CPC Review

I know some of you that wish you could have been there and were not able to, so I thought I would share with you the highlights of the conference for me. This was my 2nd CPC but first in 5 years.

Highlights of the conference:
Meeting some great kidmin. This year I got to connect with lots of great kidmin, some I knew, some I met for the first time. I had the opportunity to start new friendships and strengthen existing ones. I spent less time in the general sessions this year and more time hanging out in the hallways talking to people. While I missed out on some of the worship times and keynote speakers, this time was well worth it.

Kidmin Runners meet-up (or an attempt at it) I was priveleged to spend some time with Mike Wilder and Andy Johnson as we ran around the Coronado Springs resort. It's always good to connect with others who share multiple interests with you. Big thanks to Michael Chanley for connecting me with Andy. Also met Jason Martin and Adam Stadtmiller partly due to the meetup.


General Sessions:
As I said before, I missed a big chunk of the general sessions while connecting with others, but it was worth it. I did hear Reggie Joiner, Kyle Idleman, Craig Jutila, and Beth Guckenberger, as well as the networking roundtable. It was cool to see Jim Wideman and family be honored as Jim received the first INCM Legacy award. Go Fish and Denver & the Mile High Orchestra seemed to do a fine job leading worship, though I missed most of it.

Breakouts:
There were lots of breakouts as always and I had a hard time choosing which ones to miss. I chose mainly based on who was presenting, though the topics were important in a few of them. I haven't been to CPC for a few years, but it seemed there were many more presenters who I wanted to go see, and couldn't, this year. My first year I chose based on the topic because I didn't know any of the presenters.

Cool new features:
Networking Launch Party--This was a new event for CPC12. I think it was beneficial. It was led by Michael Chanley, and he would ask a question like "What state were you born in?" so you could find someone to talk to, then give you a ministry question to talk about. I met some new friends at this and thought it was definitely worth the 30 minutes they gave it if not a little more.

Networking lunches--They gave us opportunities to connect with others about specific areas of ministry, or with a breakout presenter that we wanted to hear more from. Both lunches I ended up sitting in an area I wouldn't have chosen, with people I didn't plan on talking with, but both lunches ended up being very helpful to me and I made some new friends along the way.

Takeaways--What did I take away from this conference?
1. New relationships--I formed some new friendships that I know will benefit me and our church's ministry in the future. Hopefully I can be a help to them as well.
2. Special Needs ministry--I sat in a workshop with Ryan and Beth Frank. This was out of my comfort zone and a group of kids we have not served as well as we can. It is, as one fellow kidmin said, 'the elephant in the room'. This is an area and group of kids and families I commit to serving better.
3. It's ok to live in my season--I have two small kids, my season of life means I need to spend more time at home with them now. As much as I love to work, I will be able to go back to putting extra hours in when my kids are gone. I'll never have this time back. I know that and believe that I'm living that. This was confirmation for me that I'm doing the right thing. Check out Craig Jutila's session notes for Seasonal Leadership for more on this.

Overall, I think Michael Chanley and INCM did a great job putting together the conference. The strengths of the conference reflected his experience in networking and connecting with other leaders. Well done!