Church Family Conference equips every generation to share gospel
IMMOKALEE–More than 200 people—from every generation and across two campuses—converged on Fellowship Church in southwest Florida for the fifth annual Church Family Conference, July 28-31.
The purpose of the Church Family Conference is to champion healthy church membership and equip every generation of the church on how to share the gospel and reach their neighbors and the nations for Christ, said Timothy Pigg, pastor of Fellowship Church in Immokalee and Ave Maria.
“Through the Church Family Conference, we emphasize that the local church still matters,” said Pigg. “Our mission is to know God and make Him known through text-driven ministries, and this conference specifically connects our mission to our core function of fellowship. We want every generation and every family in our church to see that we do the Great Commission together.”
In a unique, generation-wide approach, the four-day conference combines an old-school revival, student camp and vacation Bible school all in one engaging week for the youngest to oldest attendee.
Using the church’s core values and functions, each session of the conference walks through the topics of the gospel, the Bible, the local church and the family.
Reflecting on Romans 10:1, the Florida Baptist pastor asked attendees, “Does Fellowship Church even care about lost people?” He encouraged members to be sensitive to the lostness around them and to allow it to provoke their hearts to action and evangelistic fervor.
Pigg also focused on 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and reminded participants that without a Bible, a Christian is incomplete. He encouraged members to remain anchored to the Word of God as authoritative, sufficient and inerrant.
“What’s the difference between a theological liberal and a biblical Christian who knows the Word but doesn’t live it?” Pigg asked.
The following evening, preaching from Acts 2 on how “the 21st-century church needs to go back to being like the first-century church,” Pigg urged members to be “completely devoted” to the mission at hand—reaching a lost world. He elaborated that the local church should be preparing text-driven disciples, proclaiming the gospel, presenting themselves for service, and provoked to be on mission together.
“The world is turning the church upside down,” he said. “In a culture of compromise, the only hope is a biblical, New Testament, text-driven local church.”
Closing out the evening sessions was the topic of family worship from Ephesians 5:22-6:4.
Coming alongside evening worship and preaching sessions, middle and high school students take part in evangelism training and mission projects in the community during the daytime and stay in host homes in the evening. During evening sessions, children also take part in a coordinating Bible lesson, crafts, games and more.
A new addition to this year’s conference was an old-fashioned family reunion where all Fellowship Church members gathered at a local waterpark for an evening of food, fun and fellowship.
“My prayer is that the Church Family Conference will help to disciple families and grow the next generation to love and serve Christ with all their heart, soul, mind and strength,” said Jeremy Breitag, pastor of family ministry.