and duration. Today’s disciples are part of the movement Jesus spoke of in the Upper Room, doing life transforming ministry in His name and in the power of the Spirit. As a disciple of Jesus, I am grateful and humbled to serve the expression of this movement known as the Central District of the EFCA. God continues to work and it needs to be acknowledged that he deserves the glory for the work done in and through me in the role of Director of Church Health in 2017. If there is a word that describes 2017, it is the word multiplication. After eight years in my role, I’m seeing fruit in multiplying the work of Jesus’ movement in the following areas: Disciple Making. Jesus has called me alongside local church pastors and leaders to help them excel in the priority and practice of disciple making. In 2017, I co-labored with Scott Davis in completing a fifth Live 2: 6 learning community. Live 2: 6 focuses on pastoral leaders, taking them back to the model, mission and methods of the Jesus. Re-establishing disciple making as a way of life, and multiplying disciple makers in a local church is a path to greater fruitfulness and health. We introduced Four Chair Discipling as a second equipping platform for disciple making in 2017. The Four Chair workshop provides a local church with a biblical, simple picture of what it means to be a disciple and make a disciple. We are blessed to have certified seven Four Chair Trainers in 2017. Together they led five workshops across the Central District (plus a number of soft launches) that trained over two hundred people representing over twenty churches in the disciple making pathway of Jesus. Leadership Development. Despite having access to more leadership resources than any time in the history of the church, leadership development is an area of self-assessed need in most churches. A weak disciple making farm system plus decades of content heavy, pastor-centric approaches have yielded mixed results. To help churches produce an abundant harvest of reproducing leaders, we invited Auxano to lead what we hope will be the first of many Leadership Pipeline co::Labs. Five churches participated in the 2017 co::Lab—a collaborative process where churches replaced complex, understaffed departmental org charts with a leadership pipeline that helps leaders develop leaders at every level of ministry. I’m thankful for the partnership of Valley Church in hosting the 2017 co:Lab. The pipeline process was everything I hoped it would be and more. We’ll be partnering with Auxano to bring a second co::Lab to Iowa starting in May 2017 and are in discussions on a Missouri co::Lab for early 2018. If you want to create a leadership development process that bears fruit, let’s talk. 6 Director of Church Health cont. The Ministry of the Word. We continue to see cascading levels of fruitfulness from our partnership with the Charles Simeon Trust. This partnership provides a “spring training” event for pastors and local church leaders to sharpen their skills in expository preaching and teaching though the Workshop on Biblical Exposition. Our November Des Moines workshop was again hosted by Timberline Church. A record 73 participants spent 2 ½ days learning to better read, study and teach the Psalms. We are blessed by a deep bench of quality small group leaders from our own local churches. Some of these leaders will help us launch a second workshop in our District, hosted by St. Paul’s EFC in St. Louis on May 3-5, 2017. David Jackman and Josh Black will be our leader instructors in the book of 2 Timothy. Timberline will once again host our Des Moines workshop on November 8-10 with guest instructor Bryan Chapell. The ministry of the Word is growing in and outside of our churches. I’m also encouraged by the continued use of the Simeon and First Principle Courses in our churches, plus the men taking their learning to places across the globe through teaching partnerships with EFCA Reach Global and the Simeon Trust. Ministry for Pastors. There are many opportunities pastors in the Central District have available to help them live and lead better. Our spring affinity retreats have been one of these opportunities that have served our pastors well for over ten years. The M Club retreat facilitated by Quintin Stieff from Valley Church continues to bring encouragement and value to pastors leading churches with multiple full time staff. The Missouri-Arkansas Lead Pastor Retreat held annually in Springfield, MO provides a similar environment of learning and support. These men were blessed by the wisdom of Pastor David MacKinnon of Westchester EFC in Des Moines. In 2017, we altered our approach to these retreats, taking the value of affinity gatherings closer to where Pastors live and serve. In attempting to make the retreats more accessible, participation tripled in 2017. Thanks to wise counsel and equipping provided by Pastors Randy Anderson (Sioux Falls), David Staff (Ames), and Randy Scheil (Cedar Rapids). In 2017, the timing looks right to develop and launch an extended spiritual leadership retreat—something that will equip pastors to live and lead better, bearing fruit from a rhythm of abiding with Jesus. Israel Study Tour. In May 2017, a group of 28 people spent two weeks walk- ing where Jesus walked in a chronological study tour of Israel. I partnered with my good friend, Steve Hudson, of Global Youth Initiatives. Steve has led over 40 study tours of Israel. Many in our group were alumni of Live 2: 6—our Christo-centric training platform for disciple making. It brought to life the things we studied. People on the tour will never read the gospels the same and many affirmed a deeper commitment to the work Jesus started. I’m grateful to God for the life-shaping relationships and learning provided by this tour. Once again I am grateful to God for my teammates on the district staff in addition to the many allies and leaders from our local churches with whom I am blessed to co-labor. What a joy to work in such a supportive and empowering environment. Thanks to God for the love, support and understanding of my family PLUS scores of steadfast financial and prayer allies. Grace and peace to you all! Larry Austin Director of Church Health 7 District Board Chairman It has been my privilege to serve the past year as the Central District Board Chairman. I want to take a minute to thank the Board Members for being so gracious and dedicated to fulfilling their missions. My three-year term is completed as you will be electing a new board chairman today. Brian Jones has served faithfully and effectively as the Camp Board Chairman and should make the transition to Central District Board Chairman easily with your confirmation. Last year a new initiative was started called the Capitol Project. It encouraged EFCA pastors and lay leaders to meet, visit and pray with legislators at the state capitol in Des Moines. There were three dates set for these events. It was very successful as many legislators seemed very willing to be in God’s will as they performed their legislative jobs. The job is not over. We must continue to pray and help guide local, state and national leaders. Three more events were scheduled for 2017. Two very important administrators in the Central District have decided to retire. Nan Sloan, Executive Director of Westhaven Nursing Home, retired in 2017 and Earl Taylor, Executive Director of the Hidden Acres Camp, will be retiring March 31 of 2017. We wish both well in their retirements and thank them for their years of service. Both have been responsible for tremendous contributions to the Central District but more importantly to the Kingdom of God. We say hello to Steve Pinkley who has been hired as the next Executive Director of the Hidden Acres Camp. We also welcome Brad Wos as the next Multi-Cultural Director for the Central District. Both have the background and experience to take their areas of leadership to new levels. We ask that the Lord bless them in their tasks and guide them in the days ahead. We ask that the conference remember these men in prayer. In Brad’s, case please consider adding him to your missionary giving budget. One of the exciting parts of being the District Chairman is serving on the Church Planting Board. This year we welcome three new churches. They are The Well Community Church of St. Louis, MO; The Church at Osage Hills from Osage Beach, MO; and New Life Evangelical Free Church of Tama, IA to the Central District Conference as full member Churches. I want to turn my attention to all Pastors. Are you licensed? Are you ordained? If the answer is no, why not? We want all the Central District Pastors to be properly credentialed. It needs to be a priority and goes a long way toward demonstrating your faith before your congregations as you would like them to demonstrate their faith as Christians to the world. I challenge all of you that are not credentialed to answer the call of the Pastor Church Relations Committee and get that job done. Lastly, I welcome all of you to our 2017 Central District Conference. “Expectations”- sure we have them as a District and we have them as churches and we have them as individuals. The question is what are we going to do to achieve them? Are we going to invite new comers at church to our homes or out for lunch? Are we going to invite that neighbor next door to attend our church? Will we invite and transport a neighborhood youngster to attend AWANA or Sunday School? Are we going to support others in the church that may not be the most popular to gain new friends? Everyone has expectations but no one’s expectations are higher than someone meeting Christ for the first time through you. Welcome to our District Conference this year. We hope it will speak to you in ways that will challenge you in marvelous ways. To that end, I pray, that God will bless each of you abundantly and raise your personal expectations to serve the Lord. Respectfully Submitted, Rick Nielsen Chairman 8