Partnering Together

The parenting conference was a joint event between Crossroads Community Church and Harvest Bible Chapel. These two BCI churches, only a few blocks apart, have shared a great partnership in ministry. Pastor Jason Friesen of Crossroads and Pastor Nick Lees of Harvest had been wanting to co-host an event for quite a while. They are united in their mission to reach the city of Grimes, one of the fastest growing suburbs of Des Moines. The conference was divided into four sessions and included breakfast and lunch, which was provided by Jethros BBQ.

Addressing Community Needs

Prior to planning the event, they had approached the leadership of the city of Grimes to ask what needs their churches might address. One of the city council members suggested that parenting was a topic of interest to their community. In response, Crossroads and Harvest decided to partner together to offer this one-day conference for the Grimes community. The event was held at the Grimes Community Complex, which is where Crossroads Community Church meets.

Examining the Hearts of Parents

The event speakers were Brent and Janet Aucoin. Brent is President of Faith Bible Seminary in Lafayette, Indiana. “Our guest speakers focused their teachings on the hearts of the parents by having us examine our current goals, our pleasures, our priorities, and our path. Pointing us to the scriptures, we were challenged to recalibrate these areas so that they were in line with what God’s Word teaches.”

Reaching Parents in Grimes

Almost 50 parents participated in the training and they provided childcare for almost 30 kids. Pastor Jason said, “I spoke with one of the families that was not connected with either of our churches and they said they were looking for something to do on the weekend and saw our invitation online. They were looking for some help in their parenting, so they decided last minute to attend.” They hope to follow up with the new attendees and invite them to fall events and, of course, help them get connected at one of the two churches.

“We’re pleased that our first run at a parenting conference went well! After the event, both of our staff teams met to evaluate the event and decided we would like to do this event again next year. However, we all agreed that May wasn’t the best time of year to host this conference, so we are planning for Fall of 2022.”

[BCI partnered with Harvest Grimes and Crossroads Grimes through a grant to support evangelism and outreach in Iowa.]