More than 100 Global Church Network (GCN) international core leaders assembled in Orlando, Florida, for its annual Global Leadership Meeting to strategize God’s work in fulfilling the Great Commission worldwide. The leadership meeting occurred prior to the start of the Synergize Pastors & Leaders Conference, the 10th biennial conference of GCN that took place January 28-30, 2020.
During the Global Church Leadership meeting, we recognized and honored four individuals who have modeled exemplary collaborative leadership. These included presentations of two annual Synergize Awards given to:
- Dr. David Mohan, co-founder of New Life Assembly in Chennai, India, which averages more than 50,000 weekly attendance and is a “spiritual father of India;”
- Dr. David Sobrepeña, senior pastor of Word of Hope Christian Church in Manilla, The Philippines, which averages 61,000 in attendance each weekend.
Rev. Edmund Chan, founder of the Global Alliance of Disciple-Making Churches received the Global Church Teacher Award, for being “an extraordinary leader, multiplier and disciple-maker.”
The Global Church Ambassador Award was given to Dr. Glenn Burris, president of Foursquare Church, in recognition for his tireless efforts in representing the Church around the world. I stated, “Dr. Burris understands the circumference of Christianity. We have arranged for him to travel twice at least twice per quarter, moving us closer to the finish line.”
We had world-class presenters from the beginning to the end. On Tuesday, we highlighted many of them. Below are highlights of many more:
Rev. Angela Donadio, ordained minister, bestselling author and founder of Voice of the Voiceless, noted that God defines a noteworthy leader by the posture of their heart. She shared five Kingdom-minded principles leaders must possess to have the heart posture of God, including knowing there are no shortcuts to integrity, learning to pivot when others quit and caring more about celebrating the Kingdom of God than cowering to criticism.
Recognizing the diversity of the church and the importance of working together to fulfill the Great Commission, Rev. Peter Mortlock, pastor of City Impact Church based in Auckland, New Zealand, with additional campuses worldwide, reminded participants that God is doing the same thing He’s been doing for over 2,000 years – building His church and saving souls.
Dr. Glenn Burris Jr., president of The Foursquare Church and CoChair/Global Church Leadership, challenged attendees to be a liberator for the Gospel by removing obstacles, taking risks, opening doors and getting out of the way when other leaders need to step in.
Rev. Paul Daugherty, pastor of Victory Church in Tulsa Oklahoma, encouraged leaders of the next generation that they have what it takes to lead. “The master key is Christ in me to set me free from the lies of the enemy,” Daugherty said.
Rev. Tamyrn Klintworth, founder of In His Names Ministries, which has offices in South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom, gave a powerful speech on baptism of the Holy Spirit and urged leaders to stop making everything about them.
Dr. Bartholomew Orr, senior pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, challenged the Church to be bold and move with compassion instead of looking away from the problems in front of us. He reminded leaders that Jesus didn’t limit His plan or power, and neither should the church.
Following Dr. Orr, Dr. Leonard Sweet, historian, author and professor at Drew University in Drew, New Jersey, explained that when it comes the doing the work God has called us to do, what empowers us and enables us is our relationship with God. “What God wants more than anything else, what means the most and brings Him the most pleasure, is His relationship with us. Relationships are the most important thing in life,” said Dr. Sweet.
To conclude Synergize 2020, Dr. Kenneth Ulmer, senior pastor and teacher at Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, California, spoke a powerful word from the heart about how believers must actively participate if they want to see what God is doing. Additionally, using rain as a metaphor for what God is about to do over the next decade, he provided encouragement to those who may feel discouraged in their efforts to sow seeds.
We are now racing toward Finish 2030 and inviting the entire Body of Christ to synergize themselves together for the greatest harvest by the 2000th birthday of the Church!
Until The Last Person Has Heard,
