The 2009 Conference (Feb. 8-13, 2009) looks to be more exciting than ever. There are at least four reasons why we believe that this conference will be both easy and enjoyable to attend.

Our conference guests historically have remarked time and time again about the quality of the speakers for this conference.  With men like Paul Tripp, Steve Viars, Stuart Scott, Garrett Higbee,  and Randy Patten guests enjoy hearing from the leaders and pace setters within our movement.  At the same time, this year we will be able to bring both Elyse Fitzpatrick and Martha Peace, both of whom the Lord has used to help countless folks through their ministries of writing. We expect the quality of teaching at this conference to be well worth the time and effort. 

Reason #2 - NANC Exam and Case Study Tracks

This year we are continuing the tracks started in 2008.  The NANC Certification Track was a blessing for many and it proved to be what many needed to complete the exams; and important and necessary step toward certification. 

1.  Randy Patten, NANC’s executive director, will teach you how to navigate the certification process and offer suggestions on securing a NANC fellow for your 50 observation hours.

3.  We will have over 10 hours of supervised lab time where you will have an opportunity to write the answers to the exam questions at the conference.  The lab instructor will be available for individual help.

4.  You must have completed the training requirements that NANC has established at one of the approved NANC training sites.

The second new track (called our Case Study Track) will provide an opportunity to study specific cases through the week.  After adjusting this track based on last year's comments we expect this track to be bigger and better than before.  This track looks to be an exciting opportunity to discuss, interact, and learn!

Reason #3 – Adjusted Schedule

We have eliminated the necessity to be here on Saturday (We will still have church on Sunday morning for those that wish to travel on Saturday) since the conference begins on Sunday night.  This allows our guests to serve in their churches on Sunday morning if they choose.  In addition, we are adjusting the evening schedule so that our conference will end a little later for dinner, but there will be no session after dinner on most evenings.  We hope this allows for more rest and relaxation in the midst of a very busy week.  

Every year folks talk about the value of the Topic Options Nights. Since our facilities no longer hold the number of guests that attend, true plenary sessions are not possible. Instead we are moving to three Topic Option Nights. We will try to create a plenary atmosphere by only having 3 available topics during one night, but the other two will have a full-scale line up of various choices.