{"id":29186,"date":"2025-10-27T15:48:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T13:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/clone\/?p=29186"},"modified":"2025-10-30T16:26:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T14:26:19","slug":"2025-climb-small-church-leadership-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/2025-climb-small-church-leadership-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Climb Small Church Leadership Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year\u2019s Climb Small Church Leadership Conference was a great success and encouragement. Over 150 small church leaders gathered in Lansing, Michigan, where the\u00a0Lansing Area Church of Christ<\/a>\u00a0(led by Josh and Michelle Lutz) did an amazing job hosting the conference. So many remarked that they felt like it was a few days of rare abundance for church leaders who are more accustomed to scarcity. Overflowing snack tables, food trucks, robust round tables, a packed schedule, and many opportunities for prayer made the three-day event feel like a whirlwind of inspiration and encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Delegates<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The bi-annual Climb Conference started in 2019 in Eau Claire, WI, when Joel Peed and Rob Skinner had a vision to specifically pour into the unique needs of small church leaders. They added Joel Nagel to the planning team and held the conference in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2021 and 2023 before this year\u2019s event in Lansing, where Joel Nagel is an evangelist and teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s lessons focused on the theme from Isaiah 43, \u201cA New Thing,\u201d and seemed to all touch on the conviction that small churches each have unique needs that should be addressed with prayerful creativity. There\u2019s no one-size-fits-all approach. This requires small church leaders to be extremely entrepreneurial. The Climb Conference has always selected ideologically diverse speakers who have helped their ministries to be vibrant in different ways. We believe this is a great example of how we can be united without having to be uniform. <\/p>\n\n\n

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There were many opportunities to pray at this year\u2019s event. We gathered for prayer each morning on the Michigan capitol steps. We had a prayer room which had prayers from every participant hanging from the ceiling (which we took down and mailed out randomly so we could keep praying for each other), and we ended the event with a beautiful and moving time of prayer and worship around a bonfire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the conference, we asked participants to think about what they were learning, how they could change, and what their ministries could do differently because of Climb by using the framework of knowing, being, and doing. That framework became the structure of three opportunities to pray at the bonfire. It was moving to hear church leaders beg God to form them as ministers or to help their ministries because of what the Spirit put on their hearts during the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Just as the conference focused on prayer, we ask that you would pray for us and for the future of the conference as we pass it on to a new generation of small church leaders and discern next steps. We\u2019re so grateful for the small church leaders in our fellowship and for the encouragement that Climb has provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to see what Climb was all about? Check out the lessons on our\u00a0Climb YouTube Channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Climb 2025 brought together over 150 small church leaders in Lansing for an encouraging conference filled with prayer, fellowship, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[71],"tags":[73,54],"post_folder":[151],"class_list":["post-29186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-events","tag-north-america"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Climb1.jpg?fit=1195%2C805&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Sunday Awolowo","author_link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/author\/sawolowo\/"},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phsvEw-7AK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28455,"url":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/speakers-announced-for-climb-small-church-conference\/","url_meta":{"origin":29186,"position":0},"title":"Speakers Announced for Climb Small Church Leadership Conference","author":"Sunday Awolowo","date":"August 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019re a leader of a church or ministry of 150 members or smaller, then this conference is for you!","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/climb-conference.jpg?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/climb-conference.jpg?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/climb-conference.jpg?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/climb-conference.jpg?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/climb-conference.jpg?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25202,"url":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/2025-climb-small-church-conference\/","url_meta":{"origin":29186,"position":1},"title":"2025 Climb Small Church Conference: Oct 1-4 in Lansing, Michigan","author":"Sunday Awolowo","date":"December 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This conference is for anyone who works\u00a0with ministries 150 or smaller, even if those ministries\u00a0are in larger churches.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Leadership"","block_context":{"text":"Leadership","link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/category\/leadership\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/climb-conference.jpg?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/climb-conference.jpg?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/climb-conference.jpg?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/climb-conference.jpg?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/climb-conference.jpg?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19900,"url":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/september-climb-small-church-conference\/","url_meta":{"origin":29186,"position":2},"title":"September is Registration Month for Climb Small Church Conference","author":"dtadmin","date":"September 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019ve seen a record number of early registrations as excitement builds for this year\u2019s Climb Small Church Conference in Dallas - 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