EDITOR’S NOTE: This article includes additional reporting from Pathway staff.
JEFFERSON CITY – Testimonials about the blessings of the 2025 Resound Summit poured in almost immediately after the one-day conference was done. Attendees were “wowed” and one exclaimed, “I’ve been attending MBC conferences for 50 years. This certainly ranks as one of the best I’ve been to.”
The summit was held at Concord Baptist Church on Feb. 6. More than 200 were in attendance. In addition to the keynote speaker and president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee Jeff Iorg’s two sessions, there were breakout sessions by topic and a second set by zone, a catered lunch, and multiple information and book tables for attendees to peruse. In more ways than one, it was the biggest event Resound Network has ever organized. According to the positive feedback thus far, it was also the most successful.
It all started with Iorg’s powerful message about “Leading Major Change” which referenced much of the content in his book, Leading Major Change in Your Ministry. His humble and sincere spirit made the session all the more compelling as he encouraged everyone in the room to prayerfully seek the kind of change God wanted for their ministries.
During his first session, Iorg reminded church leaders that “leading change” comes with a cost for the people in their churches who are being called to make changes. But this change can still be worth the cost. In fact, while most change is “incremental,” sometimes ministry leaders must call for major change.
“Real change means real change. Sometimes a patch won’t do,” Iorg said. He added that major change requires whatever new structures, policies, procedures and budgets are needed to successfully implement that change.
Walking through principles from the Book of Acts, he examined how the early church walked through major change. The earliest Christians led major change by prioritizing prayer and God’s purposes in the world, Iorg said. God also led the early church, more prosaically, through processes and meetings, as when they named a replacement for Judas Iscariot in Acts 1 and resolved various problems in Acts 6 and 15. Finally, as seen in Acts, “God speaks through people.”
The first round of breakout sessions included 11 topics from which to choose. From discipleship to leadership development to kids ministry and how to reach Gen Z and Alpha, there was something for everyone. There was also a breakout session titled Pursuit of Persistence for the women in attendance.
Lunch was a refreshing time of fellowship, networking, and relationship building, and it was followed by another set of breakout sessions. These sessions were led by volunteer Resound leaders called Zone Catalysts; attendees were grouped by region. Zone Catalysts encouraged pastors to assess the health of their churches by focusing on healthy church targets. Meanwhile, a second session specifically geared toward women encouraged women in a presentation titled “From Burnout to Blessing.”
Iorg’s closing message, “Leading with Tenacity,” explored the concept of endurance in the Christian’s walk. New Testament passages spoke of the essential nature of endurance, and Iorg shared wisdom about how to attain and keep the biblical quality.
Endurance, Iorg said, grows out of regular and meaningful Bible reading, and it is a Christian virtue – often listed in Scripture alongside more obvious virtues like righteousness, faith, love and gentleness (See, for example, 1 Tim 6:11). Endurance also builds character and hope, teaching Christians lessons they’ll never learn any other way.
“Endurance is a matter of prayer for each other,” Iorg said. “As you go out today, pray for people to endure in their faith. Ask God, for yourself, that you will have endurance, and ask God that others will endure.”
Gregg Boll, DOM of the Blue-River Kansas City Baptist Association, relayed several testimonials to the Resound Network team. One pastor was blown away by the quality and amount of content at a free conference, and Boll found it a teachable moment to explain one of the many ways CP funding and the MBC equips churches and pastors in our state. Husbands and wives experienced the blessing together, strengthening their shared passion for ministry. Another attendee said, “I felt a calmness and soundness at the summit,” while yet one more said, “God was glorified and pastors were strengthened.”
Resound Network has a follow-up webinar planned with Jim Misloski, team leader for the Church Renewal Group at the Missouri Baptist Convention. He will lead two online sessions about Dr. Iorg’s book, Leading Major Change in Your Ministry. The first session, “Foundations for Leading Major Change,” will take place on March 25, 2025. The second, “A Model for Leading Major Change,” will occur on April 29.
Dr. Iorg’s book should be read before the webinar takes place; it can be found on the Lifeway website and on Amazon. Sessions will be recorded, but those wishing to attend or watch the recordings later must register at https://resoundnetwork.com/register/webinar-leading-major-change-registration/.
The 2026 Resound Summit is currently scheduled for February 12, 2026, with Dr. Chuck Lawless as the keynote speaker.