welcome to the blog of tom roepke. follower of Jesus. husband to melinda. father to sarah, jedidiah and emmah. pastor of student ministries at new hope community church. much like my friend, samwise, i am just trying to find my place in the Story.
i’ve spent a couple of decades literally helping develop and fund various ministries and non-profit organizations. with all the noise that exists in all of our lives it seems those of us in leadership need to become more strategic in how we connect our stake holders with our larger mission. too many non-profits(Kingdom and secular) think folks should just buy into their vision. I believe today’s donors are more cautious and are also more concerned about the social impact of their hard earned dollars and how to get the best return on their investment.
Recently i’ve been engaged in a conversation with several good friends and we’ve decided to invite others into it. We’ve recorded a 6-part podcast to push out our thoughts and to engage you in the dialogue.
steve caton
ben stroup
the conversation started when i introduced two good men to each other – Steve Caton and Ben Stroup. I’ve known Steve for about two years now. We’ve had many conversations about building and sustaining community. Steve is the Vice President for Sales for Church Community Builder (CCB). Our outpost uses CCB to manage our ministry. Ben Stroup is a newer friend. He is the Chief Broker of Opportunity at GENERIS. He blogs here. I stumbled on his blog and quickly learned that he had some keen insight that those doing church management needed to hear..so together, on a conference call last October Steve, Ben and I talked about how to leverage our passions and talents. We began sharing some thoughts and ideas and then Ben pulled together this podcast. We invited Lauren Hunter to serve as podcast host. Lauren blogs about church technology here. So…welcome to episode one. we’ll be interested to see what you think.
ben franklin said… Games lubricate the body and the mind….and its so true… as one cool aspect of symc 2010 was the addition of the game room. it was located literally in the bowels of the conference, but it was a popular spot for those that found it. grateful for the good work of gamemeister andy disher as he led a team of volunteers and was constantly inviting others in for the fun. here’s a quick couple of clips.
lots of still waiting to get pushed out from the simply youth ministry conference last week in chicago. i was hampered a bit because of lack of wifi (collective “awwwww”)and a crazy schedule since i had was on for teaching in big church. one underlying theme that was present was a developing awareness that we need to do something globally. Compassion International had a presence and this video with a mentor and youth ministry veteran ally walt mueller nailed it. powerful stuff.
its coming again! last year our team attended the best practical conference: gurus of techevent in louisville. for many of our folks it was the first time to a mega church campus. the journey had its moments too, check out this video… but the practical takeaways were immeasurable. the details are still getting worked out, but if you’re in ministry and you use any technology at all…you need to attend. besides it being FREE…which is an incredible deal…you’ll learn alot.
i’m in chicago for the simply youth ministry conference. spent the day connecting with some folks that i’ve gotten to know through the twitterverse. its amazing how following someone’s conversation can turn into a trusted friendship through the power of social networking. had several good conversations with ministry/Kingdom allies. made many new friends also.
kami gilmour and stephanie cairo
the value of this particular conference is the directed efforts by an amazing team of volunteers and staff who clearly understand the value of creating opportunities to connect and build relationships. this year’s conference has a very solid feel to it. with the support of the good folks at Group and the able talents of their conference director kami gilmour and inside track guru stephanie cairo an amazing couple of days are ahead for some 2, 500 folks who are passionate about connecting students to power of the gospel.
this afternoon in between helping to set up the conference were some great conversations. at dinner tonite doug fields shared his vision for the conference and reminded those in attendance the importance of reaching out to others during the course of the next couple of days as many attendees are on their last legs in ministry and this time away can really be used by the Holy Spirit to encourage and equip tired youth workers.
oh yeah…one of the best things is that some parts of the conference will be streamed live on the net. you can watch it here. there’s a schedule there too. and you can follow it all on twitter .
