Grace Brethren Pastors Take in Exponential

A number of Grace Brethren pastors attended the annual church planting conference, Exponential 09, which was held this week (April 20-23) in Orlando, Fla. Among workshop speakers were Neil Cole, executive director of Church Multiplication Associates, and pastor of Awakening Chapel, a Grace Brethren church in Long Beach, Calif., and Oscar Chavez, west coast director for church planting for Go2 Ministries and pastor of Iglesia La Cosecha, an Hispanic Grace Brethren church in Lancaster, Calif. In the photos below, Neil participates in a live, interactive podcast.

Go2 Church Planting Ministries also sponsored a workshop track at the conference.

Also among those attending, according to Ron Boehm, senior missionary with the Grace Brethren regional church planting organization, VisionOhio, (who attended with his wife, Chery), were Ned Denlinger, TriState district church-planting coordinator; Mike Stern, pastor of Southern Hills Church in Strongsville, Ohio (Cleveland westside); Ted Rastatter, worship leader and team member at Soma, Springfield, Ohio; David Black, team leader at Soma; Mike Tabor, pastor of the Happy Church, Jackson, Ky.; Clancy Cruise, church planter and senior pastor at Marysville, Ohio, Grace Brethren Church; Jeremy Bury, worship leader at Marysville; Sean Spoelstra, church planter at Encounter, a new Grace Brethren church in Jerome/Dublin, Ohio; Andy Wirt, church planter at Clearview Church, New Albany, Ohio; Terry and Debbie Hofecker, VisionOhio trainer, church planter and senior pastor at Northwest Chapel, Dublin, Ohio; Mike Silliman, pastor, Elk Creek Church, West Grove, Pa.; Javier Forero, associate pastor at Iglesia Communal La Espranza, a Grace Brethren church in Valrico, Fla.; and Dan O'Deens, pastor, Gateway Grace Community Church, Parkesburg, Pa.

Above, church planters from the TriState Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches (southwest Ohio, southeastern Indiana, and Kentucky) visit.