RIDGECREST, N.C.(BP) – Lifeway Christian Resources’ Black Church Leadership and Family Conference returns July 21-25 to Ridgecrest, N.C., with expanded ministry opportunities and an eye toward mission work as Asheville recovers from Hurricane Helene.
Eight months after the storm swept western North Carolina, killing more than 100 people and causing more than $58 billion in damage to infrastructure and property, event site Ridgecrest Conference Center has recovered, having reopened for business weeks after the tragedy. But surrounding communities continue to rebuild.
“Ridgecrest has done a fantastic job recovering from the storm,” conference convener Mark Croston, Lifeway’s national director of Black Church Ministries, told Baptist Press. “We are hoping to be able to line up mission projects in Asheville, which was hit hard, for those who want to help on Thursday afternoon (July 24).
Ridgecrest CEO Art Snead said the conference center is excited to host the upcoming event.
“We’ve been hosting events since November 2024, and other than a few hiking trails that are closed for this summer, everything else is ready to go,” Snead told Baptist Press, “including our newly renovated serving lines room for meals.”
“Pursue the Prize” is the theme for this year’s event, based on Philippians 3:12-14, with educational, recreational and worship activities for children, youth and adults.
“This is a uniquely multigenerational conference. Bring the whole family because all generations are present and learning from one another,” Croston said. “We all need times to get out of our familiar surroundings. … In the mountains we get to see the beauty of God’s creation and we get to know and experience God in a fresh new ways.”
New conference events this year are Women After Dark late night conversations, late night dialogue with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission on contemporary issues, and expanded ministry opportunities for Gen Z and Gen Alpha (born between 2010 and 2025).
“This race of ours is not a sprint. It’s a marathon,” Croston said of the Christian’s spiritual journey the conference theme emphasizes, “and we need to slow down from time to time to refresh, refocus, and remember why we took our first steps.”
Attend nightly worship July 21-24, daily Bible exposition Monday – Friday and daily early morning worship. Choose from dozens of classes and special activities designed uniquely for women and men throughout the week.
Evening worship preachers are Quintell Hill, lead pastor of Multiply Community Church in Monroe, N.C., and African American church mobilization strategist with the International Mission Board; Justin Lester, pastor of Congdon Street Baptist Church in Providence, R.I.; Bartholomew Orr, senior pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, Miss., and Kerwin Lee, senior pastor of Berean Christian Church in Stone Mountain, Ga.
Other speakers will include author, speaker and life coach Kim Hardy; Kim Coleman, first lady of First Baptist Church of Crestmont in Willow Grove, Pa.; Maliek Blade, podcaster and founding CEO of Whole Brother Mission; and Andre Rogers, pastor of Concord Fellowship Baptist Church in Columbia, S.C.
Registration is available here (https://www.lifeway.com/en/events/black-church-leadership-and-family-conference#onsite-registration).
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