Pastor’s Conference at The Cove

Randy and I have had the absolute privilege of spending two nights at The Cove for a Pastor’s Training with Jim Henry. This entire conference for pastors has been underwritten by donors and so everything down to the meals, lodging and conference materials have been free for all of us here. I cannot even explain what a blessing this has been for us. The vision behind the Training Center here at the Cove is to equip believers with deeper training in the Word. All year long there are conferences, trainings and concerts. I’ve attended two women’s conferences here and have been dying for Randy to come and be a part of things here. So this has been an awesome treat for us to experience together.

The setting is breathtakingly beautiful in any season of the year here but we have been able to experience this beauty with snow coming down this week. Gorgeous!

The sessions have been really good and hearing from a godly man who has been in ministry for over 30 years is really neat.

Another favorite part has been the Q&A time. They just hit the daily practical issues that every pastor deals with. Dealing with the pressures of ministry, scheduling and carving out time for family, staff issues and so much more. There’s something really awesome about being with a group of people who are walking similar journeys.

We did have to laugh a few times though because there’s a few things that happen when a bunch of pastors get together:

• They say “brother” all the time but it’s pronounced “brotha”. Randy’s never had a brother before but he’s had about 200 since being here the last few days.
• They tell churchy jokes. “Is that seat saved? Or is it just backslidden?” Enter a huge hardy laugh followed by a slap on the back that could make you cough up a lung.
• The star fish story gets told at least once.
• There are a million friendly jokes about the different denominations represented.

The hospitality here at the Cove has been nothing short of amazing all three times I’ve been here. They are true servants of the Lord at this place. You sense the humility in service as soon as you step on campus. It really is set apart in so many different ways.

I want all my PW friends to go online right now and check out the Cove and see the calendar of events. They offer the complimentary Pastor’s Institute two times a year. Al Mohler Jr will be speaking March 24th and it’s a free one day conference for pastors (Senior, Youth, Discipleship, Associate) with one night lodging and meals. Wives can attend as well. And if you love your pastor and pastor’s wife let them know about this offer. They will love you for it.

Will be posting later this week about some of the things we talked about this week in our pastor’s conference…..both through speakers and other attendees. It’s been a great three days of refreshment.