The Lipscomb Faith and Leadership Forum

Friday, July 31, 2026 3:00 PM-Saturday, August 1, 2026 2:30 PM

George Shinn Center, Swang Chapel (Ezell), Ezell 163, 301, 363

Hosted by the Lipscomb University College of Bible & Ministry

Theme: Leading the Church with Discernment and Courage In a Cultural Moment of Renewed Openness

The Faith and Leadership Forum is the inaugural gathering of church leaders who are committed to reading the times wisely and responding faithfully. In a cultural climate marked by exhaustion, polarization, and spiritual searching, many are experiencing something unexpected: renewed openness. The secular confidence of the past generation has softened. Old certainties are fraying. A new willingness to reconsider faith is emerging. Many see this as revival, but even if not, it is certainly a rare and opportune moment.

Leading the Church with Discernment and Courage in a Cultural Moment of Renewed Openness invites ministers and church leaders to reflect deeply on how to shepherd congregations in this fragile and promising season. Drawing from theological scholarship, cultural research, and pastoral experience, Lipscomb College of Bible & Ministry faculty will offer thoughtful analysis and practical frameworks for cultivating clarity, depth, and resilient faith. We will explore how to lead in a time when people are spiritually curious but institutionally cautious, when polarization tempts reaction, but the Spirit calls for discernment, and when renewed interest in the church requires renewed seriousness in discipleship.

This forum is not about chasing trends or predicting the future. It is about faithful leadership in the present. Through keynote sessions, breakouts, and candid conversation, participants will be refreshed, challenged, and equipped to guide their congregations with wisdom and courage. If this moment truly holds possibility, the church must be prepared to steward it well.

The cost is $50 per person and includes meals and all materials during the workshop.

Register TODAY!

Keynote Sessions

Keynote 1 (Day 1 Opening)

Reading the Restlessness: Discerning the Moment Before Us
Presenter: Dr. Leonard Allen, dean, Lipscomb University College of Bible & Ministry

Purpose: To interpret the cultural mood with sobriety and hope. Leaders are sensing renewed openness, but they also distrust, exhaustion and confusion. This gives language for the moment and helps leaders avoid two errors: triumphalism (“revival is here!”) or despair (“everything is collapsing”). It calls for the spiritual work of discernment, not mere trend analysis.

Keynote 2 (Day 1 Evening)

The Formation Crisis Beneath the Opportunity
Presenter: Dr. Kris Miller, assistant professor of theology and director of Lipscomb’s Institute for Christian Spirituality

Purpose: To name the deeper issue beneath many ministry challenges: formation. Renewed openness is not the same as depth. If people come with curiosity but without formation, the church can easily respond with shallow approaches and lose the moment. This keynote is the “gravity talk” of the forum. It exposes algorithmic and digital formation, ideological siloing, emotional fragility, and shallow catechesis as realities that are shaping congregations.

Keynote 3 (Day 2 Morning)

Forming a Church Ready for What God May Be Doing
Presenter: Dr. Earl Lavender, professor of Bible and executive director of the Center for Vocational Discovery

Purpose: To move from diagnosis to construction. If the Spirit is indeed opening hearts in a restless culture, churches need to be ready to steward that openness. This keynote offers a constructive vision of what “readiness” looks like. It focuses on discipleship pathways, embodied practices, theological clarity, and leadership habits that can sustain renewal rather than merely receive a short-lived uptick.

Keynote 4 (Day 2 Closing)

Steady Leadership in a Restless Culture
Presenter: Dr. Carlus Gupton, professor of ministry and director of the Doctor of Ministry Program

Purpose: As leaders return to congregations in a time marked by pressure, uncertainty, and spiritual hunger, this closing keynote offers a vision of courageous, Spirit-formed leadership that is calm, steady, and deeply rooted in Christ. Rather than reacting out of anxiety or urgency, participants will be encouraged toward faithful presence, wise discernment, and enduring resolve for the work to which God has called them.

Breakouts

(Two Sessions, Five Options Each) - Two one-hour breakout periods: one on each day.

Day 1 Breakouts – Understanding the Pressure Points

Option 1: Building Intergenerational Depth in a Fragmented Age
Presenter: Dr. Wilson McCoy
This session is about helping leaders cultivate intergenerational ministry opportunities within communities of faith. It will discuss both common struggles and creative strategies to help bring the generations together in local church contexts.

Option 2: Preaching Christ in a Restless Culture
Presenter: Dr. Scott Sager
This session equips leaders to preach clearly without partisan signaling, to speak to moral confusion without culture-war tone, and to proclaim the gospel to seekers who are spiritually curious but institutionally cautious.

Option 3: Leading Without Losing Yourself: Ministry in an Age of Exhaustion
Presenter: Dr. Walter Surdacki
This session addresses ministerial burnout and emotional fatigue. It helps leaders name the hidden pressures of ministry right now (decision fatigue, polarization pressure, constant expectation, digital overexposure) and offers a theological framework for sustainable leadership.

Option 4: Forming Faithful Disciples in a Digitally-Saturated World
Presenter: Dr. Lauren White
This session addresses the digital culture as a pastoral and discipleship issue, not merely a technology issue. It explores ethics, truth, discernment, youth formation in a synthetic-content world, and how churches can form resilient disciples in accelerated change.

Option 5: Leading in Times of Cultural Change: Wisdom from Scripture
Presenter: Dr. Phillip Camp
In Scripture, God’s people faced cultural shifts that required discernment and courage, from exile to the early church’s witness in a pluralistic world. This explores biblical patterns for interpreting such moments and equips leaders to guide their congregations with steadiness, faithfulness, and hope.

Day 2 Breakouts – Strengthening the Church

Option 1: The Rising Generation: Understanding Gen Z’s Spiritual Hunger
Presenter: Dr. J. P. Conway
This session explains why Gen Z and Gen Alpha show both anxiety and openness, explores the shift toward spiritual seriousness, and helps leaders respond without pandering. It includes insight into emerging gender dynamics and the practical implications for ministry.

Option 2: Speaking with Clarity: The Church’s Voice Without Partisan Captivity
Presenter: Dr. Carlus Gupton
This session provides theological and pastoral frameworks for public witness. The goal is to help leaders speak with courage and clarity without becoming ideologically captured or triggering reactionary dynamics in congregations.

Option 3: Sustainable Leadership: Cultivating Emotional and Spiritual Resilience
Presenter: Dr. Deron Smith
This session focuses on constructive practices. It equips leaders to cultivate non-anxious presence, boundaries, restorative spiritual disciplines, and identity-rooted leadership.

Option 4: Algorithmic Discipleship: How Digital Culture Is Forming Our People
Presenter: Dr. Greg Anderson
Before congregants gather on Sunday, their attention, assumptions, and habits have already been shaped by digital environments, including social media, streaming platforms, and increasingly AI driven content. This session explores how these forces influence belief and equips leaders to understand their impact and respond with thoughtful, pastoral wisdom.

Option 5: When the Church Faced Turning Points: Lessons from Christian History
Presenter: Dr. Frank Guertin
Across church history, leaders have navigated seasons of upheaval and opportunity with wisdom, humility, and perseverance. This session highlights key historical moments and equips leaders with perspective and confidence to respond faithfully in today’s cultural moment.

Field Notes

Purpose: In these sessions, faculty members share insights drawn from their ongoing research, teaching and engagement with the church. These thoughtful reflections offer participants a window into questions, themes, and discoveries that are shaping their current work. Attendees may choose the conversation that most interests them.

Presenters:

Dr. Alden Bass
Dr. Garrett Best
Dr. Phillip Camp
Dr. George Goldman
Dr. Mike Williams

Option 1: The Art and Imagination of Early Christian Preaching
Presenter: Dr. Alden Bass
This session surveys early Christian preaching through the fifth century, tracing how Greek, Latin, and Syriac traditions shaped distinct approaches to Scripture and pastoral communication. Voices like John Chrysostom, Augustine, and Ephrem reveal a rich, inventive art that can renew the imagination of contemporary preachers.

Option 2: Faithful Witness in Babylon – Why the Church Needs the Message of Revelation Today
Presenter: Dr. Garrett Best
Revelation remains one of the most confusing texts for most Christians to read, understand, and apply. This session will explore why it is both challenging and vitally important for the church in this cultural moment.

Option 3: Two Testaments, One God - Rediscovering the Consistent Character of God in Scripture
Presenter: Dr. Phillip Camp
Christians often struggle with the Old Testament, perceiving a harsher God than the one revealed in Jesus. This session reexamines that assumption, showing that Scripture presents a consistent character of God as gracious, compassionate, just, and loving from beginning to end.

Option 4: Divine Sovereignty and Human Agency - A Case Study from Acts 27
Presenter: Dr. George Goldman
In Acts 23:11, Jesus tells Paul he will testify in Rome. But how will he get there, and how will he survive the storm of Acts 27? This session traces Luke’s account to show how God’s purposes unfold not only through spectacular clarity but also through ordinary processes and human decisions. If our lives are part of the grander story of God's mission in the world, other people along the path become participants as well.

Option 5: Connecting the Ancient Text with Modern Preaching
Presenter: Dr. Mike Williams
Ministers often move too quickly from ancient text to modern application, without fully exploring its meaning for the original audience. This session shows how attention to Jewish and Greco-Roman context can bring the text to life and uncover insights that enrich contemporary preaching.

Special Presentations

Day 1 (Friday) Dinner: A Message to Church Leaders: Revitalization for Our Current Era – Dr. Aaron Howard
Day 2 (Saturday) Lunch: Lightning Rounds
- The Small Town and Rural Church Initiative – Dr. Wilson McCoy
- Leadership Initiative for Tomorrow - Dr. Frank Guertin
Day 2 (Saturday): Closing and Commissioning

Guided Table Conversations

Structured conversations designed to help participants reflect together on cultural openness, congregational leadership, personal strain and faithful next steps.

Tentative Schedule

Day 1 (3:00 PM – 8:30 PM)

Day 2 (8:00 AM – 2:30 PM)

For more information, contact Carlus Gupton, event coordinator and director of Lipscomb's Doctor of Ministry program, at carlus.gupton [at] lipscomb.edu (carlus[dot]gupton[at]lipscomb[dot]edu).