Lasting Reformation: May God Make it So
A Report on the North Carolina Uniting Church and Family Conference
December 13, 2007
Over six hundred participants descended on Wake Forest, North Carolina for the NCFIC’s final regional conference for 2007. The conference — which focused on the reformation of church and home — included church leadership teams wanting to transition their churches to a more family integrated model, church planting teams from around the country, as well as individuals desiring a better understanding of biblical home and church life. In addition, twenty Canadians drove nineteen hours to take part in the conference, and a group of thirty from a church in Florida also made the trip.
The Extreme Group Polling Technology
The Extreme Group also joined those gathered with their real time polling technology which gave attendees some interesting information to chew on. John Collins, President and CEO of The Extreme Group, brought his entire family to the conference. They were a tremendous encouragement to everyone as they worked together as a family to execute the audience polling.
A Diverse Crowd
At past NCFIC events, most conferees have been interested in church planting and reforming their own household practices, but this time there seemed to be a larger number of pastors interested in transitioning their traditional churches to age-integrated discipleship formats. There were approximately seventy pastors in attendance. Of the attendees, 49% were in traditional churches, but had convictions for family integrated discipleship; 58% believed that churches should turn to age integrated discipleship; 50% were currently attending family integrated churches; and 85% have been attending a FIC for five or fewer years.
Families Working Together
By God’s grace, the execution of the conference provided several real-life examples of one of the core tenets advanced at the event — the importance of families working together. In addition to the Collins family’s excellent work to gather polling data from those in attendance, the families at Hope Baptist provided the logistics, food service, audio recording, registration and whatever else was needed for the two-day event, while other local churches contributed financially to the effort. The hospitality of Pastor Enoch Holloway and many members of Friendship Chapel was evident as they labored to make us feel at home in their beautiful church facility — of which we invaded almost every square inch. When they offered their facility, we had no idea we would fill every seat and need all of their facility capacity.
The Speakers
The speakers presented nineteen messages with simultaneous breakout sessions running between the keynotes throughout the two-day conference. The speakers included Scott Brown, Voddie Baucham, Andy Davis, Paul Renfro, Jason Dohm, Dan Horn, Steve Breagy, Eddie Burroughs, Mark Fox, Ken Auer, Boyd Dellinger, Marc Jantomaso, and Geoff Bright.
Conference Objectives
The stated goal of the conference was to study the complementary roles of Church and home as outlined in the Scriptures. Attendees were encouraged to pursue these five specific objectives:
First, our primary objective is to declare the glory of God and to remind that God is a God of design, and everything He has made is to declare His glory — including every relationship in church and home.
Second, our ultimate desired impact is evangelistic, for there is one supreme divine purpose of the family: to present to God worshippers before the throne of God at the end of the age.
Third, our message is the centrality of the Gospel in all things, and that for the sake of the spread of the gospel, it is critical that we return to biblical order in the church and the home.
Fourth, our prayer is to increase our appreciation for God and His Word in the church; that we will grow our love and appreciation for God, the Word of God, the gospel and His design for church and family.
Fifth, our longing is for a reformation of church and home life. This can only happen when the church has a high view of God and a humble faithfulness to His Word.
Lasting Reformation: May God Make it So
One of the key points the speakers emphasized was this: that true reformation is only possible when God’s people take seriously what He has said. While the importance of family reformation received special focus, the speakers emphasized that more is needed for lasting reformation, and that all such reformations have the same qualities: a recovery of the lost book of the law; a desire for the glory of God; a passion for spreading the gospel; repentance of dead works; a desire to be faithful in all things; a revival of love in the hearts for the gospel; and a turning of hearts in the family, as fathers turn their hearts to their children and children turn their hearts to their parents.
May God cause the seeds of truth sown at this conference to bear fruit and bring about true reformation that lasts for generations.