the sticks conference

Let me take a second to introduce you to the newest site sponsor, the sticks conference. The conference is being hosted by New Hope Community Church, a multi-site church with three locations in Ohio. A few days ago, I caught up with New Hope’s Senior Pastor Charles Hill to learn more about the story of the church and this new conference.

TONY: Tell us a little bit about the New Hope story.

CHARLES: I graduated from this town of 2,800 and was called back not out of my own understanding, but because of the NEED that was here. And as if by accident we opened the doors to a church that would attempt to bring Christ to our culture and 239 people were here on day one. Five and a half years later, we average around 1,000 to 1,200 people in three campuses.

The best numbers are the thousands of lives that have been changed as the result of the “New Hope” that only Christ can bring. We have campuses in Loudonville, Ohio, Wooster, Ohio and China. We are launching another campus in two weeks in Ashland, Ohio. We also are launching a campus at a boys prison in the next eight weeks.

We felt that just because we were in a small town that it didn’t deserve second best. We are happy to be a voice for the small towns in America. We have a great group of people, an amazing staff, and my family is amazing. Sounds like Mayberry, because it kind of is.

TONY: Has anyone told you that you can’t build a big church in a small town?

CHARLES: Yes. Our conference and parent church were very leary that “this type” of ministry would work in a small town. As a matter of fact, it might have been too much for their town of 50,000–so there was some Holy Spirit intervention that needed to happen.

TONY: If you could point to one thing, why are you experiencing ministry impact in your community?

CHARLES: To not sound so “spiritual” …we are led by the Spirit and the Spirit speaks loudly to us and to others. We look at what God is asking us to do, but we also look as Blackaby says, “Where He is moving and jump in!” We’re learning from others (like NewSpring) and not ever making excuses of talent, time or treasure. If God asks us to move, we just get ‘er done! No excuses. No second best.

We try to keep things simple (by accident, but now more by design) as well as implementing innovative moves done always with excellence. We like to say this: We have Planned, Preprepared, Practiced and Prayed…now we Place it in YOUR hands.

TONY: If you haven’t heard, there are lots of conferences for church leaders. Why is yours unique?

CHARLES: We seek to truly have a conversation and a networking event for those in small- to medium-sized towns. We have a couple of nationally-known speakers who are innovative, and whose principles cross demographics. And besides that, Tim Stevens (one of the speakers) is in a medium-sized demographic himself. The rest of us are in small town America and these guys are having HUGE impact in a small town.

I am looking forward to learning more from THEM and the people who attend than they pick up from us! We capped it at 400 seats to keep the intimacy, networking and conversation high. Seats will NOT last long! We have people from Florida to Canada and the east coast to Oklahoma already who are passionate about small towns!

TONY: When folks visit Loudonville, Ohio, what is a “must see?”

CHARLES: We are the canoe capital of the world so they say, but the weather in Novemeber is a bit frightful. So the State Park and Amish country are just two must sees in this amazing piece of God’s country.

The sticks conference will be held in Loudonville, Ohio on November 11-12. Register before September 30 to get the best rates.