Presbyterian church growth conference

 

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a Presbyterian Church Growth Network (PCGN) regional conference that was held at Copper Creek Church in Champaign, Illinois. I’ve talked before about the decline in people among the Presbyterian Church, PC(USA). Every year my daughter, Hannah, has been alive the PC(USA) has experienced a decline in numbers—and my daughter is now in graduate school! The formation of the PCGN was a grass-roots response to this very serious problem. 

I’ve participated in what has become the PCGN since a group of us started having Zoom calls about two years ago. Unlike previous attempts by organizations committed to church growth within the PC(USA), the PCGN is committed to the welfare of our denomination. I joined the board when the group was founded in May 2025. None of us on the board want to see churches leave the PC(SUA). And we’re committed to inclusion of all people as Teaching & Ruling Elders. The charter document of the PCGN shares all of this. Check it out at: https://www.pcgrowthnetwork.org/whoweare The website of the PCGN is here: https://www.pcgrowthnetwork.org/ The PCGN has two open Zoom calls a month and a very active Facebook page where people can ask questions and receive responses. 

Even though the conference last week was only one day the presenters shared meaningful content that is helpful for people who want to see their congregations grow in size, vitality, and impact. 

One of the special parts of the conference was the beautiful hospitality shared by Copper Creek Church. This Presbyterian congregation was started in 2007 as a satellite campus of First Presbyterian Church in Champaign, Illinois.  They became a separate congregation and today have over 700 people part of their congregation. They offer three services and are in the preliminary stages of a large capital campaign.

 Scott Keeble and his wife, Melissa Keeble (both pastors at Copper Creek) shared hospitality in an extravagant way. When I arrived on Wednesday, Scott asked me if he could make me a latte. And he did! And then he offered to make a latte for every person who came. How many pastors of churches that size are willing to share hospitality in such a beautiful way?

Scott opened the conference by talking about vision casting. He described vision as a description of a congregation’s preferred future, a picture of something that doesn’t exist. He shared some of Copper Creek’s story. When they launched they identified themselves as a church for those who had a hard experience in churches—the de-churched. They did a lot of research on this group. Because they believe the de-churched is skeptical of highly programmed congregations, they decided to have a stream-lined approach to programming. The congregation focuses on small groups as the central part of their discipleship.

After a break Kim Adams shared a talk on worship, music, and the Sunday morning experience. One takeaway from the workshop is the decision congregations make about style of worship. Typically we think that we have to choose between a traditional or contemporary style. Instead people in the workshop talked about deciding if your style will be formal or informal. It’s possible to have an informal traditional service, and it’s possible to have a formal contemporary service.  

Josh Erickson gave a beautiful talk on church development and church size. I spent most of my time in Illinois hanging out with Josh. We rode together from Chicago to Champaign and back and even found time to attend a Cubs game. Josh just finished a sabbatical where he finalized a book he is writing on church size.

Scott Lyon shared the last workshop of the day on the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI). I admit that this is an area that I have very little training. But I’m interested in receiving more training. It was shared during the conference that knowing how to use AI is like having an intern. I’m ready for that.

This conference is something that could be replicated across the country. People organizing these could find speakers on these topics. Though the attendance at this conference was not overwhelming, I’m confident that most people left with at least one idea that can be implemented. My idea is increasing my own use of AI. 

A big thanks to Josh Erickson and Scott & Melissa Keeble and their team at Copper Creek for all their work in organizing this conference. These types of conferences can help main-line and Presbyterian people imagine the day when our denominations are growing in size, vitality, and impact!