MAIN STAGE SPEAKERS:

Marty Machowski

“What Seeds Are We Planting - What is the Gospel?”

Marty is a Family Pastor and an author of gospel-rich books and curriculum for children, families, and churches. His greatest passion is his love for the Lord Jesus Christ and proclaiming the life-transforming gospel message to the next generation. His work include books like Build on Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide to Gospel-Based Children’s Ministry and The Gospel Story Curriculum.

Jared Kennedy

“Planting Gospel Seeds in the Next Generation”

Jared Kennedy serves as an editor for The Gospel Coalition. He is series editor for the TGC Hard Questions series and the author of books like Keeping Your Children’s Ministry on Mission, The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible, and Faith Builder Catechism: Devotions to Level Up Your Family Discipleship. Jared is also the co-founder of Gospel Centered Family, a network designed to equip churches and families.

Lauren Jackson

Lauren is a mother of two and is an experienced children’s ministry leader. She has served in various churches and multiple roles within children’s ministry. She is the founder and CEO of Next Gen Ministry Network, a network designed to equip and encourage kids ministry leaders and build a community for leaders to build each other up rather than compete against one another.

“Planting Gospel Seeds in the Church”

Julie Lowe

“Planting Gospel Seeds in the Home”

Julie Lowe is an author, speaker, and counselor. Julie served as a faculty member at CCEF for over 20 years. Julie has authored several books including Safeguards: Shielding Our Homes and Equipping Our Kids and Building Bridges: Biblical Counseling Activities for Children and Teens. Her work and resources have been promoted by Focus on the Family and Paul Tripp’s Connecting Podcast.

Jack Klumpenhower

Jack, the son of a missionary pastor, is a television news writer by trade, but a Bible teacher by passion. He is the author of Show Them Jesus: Teaching the Gospel to Kids and the coauthor of The Gospel-Centered Parent and What's Up: Discovering the Gospel, Jesus, and Who You REALLY Are. Jack is passionate about discipleship resources for families, all in the pursuit that children might see Jesus.

“The Great Goal in Our Planting”

BREAKOUT SESSIONS AT GKC 2025:

FRIDAY, MAY 30 - 11:15AM

LAUREN JACKSON

  • It is so important to train your volunteers on policies and procedures, but how often do you train your volunteers theologically? How do you encourage your volunteers to keep growing in their love and knowledge of God and His Word? In this breakout, we will talk about how to treat your volunteers like the disciple-makers they are and train them to confidently share the Gospel week in and week out. 

CARL BARNHILL

  • When it comes to communicating the Gospel to your kids, your visuals matter. In this breakout, Carl Barnhill from Church Visuals shares how important graphics and video are to reaching your kids and young adults for Jesus. He shares the value of using visual media and gives extremely practical ways you can use compelling graphics and video to help you visually communicate the Gospel in your kids ministry.

    In this workshop, we’ll cover:

    • Biblical examples of Visual Storytelling 

    • Today’s Visual Culture 

    • The Impact Quality Visuals has on Kids

    • Practical Steps to Improve your Kids Ministry’s Visual Media

    • Practical Q&A - get your media questions answered live.

BARB STANLEY & LEAH WHICKER

  • Join us as we take an inspiring look at why disability inclusion matters at church and learn some practical tips for getting started, including who to invite into the planning process, how to identify obstacles and solutions, what free tools are available, and what is the most important thing that every church leader should do first.

JULIE LOWE

  • Anyone who has ever heard a child say, “I don’t know” in answer to a question about what they are thinking and feeling or about why they acted a certain way, will be thankful for these thoughtful, biblically wise, and creative ways to engage young people. This breakout will  demonstrate and help you  compile practical, biblcal ways to speak the gospel into children and teenager’s lives. By building bridges with young people, we can build bridges with them to the Lord.

JOSH MCGUIRE

  • We all long to share the truths of the Gospel with the children in our ministries and our homes, but it can be a struggle to explain big, abstract concepts in a way that children can understand. In this session we’ll learn how to take the truths of the Gospel and explain them clearly, at a child’s level. We’ll discuss and share examples of simple, clear teaching about God, sin, and the person and work of Christ so that you’d walk away sharpened and ready for the next opportunity you have to share the Gospel with children. 


GINGER BLOMBERG

  • Between the ages of one and five, an average child will add thousands of words to her vocabulary. She will move from a few wobbling steps to running, skipping, pedaling, jumping, and dancing. Preschoolers’ brains can absorb and process astounding amounts of information and experiences, some of which will shape how they think and develop for the rest of their lives. This session is a parent’s perspective on ways to integrate the Gospel into the learning and growing of the preschool season. 

FRIDAY, MAY 30 - 3:45PM

GINGER BLOMBERG

  • Christians are people of the Word, so how do we minister to a community who can’t read, write, or speak? Reaching very small children requires finding a creative and practical approach to sharing God’s love in ways they can understand. This session is about the adventure and importance of showing the Gospel to your church’s youngest attendees.

JANE CATES

  • The gift of teaching was given in the church "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12).  This includes those who teach children!  But, what if not everyone feels equipped or comfortable teaching?  This session will give you a system and tools to help you "equip” and move your volunteer from watcher, to doer, from helper to leader, and from insecure to confident as they communicate the truths of God’s word to the children they serve and build them up in their love for God and his word. 

JARED KENNEDY

  • As children’s ministry teachers, we have an incredible responsibility. God has entrusted the next generation into our hands. But what will the kids in our classrooms remember after we’ve finished teaching? What characters in the story will they most want to identify with and be like? How will they grow in their understanding of God and the gospel? In this presentation, I’ll walk through some different ways you could teach a Bible story. Understanding these three basic approaches will help us so that we don’t miss the main point of a Bible passage. These ways of telling a story will help you encourage the kids in your class to grow in their understanding of the good news. To begin, I’ll use a familiar Old Testament story as an example, the story of David and Goliath. 

MARTY MACHOWSKI

  • With increasing messaging that gender is fluid, our children are growing up in a confused culture.  It is not surprising that children are unsure of what is true about who they are. This session will examine the cultural landscape and affirm two fundamental truths. One - our gender is a gift from God, and two – our gender can never change. We will explore ways to teach children these truths without getting into the weeds of the confusing message our culture is feeding our kids.

JANICE ROY

  • "But have not love, I am a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal..." It is my belief that you can't teach kids until you REACH them! My goal is to provide you with an experience that will show you-- in real time--how to engage, teach and ENJOY your kiddos. We will join together in our "classroom" and use 10 tried and true tricks of the trade that I have used over the years to create a community of love and learning.”

JACK KLUMPENHOWER

  • When kids don’t find Jesus very exciting, it often means they’ve only seen a fraction of his beauty. Learn how to help them see something new and stunning about Jesus every time you teach the Bible, and how to tell them about the gospel’s many wonders from multiple angles.

SATURDAY, MAY 31 - 11:00AM

JACK KLUMPENHOWER

  •  

    In our world today, kids are under pressure to perform and pretend. Learn how to make your classroom, group, or home a place that kids sense is entirely different—and so much better—because it’s all about trusting Jesus instead.

CALEB HALL

  • Pastoral involvement, oversight and interest in kids ministry is not optional, it is essential. Part of what it means to shepherd the flock of God that is among you (1 Peter 5:2) is to have eyes on the children in the church. Making, marking, and maturing disciples of Christ (the Great Commission) requires pastoral input. In this session we will explore the necessity and nature of that input. 

SARAH CHAUDHERY

  • Come for an engaging and interactive session on the WHY and HOW of bringing your ministry to people of all abilities and let’s make that dream a reality! Learn about overcoming common barriers and attitudes that people with disabilities face, and how to make sure EVERY kid gets a chance to experience Jesus in a life-changing way.

JANE CATES & JENN GOWING

LAUREN JACKSON

  • As kids grow, our discipleship strategies should also grow. In this breakout, you will learn discipleship strategies that combines child development and spiritual faith stages to help you lead better and meet kids right where they are.

MELODIE BISSELL

  • Too often, we hear that abuse prevention is an administrative nightmare or a requirement that is needed so we can do ministry. Melodie will share how Plan to Protect is not a distraction from ministry, but it is a ministry in itself.  In this workshop, you will hear the heart and mission of Plan to Protect, that children matter, and how safeguarding our children is rooted in the gospel message.  Learners will also gain knowledge of the steps we can take to demonstrate our care and commitment to protecting children from any form of injury, harm or abuse.  

SATURDAY, MAY 31 - 1:00PM

MARTY MACHOWSKI

  •  Charles Spurgeon said that the gospel is “meat for men, but it is also milk for babes.” This seminar will help you recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in young hearts and give you the tools to reach a young audience with the life-transforming message of the Bible. You will learn the two critical components of a biblical gospel appeal and how to recognize the work of the Spirit in the life of a child. 

JENN GOWING

  • Ensuring kids ministry runs smoothly week in and week out is no small task. From onboarding volunteers, creating schedules, maintaining policies and procedures, organizing curriculum, and keeping your Goldfish supply topped up, there’s a lot that needs to be done behind the scenes. This breakout will cover some of the organizational structures you can put in place to keep things running smoothly. 

JULIE LOWE

  • Though there is "nothing new under the sun," the world our young people are engaged in has shifted greatly in ways most adults are acquainted with or naive to. This breakout will discuss the issues young people are facing and how we must proactively prepare and equip them.

JOSH SLOTEGRAAF

  • The thought of discipling the children in our care, and then also thinking about the children in our community can be overwhelming. In this session, we will talk about how to launch and maintain effective gospel outreach like day camps, mid-week programs and seasonal events that communities might see who Jesus is. We will also discuss how we disciple the “church” and the “community” kids effectively and at the same time.

JASON HOUSER

  • Jason Houser & The Seeds Kids Worship Team will show you how to teach kids the heart of worship - responding to God for who He is and knowing His true worth .They will share from their 20+ years of experience leading kids, families and church communities in worship. You will learn how to make Singing God's Word a part of your kids' worship experience. This will be a hands-on,  up-beat, encouraging breakout where you will learn how they lead worship, share scripture, teach hand motions and encourage children to worship with the joy of the Lord. Their desire is to help you create a culture of worship in your children's ministry that will prepare the hearts of your kids for a lifetime of worship!

SEAN SHEERAN

  • Have you ever wondered why in the commandment to honour one’s father and mother God gives a promise? And why the New Testament highlights this? In doing so, God is giving us an ultimate aim and purpose for parental authority. He tells us why this relationship exists. But if we as parents don’t understand this why, or help our kids understand this why, we may be missing out on the lasting motivation for the God-honouring, eternal purpose of exercising and submitting to parental authority. In this breakout, Pastor Sean will unpack a biblical-theology of parenting to spur us on in the role and task God has given.