Family Bible Conferences are for the whole family!

Frequently Asked Questions about the Family Bible Conference

Every summer the Grace Gospel Fellowship holds a Family Bible Conference. Those who are able to attend report enjoying the strong bible teaching from a mid-Acts dispensational perspective, and the strengthening of relationships with other Grace believers. And each year as we evaluate how we can improve our conference, we ask for input from attendees, or the GGF mailing list, and several questions seem to surface again and again. So we thought it might be helpful to answer some of the Frequently Asked Questions about the Family Bible Conference.

1.      Who plans the conferences?

The Family Bible Conference Committee. Committee members are Pastor John Lowder (Chair), Frosty Hansen, Cindy Carmichael, Leslie Brookhouse, and Kathy Molenkamp

2.       Why does it move around? Why not choose a regular place and return there?

The reason we move is because our Grace Churches, and our GGF Council members, are located all over the country. We change locations on a rotating basis so that the same people are not burdened with travel expenses, or at least have less distance to travel. We try to move from the Eastern quarter of the country, to the Western quarter, to a wide Middle. That is why in 2007 we were in Anaheim, CA, this past summer in Boston, and this coming year in Denver, CO.

3.      How does the committee choose a conference site?

We love it when a Grace church or a region asks us to come to their neck of the woods, suggests possible suitable locations, and offers to assist in the “hosting” of the conference. That is how we chose Anaheim. But this is rarely the case. Committee members attend a conference for conference planners and collect information on sites within the targeted area of the country for the upcoming conference. Some of the major criteria we look for include; price, meeting space, pool, proximity to a major airport or highway, distance to fast food and grocery stores, family friendly attractions nearby, free parking, areas for casual gathering and fellowship, and availability of refrigerators/microwaves in the rooms.

4.      Why is it always over the 4^th of July?

Because most families are more available and able to travel in the summer than any other time of year, we are limited to summer. We choose to use the Fourth of July week because we can usually get the best price, reduced from the prime summer rates, over that holiday. It also allows a family to not have to use as many vacation days due to the fact that most people will get a day or two off around the holiday.

5.      How about just meeting every other year?

The Family Bible Conference also serves as the annual meeting of our constituency, and the constitution of the Grace Gospel Fellowship currently demands that the President and the Council hold an annual meeting. To move to a different schedule would necessitate a constitutional change, which would have to be approved by the Council and the Constituency at an annual meeting. Our feeling up until now has been that we want to be accountable to the Constituency and keep them informed and up to date on the operations and business of the GGF. We have worked to improve the quality and frequency of communication and connections between the GGF office and our churches. To reduce our meetings seems like a step back from those goals.

6.      How are people chosen to serve in the various areas of ministry?

The committee chooses a theme for the conference and sets a general outline for the topics to be covered. We then prayerfully consider who the Lord might use to address those topics effectively.  We try to use a variety of speakers, not ask those who are speaking at the Pastor’s Conference, or those who spoke the previous year.

For the Youth, Children, and Music Ministries we look for those who are willing and able and have been recommended to the committee. Since there is still a considerable cost for these volunteers to serve us at the conference it is truly an act of ministry for them to serve in these areas. We have been blessed over the years to have quality people willing to use their gifts for the good of the Fellowship in this way.

7.      How is the registration price determined?

Each year we carefully consider the amount needed to cover the expenses of putting on the conference. These expenses include the printing and mailing costs of promotional materials, transportation and lodging for the GGF President and the Office Administrator, equipment rentals, printing of conference materials, materials budget for children, youth and music ministries, lodging assistance for the ministry coordinators, and a minimal stipend for any Special Guest Speakers. The committee looks at the expenses from the previous year to determine if we can reduce any expenses, or need to increase in any category of our budget. We then make our best guess at how many attendees we expect and divide our total projected expenses by that number, and allow for early registration discounts. Our goal is to keep the cost of the hotel at $100 or less per night, and to negotiate with the hotel to eliminate any extra fees for the rental of the meeting rooms by assuring a minimum number of hotel rooms booked for the conference. We take our responsibility to be good stewards seriously and make every effort to keep our costs as low as possible, while still providing and excellent conference.

We hope this clears up some of those nagging questions you always wondered about. If you have other question or comments concerning the Family Bible Conference, please feel free to contact Cindy Carmichael in the home office. As a Conference Committee member she will pass information on the rest of the committee for discussion and consideration. We welcome your input.