The L.E.A.D. Conference  

L.E.A.D. conference logo: Listen - Equip - Adapt - Disciple

Date: May 1-3, 2026

Place: Ephrata Church of the Brethren, Ephrata, PA

More info will be coming soon.

Keynote Speaker

Tod Bolsinger

Tod Bolsinger, MDiv, PhD, the co-owner and principal of Sloan Leadership, Inc, an executive coaching and consulting firm that works with church, non-profit, and marketplace leaders in leading change.

He is also the Executive Director of the De Pree Center Church Leadership Institute, a Senior Fellow of the De Pree Center for Leadership, and Associate Professor of Leadership Formation at Fuller Theological Seminary, was the founder of the Fuller Leadership Platform, an innovative approach to online formation and leadership development, and served as a Vice President of Fuller Seminary for six years.

Prior to his educational career, he served as a pastor for 27 years.

Tod is the author of five books, including the Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year in pastoral leadership, Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory, the Christian Book Award Finalist, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change, and The Practicing Change Series

Tod is married to Beth, a professional artist. They have two adult children, Brooks and Ali, and a son-in-law, Ben. An avid outdoor lover, if he hadn’t taken biology after lunch in high school, Tod would have been a National Park Ranger. When he retires, he is going to do hiking trail maintenance, trout rescue, and be a ski host who makes sure there are four people on every quad chair lift.

He can be reached at bolsinger@aesloanleadership.com

The very first Church of the Brethren L.E.A.D. (Listen – Equip – Adapt – Disciple) Conference took place on Nov. 15-17, 2024, at the Ephrata (Pa.) Church of the Brethren, and was based on the scripture theme 2 Timothy 2:2. The event was sponsored by the denomination’s Discipleship and Leadership Formation department.

Images of presenters for the L.E.A.D. conference

Leadership matters!

Learning more about leading well can only help pastors and congregations. The Church of the Brethren LEAD Conference will encourage, inspire, and equip you and your congregation’s leaders to further develop your ministry’s effectiveness and earn CEU credit. Join us for powerful times of worship, in-depth keynote messages from Dr. Dennis Edwards, and practical breakout sessions taught by practitioners who are eager to share lessons they’ve learned that you can adapt and implement in your own ministry context. Recognizing that our ministry contexts do not all primarily speak English, we will have breakout sessions in Spanish and Haitian Kreyol for each time slot and our keynote message will be translated into those two languages, as well.

This will be a leadership development conference for congregational leaders such as pastors and church board members. The focus will be on raising the leadership skills of congregational leaders to help them be more effective in their local ministries. The event will be a mix of plenary and break-out sessions. Attendance will be capped at 250 participants.

Scripture Theme:  2 Timothy 2:2
“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.” (NASB)

Dates: Friday – Sunday, November 15-17, 2024

Location: Ephrata Church of the Brethren, Ephrata, PA

Up to .8 CEUs are being offered for this conference.

Sponsored by: Discipleship & Leadership Formation of the Church of the Brethren

Presenters

Go to presenter photos and bios

Keynote Speaker

Rev. Dennis Robert Edwards

Rev. Dr. Dennis R. Edwards, PhD. serves as Dean and Vice President of Church Relations at North Park Theological Seminary, after having previously been Associate Professor of New Testament. He’s the author of several articles and books including the recent Humility Illuminated: The Biblical Path Back to Christian Character (IVP). Dennis has been married to Susan Steele Edwards since 1982. They are the parents of four children, and grandparents of five.

Dennis has three decades of urban pastoral ministry experience. He most recently served as senior pastor of The Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, MN. Prior to that, Dennis served in Washington, DC and Brooklyn, NY.

Dennis holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering (Cornell University), a Master of Divinity degree in Urban Ministry (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), Master of Arts and PhD degrees in Biblical Studies (Catholic University of America). Dennis enjoys baking, playing his flute and saxophone, as well as weightlifting and cycling—as much as his body will let him.

revdrdre.com | www.twitter.com/revdrdre

LEAD sessions:

  1. Humility: A Christian Identity Marker (primarily from Col 3)
  2. Humility and Shepherding (primarily from 1 Thess 2)
  3. The Countercultural Way to Transform Society (primarily from Philippians 2)

L.E.A.D. Conference Schedule

Friday, Nov. 15
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Registration
7:00 pm Worship – Etienne Nsanzimana
8:30 pm Breakout Sessions (Listen)
9:30 pm Ice Cream Social
Saturday, Nov. 16
8:30 am Breakfast
9:00 am Main Session #1 – Humility: A Christian Identity Marker
10:30 am Breakout Sessions (Equip)
Noon Lunch
1:00 pm Breakout Sessions (Adapt)
2:30 pm Main Session #2 – Humility and Shepherding
4:00 pm Breakout Sessions (Disciple)
5:30 pm Dinner
7:00 pm Worship/Main Session #3 – The Countercultural Way to Transform Society
8:30 pm Fellowship
Sunday, Nov. 17
9:00 am Talkback Session
10:45 am Contemporary Worship Service – Jeff Carter
Noon Depart

Lead conference schedule

Registration cost

  • Register by October 2 for the $99.00 registration price per person.  Registration includes Saturday lunch and dinner, and Friday Ice Cream Social. 
  • After Oct. 2 price will increase to $125.00 per person
  • Register 5 or more individuals from the same church to receive the discounted price of $79.00 per person

Childcare and meals

  • $25 for first child; $15 for each child thereafter.
  • Children 6 mths- 2 years – Parents provide food for their children. 
  • Children 2 years-12 years –  Meals included from adult selections.

Breakout sessions

Listen

  • Vildor Archange – A True Disciple Listens to His Master
  • Jeff Carter – Listening in a World of Mixed Messages
  • Cesia Salcedo – Recognizing Our Spiritual Gifts and Claiming Opportunities to Serve God
    Reconocer Nuestros Dones Espirituales y Reclamar Oportunidades para Servir a Dios
  • Richard Wehrle – Leadership in a Multivocational Reality
  • James Washington – The Awesome Challenge of Change

Equip

  • Joel Peña – La Iglesia Discipuladora, Retornando a las Raíces Bíblicas, Simples y Reproducibles de la Gran Comisión
    The Discipling Church, Returning to the Simple, Reproducible Biblical Roots of the Great Commission
  • Stan Dueck – Liberating Thinking
  • Nevin Dulabaum – Effectively Board
  • Jennifer Kreighbaum – Equipping to Build Up in a World of Tearing Down 
  • Founa Badet – Serve Well
  • Ryan Braught – Anabaptist Leadership

Adapt

Disciple