2023: “Disciples – Called, Equipped, and Into the Neighborhood!”

Matthew 28.16-20; Ephesians 4.11-16; John 20.19-20

Event Date: Wed.-Fri., May 17-19, 2023

Location: Onsite at the Church of the Brethren General Offices and livestreamed virtually. This hybrid event will be recorded for all those registered. CEUs will be offered both for live sessions and recordings.

Resource Library

For further information contact Randi Rowan at churchplanting@brethren.org

Church Planting Network

Sponsored by: Church of the Brethren through the Office of Discipleship and Leadership Formation and the New & Renew Advisory Team

Workshop opportunities

Presenter bios

Jessie Cruickshank

Keynote Speaker

JESSIE CRUICKSHANK is an ordained Foursquare minister and nationally recognized expert in the fields of discipleship and neuroeducation. She has spent over two decades applying neuroscience research to spiritual formation, ministry training, and organization development. She is respected globally as a missiological thought-leader and neuro-ecclesiologist.

Jessie serves the body of Christ as a church and denominational consultant. She is the Founder of Who-ology, which seeks to equip all people to be disciplemakers, and the Co-Founder of 5Q, which focuses on training teams around Ephesians 4.

Jessie holds a Master’s from Harvard in Mind, Brain, and Education. She is a published academic, author, and serves on multiple boards internationally. She currently lives in Colorado, enjoying the rivers with her family.

You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @yourbrainbyjess
Websites are WHOology and yourbrainbyjess

2021 New & Renew

Session Videos are posted. Find them in the Resource Library

May 13-15, 2021

The New and Renew Virtual Conference is an opportunity for pastors and leaders of new church plants and established churches to come together for worship, learning, and networking. This three-day virtual conference has more than 20 sessions to broaden your knowledge of church planting and congregational renewal. Besides the workshops, inspirational worship and keynotes will invigorate your calling and passion for ministry.

The conference theme is The Reward of Risk, developed from the Gospel of Matthew 25.28-29a. Often in our conversations around church planting and church renewal, we talk about the possibility of failure regarding risk. But have we ever stopped to ponder the possibility of reward amid risk? What might it look like to celebrate those who have taken the risk for the Kingdom of God? Join us as we explore and celebrate around the theme, The Reward of Risk.

Unable to attend the conference? No problem! Registration means you can access the recorded sermons, keynotes, and workshops recordings for six months after the event. That means you can watch recorded presentations that are helpful for your ministry context and earn CEUs.

If you are looking for new and practical ways to engage your community and congregation, don’t miss out on this great experience!

Conference schedule (streamlined version; PDF for printing)

Go to Resource Library
Password needed. Check the emails you have received about the conference for more information.

José Humphreys

Keynote Speaker

Rev. José Humphreys is a native New Yorker, ordained minister and Co-founder of Metro Hope Church, a multiethnic and multicultural church in East Harlem, New York City. He is also a social worker, consultant and author of the award winning book Seeing Jesus in East Harlem: What Happens when Churches Show Up & Stay Put. Rev. José continues to participate in shalom-making and trauma-informed healing work through facilitating conversations across social, economic, racial, and religious boundaries.

As Co-lead Pastor of Metro Hope Church, Rev. José has cultivated partnerships with other East Harlem churches to provide whole-life mentoring circles with people impacted by the criminal justice system. The church is also locally engaged in economic justice through mobilizing church members, churches and residents in collaboration with the Buy Local Initiative, supporting locally owned small businesses in a gentrifying East Harlem.

Rev. José graduated with a Master of Social Work from the Hunter College School of Social Work where he received the Reva Fine Holtzman award for outstanding field research and practice. He also holds a Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.

Rev. José currently resides in East Harlem with his wife, Mayra and thirteen year-old son, Javier.

Christiana Rice

Keynote Speaker

Christiana Rice is an on the ground practitioner and visionary voice in the Parish Church movement, serving as co-director of the The Parish Collective. She is a trainer, writer and convener, helping connect people to be the church in the neighborhood. Christiana is co-author of To Alter Your World: Partnering with God to Rebirth Our Communities with Michael Frost and lives in San Diego with her husband Derek, their two daughters and their neighborhood church community.