Several years ago, after much prayer and consideration we decided to host a mini-regional church growth conference. I was a little hesitant at first because there are so many amazing conferences, but we were getting so many calls, tours, questions about how we do things. So we thought we could do a sort of round-table type discussion about best practices, etc. Before we knew it, 26 churches registered and we were off and running. The roundtable format turned into a full-blown conference with packed-out, high energy general sessions and practical, “how-to” break-out sessions. We got such great feedback we did it again in 2009 with many more churches involved and registrations increasing by nearly 60%. I’m more excited than ever and I know this is going to be the best year yet. There is a real hunger among pastors in this entire mid-south region. Our team is getting ready to host, inspire, impart and learn from all of the great churches, pastors and teams that are coming to Make Room 2010.

Leslie and I planted The Life Church of Memphis in 1996 and the first 5 years were difficult to say the least. We did the set-up, tear down, portable thing for 5 years and could not seem to break the 200 barrier. But then we started to see some breakthroughs. In the past 5 years our church has grown exponentially to a multi-campus church with a weekend attendance of over 3000 people. When things started to breakthrough for us, I distinctly remember God dealing with me about never forgetting those early years and always being available to help pastors and churches break through the key growth barriers. So, the total focus of the conference is on growing our churches. I know growth is God’s plan and this 20 hour conference focuses on the nuts and bolts, the practicals, of moving your church forward and breaking to the next level.

I always tell pastors the most important thing they could do is bring their entire leadership team. In fact, that’s why the conference starts Friday evening and finishes on Saturday afternoon so that even volunteers can come without having to take time off of work. Also, we structured the pricing so it’s only one price if you bring more than 5 people. I just heard that one church in Mississippi is bringing 48 people! That’s cool.

If you are a pastor or church leader near Memphis, TN, I hope you can make it over. I would love to meet you and spend some time with you that weekend. Please click on this link to read through all of the info about the Make Room conference.