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GodWorx helps equip all Christians to influence their workplace and integrate their faith, by making disciples and unleashing the kingdom of God wherever they are.
Hi, everyone. My name is Carrie Whitcher, and you too can be a marketplace multiplier because marketplace multipliers equip all Christians to influence their workplace and integrate their faith by making disciples and unleashing the kingdom of God wherever they are.
Earl McJett:Welcome to the Marketplace Multipliers podcast. I'm Earl McJett, a member of the Marketplace Multipliers team. Today, we're gonna talk about the Marketplace Multipliers conference that was held at College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Indiana in April of this year. Our guests today are Doctor. Jeffrey Clark, the associate head basketball coach at Indiana Wesleyan University, and Pastor Emily Vermilya, the pastor of operations and development at College Wesleyan Church.
Earl McJett:So tell us about the conference. What was the purpose of this conference?
Jeff Clark:Marketplace multipliers is just something that's been in the hearts of a lot of people, over time. Some by the name of marketplace multipliers, some by other names, but just the the rising of the laity and the empowerment of the precept of all believers, I think, is something that's a passion for many people, a growing number of people. And about a year ago, doctor Wayne Schmidt had sat down with, you were at the table and me and, pastor Steve DeNeff, and he had just pitched an idea of sending, this more to the front lines of the local church and asked if if we would start it at College Wesleyan Church where I attend for the last 18 years. Pastor Emily has been on staff for years. Pastor to has been, the lead pastor for years, and then you guys would follow-up.
Jeff Clark:So So that was kind of the genesis of it. And then over the course of a year, we kinda planned it and advertised it and promoted it and got people to come. And, we really just shared what's been happening over the course of time as this has been a push from the pastoral staff to us as lay at College Wesleyan Church and wanted to showcase that, but then just engage pastor and lei alike in in this work and what it looks like to, to take this into various context beyond the walls of the church.
Earl McJett:That is really wonderful. I think that those of us who attended got exactly what you were talking about out of it and really feel empowered to go out and spread the gospel and share our faith in the context in which we serve outside of the church, and in our families, our workplaces, schools, every place where we engage with people, we know they need Jesus. And you all really gave us a lot of, tools and and strategies and and ideas on how to share our faith. So really thank you very much for that. So pastor Emily, this was a daunting task to undertake.
Earl McJett:It really was the very first in the series, so you all were blazing the path for us. So what was it like planning this event?
Emily Vermilya:Well, actually, it it felt like, a doorway back into something that College Church has been able to do in the past. COVID obviously threw us a little bit off of our historical game of being able to host some conferences and workshops where we've been able to invite people into our context and try to help, just gather people together, network people together, share maybe a bit of what we've learned, but also learn from others who come into our context here. But I think the greatest, maybe, challenge or the new aspect of this particular marketplace multipliers conference was really, the desire we had to involve our people, the people of our congregation who are doing this work, this kingdom work so effectively in our community, who have really risen to the call of God to be ministers wherever they are, whether it be in their workplace or their homes. And, the goal here was not for really our pastoral staff to stand up in front, present something, rather for our people who are serving so well to share about their experience, to, be able to share a bit of what they've learned, and then again for those from our context here in Marion to get to network with people from across the country or, in in some cases, people from Canada, wherever they came from, to say where are we finding unique challenges within our different domains of service.
Emily Vermilya:That's for those working, but it could be those who are serving as, stay at home moms or whatever other domain that they're serving in and being able to network with one another and ask one another questions about how is it we're best serving into this calling, of the kingdom wherever we we've been placed.
Earl McJett:Wow. Thank you so much for doing that. Again, all of the effort ahead of time to prepare this event really showed through in the execution, which was wonderful. And, again, it was a very impactful event for us. So, Jeff, what were some of the highlights of the event for you?
Jeff Clark:I think what really stood out, one was the shared hunger in the room. People were coming from so many different places and backgrounds and locations across the country, but there was a shared heartbeat, for this work. The second thing I would just say, being embedded in a local church that has been on this journey over years to see so many of our people get up front and testify to how god is working in different places around the community that we live in, it was really meaningful. Because I do think sometimes when you're when you're following God on any path, it's often you get so caught up in daily life. It's easy to miss how he's working.
Jeff Clark:And when person after person was able to to get up front and share testimony of how God was working in schools or in businesses or in in a variety of contexts. After having been led that way by our staff, of pastors for so many years, it was just an encouragement and inspiration to say, wow. God really has done some significant things as a result of the laity being in power.
Earl McJett:Thank you so much, Jeff. Pastor Emily, what were some of the highlights that stood out for you?
Emily Vermilya:I think seeing some of the things that maybe we wondered about or were nervous about, proved to be very fruitful. So, when you plan an event or a conference, I think the tendency is to feel like, you almost need to over program the event. You have to have minute by minute activity. And one of the things very early on in the conversation with the team that was dreaming about this, discerning, you know, what what we should include, one of the things that was said early on was we have to leave time for people to interact with one another, to network, to talk. And, that's that's a little unnerving, you know, from a a planning standpoint.
Emily Vermilya:And yet, from the very beginning, that proved very true that this was what people came hungry for, and you didn't have to, you didn't have to thread that needle very far as long as people understood the context of what we were gathered for. People found one another, or at least they helped each other find one another in terms of who served in what type of domain or capacity, and conversation flowed pretty naturally. There were ideas shared, and flowing freely from one person to the next or one group of people to the next. It was encouraging to overhear conversations even from groups that came from areas together and to be inspired by something they'd heard from another group of people and start to dream a little bit about what that might mean in their context. So I think for me a highlight was just the engagement and the interaction that I saw amongst those attending.
Emily Vermilya:That was pretty compelling in this idea of why gathering together is so important and recognizing that idea of the gathered church that is sent is even pertinent in this idea, that there is a reason for us to gather together and then be sent back out into the marketplace. And so I think there's a a real, inspiration here as to why this can continue and people can continue to find motivation and calling in this and, help one another as they continue on this journey of being representatives of the kingdom in the places where God has placed them.
Earl McJett:Yes. I certainly know that I had some God appointed conversations, at the event as well. Met with people not only who were speakers and on panels, but also the people who just shared the tables with us. So I really appreciate that opportunity that you all provided for us.
Earl McJett:one of the most impactful parts of the event for me came at the very end, when we had the closing prayer. Jeff, can you tell us a little about how that was structured and and what we were meant to get from that?
Jeff Clark:Yeah. So so at the end, you know, the it it was about half pastors and half, non clergy, just the the pastors and their people coming together. And, the the time together finished with, pastors praying over and commissioning lay and lay praying over and commissioning pastors. And there was just this, symbolic gesture of, hey. There's not tears in the kingdom here.
Jeff Clark:We're all called to different things, and we're partnering together to advance the gospel. And just the doing that together in that room as a way to finish and send each other out was a was a powerful, guest draw thought organized by pastor Steven, pastor Emily is like, what a great way to finish this event where we're talking about ministry beyond the walls of the church and how pastors and lay partner together, it was just a really fitting end to the entire conference.
Earl McJett:It truly was and also set up a really high bar for the next event. And, LifePointe Church in Waldorf, Maryland will be hosting the next event in October. We will have further details about that event that we will publicize on the Marketplace Multipliers website at www.marketplacemultipliers.com.
Jeff Clark:It's it's really exciting, Earl, to to think about this, being an ongoing event, not just at one location because this is a meant a work meant for all believers. So to think about you guys doing it next, but then who knows in 2025, how many locations there may be or how many different churches or regions may take on a conference like this? So I'm curious as you guys are, you know, planning and praying and dreaming about yours, what's the what's the hopes that you guys have for what happens at your conference?
Earl McJett:What we're hoping for from the conference at LifePointe Church in Waldorf, Maryland is that we will have a move of God that happens here that empowers the laity to go out and spread the gospel in our unique context here. Many of the people that are in the Washington DC Metropolitan area work in government or work in support of government, defense contractors, and NIH mapping the human genome and all of these other things. And, the context here is different from the context in other parts of the country. And each place that will host a subsequent conference will have a different context and bring a different perspective to it and have different needs, for empowering their laity to share the gospel in their context. So we're hoping for a move of God in the same way that we saw in Marion, that speaks specifically to the people that are in this area so that they are empowered to share their faith in their particular context.
Emily Vermilya:I would add to that, Earl, that I really love the idea that, there's a contextualization to this, a consideration that, there's not a cookie cutter model to how this is being done because the reality is, we all go into different spaces every day, and there are different considerations that have to be made, different people that have to be considered, different conversations that we'll have to have, different actions that we have to take in our workplaces or in the the the venues that we live out relationally, our faith. And I think that that's probably the greatest contribution that can be made in having these in different places and locations and listening to one another, because we may not have, in our context here in Marion a lot of folks that operate in those same occupational contexts as you do. And yet, I think that there's probably a lot that we can glean and learn from listening in on the conversations that folks in your neck of the woods are having and apply those things even here or in Colorado or in California or in Beijing, China or wherever in the world we are. And I think I think that that is a part of this ongoing conversation and way that we continue to learn from one another, just recognizing that, we're not gonna this isn't like a one event.
Emily Vermilya:You do it, you get your certificate, and you move on. It's an ongoing learning that we have as followers, as disciples, and something that that the Lord continues to grow in each of us.
Earl McJett:That is so wonderful to consider. Thank you both so much for your insight, Pastor Emily and Jeff. We really appreciate, your service. We thank you so much for putting on such an impactful event for us, for Marketplace Multipliers, and kicking off the series of events that will happen. Again, thank you so very much.
Jeff Clark:Thanks for having us, Earl.
Emily Vermilya:Thank you.
Carrie Whitcher:Thank you for listening to this episode of the Marketplace Multipliers podcast. For more information, go to www.marketplacemultipliers.com. Please like and subscribe to this podcast and share with others who may benefit. And remember, you too can integrate your faith and influence your workplace for Christ.