16th Annual Timothy Leadership Conference 2015, Wednesday, April 15- Saturday, April 18
Christ Haven Worship Center
Philadelphia, PA

This year’s Timothy Conference was truly a blessing! Although Ark of Covenant Ministries arrived late for the 1st evening service on Wednesday night, we got a glimpse of what The Lord was doing through Bishop Gerald Loyd, who was the speaker of the hour for that service, and we were welcomed by Dr. Cummings, the Conference founder, with many thanks and gratitude.

The format for most of the conference’s meetings started with an hour of Morning Prayer power, followed by a seminar by one of the speakers for the night services, followed by a lunch break, following two separate seminar sessions with 6 choices to hear different speakers, followed by a lunch break, ending with the evening service. There were opportunities for sight-seeing in the Philadelphia area, the host church in Philadelphia did an excellent job of providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a very reasonable fee, and as always, conference goers were able to sit down and talk to  the speakers of each seminar on a face to face basis. There was a great deal of teaching that was poured into conference goers, that equipped for leadership, growth, and relationship with the Creator.

For Ark of Covenant Ministries, here were some highlights of the conference:
• Bishop Gerald Loyd’s Seminar “Leading Without Limits and Boundaries” Thursday Morning Seminar
o Leadership without limits and boundaries where he walked us through what it takes to be “purposeful” believers. There are two major frustrations when we don’t find out what our purpose is: unrealized anointing brings on spiritual constipation, and which breeds unrealized purpose.
• Debbie Heller’s Seminar Session “Stress Management for Leaders” Thursday Afternoon Seminar
o That afternoon, conferences goers had a choice between three seminar sessions. Ark of Covenant chose the session titled “Stress Management for Leaders,” in which Ms. Debbie Heller gave strikingly easy daily practices that eradicate stress all together. Coupled with faith, Ms. Heller suggested that we focus our minds on the present, rather than the past or future. Having a full mind or being mindful, is the difference between stressing or not.
• Dr. Graylin Stargell “Who and I Really? Understanding How People See you!” Thursday Afternoon Seminar
o We broke into groups, were given a real life scenario, and asked how we would react. The focus was on finding out how we think, and figuring out how others saw us in our decision making. Dr. Stargell wanted to see if we were “controllers” or “comptrollers.” Controllers are those who take over, dominate, and micromanage situations, while Comptrollers put systems in place, and delegate responsibilities to individuals accordingly for overall success.
• Dr. Graylin Stargell “Is Your Church One Phone Call From Disaster? Church Succession,                  Resignation and Management Planning” Friday Afternoon Seminar
o Many leaders have nothing for their congregations to fall back on if anything were to happen to them. Dr. Graylin Stargell gave us a basis for how to establish a pastoral succession plan so as to avoid the congregation being unfruitful and broken up.
• Sightseeing in Philadelphia
o An Elder from the host church who is also the church bus driver, took a group of us through the city to one of the Philly Cheese Steak restaurants the city is known for. He, being a native Philadelphian, showed us all the wonderful sights around the city area.
• Friday Night Service with District Elder, Dr. D. W. Cummings
o Dr. Cummings preaching ushered in a spirit of repentance, worship, praise, and took some of the older saints back to the days when the young people use to “cut up” in the church. The Spirit of the Lord was present and left a lasting impression on many as we traveled back to the Cleveland area.

This year’s Timothy Conference experienced a new location, and left a new desire to grow all the more closer to the Lord, even in our leadership roles. It was truly a blessing.