In July, over 70 churches were represented at this year’s FEC conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Nearly 300 ministry leaders and their spouses gathered for two days of fellowship, prayer, reflection, and renewal. FEC President, Rocky Rocholl, left feeling energized, empowered, and encouraged by the time together. “With our theme of being light, we left knowing that we are not as powerless as we often feel. We are a small fellowship of churches, but we have the light of Jesus Christ, and that light is powerful.”
A keyword Rocky connects with this year’s conference is “unity.” The body of Christ was represented at the conference with greater diversity than he’s ever seen in his time with the FEC – diverse in age, nationality, ethnicity, language, and culture, yet deeply unified as one family. As the fellowship plans out the next few years, our hope is to continue to see more diversity and to raise up the next generation of leaders. “Fifty-seven percent of our churches are being led by pastors who are 42 or less,” Rocky says. Seeing the energy in the conference room as leaders, both young and old, gathered together, makes Rocky more excited than ever.
A brief walk around the conference room would also show how God has grown the fellowship into a more culturally diverse family. In the last five years, the FEC has welcomed Arabic, Hispanic, and Burmese churches, and Rocky says this is just the start. “We’ve been around over 150 years,” Rocky says, “but I truly believe our best days are ahead of us.”
It all comes back to the light. “We need to embrace the truth that light overcomes the darkness,” says Rocky. “Jesus Christ is the light that we carry. We should feel empowered by that.” With all the division and turmoil around us, we may think we can’t overcome it, but all we need to do is live like Christ called us to. He will do the rest.
