Connect: D6 Conference 2014

By Eric Thomsen

Shoop…click. Shoop…click. Shoop…click. The round plastic discs slide one by one into the Connect Four™ game board…yellow, red then yellow again. Two players—one adult, one child—concentrate intently as the board soon becomes a chaotic hodge-podge of color.

Shoop…click…red. Shoop…click…yellow. Suddenly, the child’s face lights up, and she shouts, “Connect four! Connect four!” Sure enough, from the confusion of the board, a pattern has emerged: four yellow circles standing together in sharp contrast to the disorder around them.

The simple game paints a beautiful picture of the connection that should exist between today’s churches and families. In our chaotic culture, with its moral hodge-podge of mixed messages, the Church must stand together with families in sharp contrast to the culture around them: God. Parents. Kids. Church. Connect Four! This is what the D6 Conference is all about.

Make the Connection

Two thousand attendees from 40 states including Washington and Rhode Island made their way to Dallas, Texas, September 18-19, and Louisville, Kentucky, October 1-3, for the sixth annual D6 Conferences. There were also attendees from France, Canada, Sweden, and the Philippines. More online viewers joined them as main stage sessions streamed live around the world. Over four intense days, 68 speakers tackled a wide range of subjects with one primary goal: to connect families and churches to Christ and one another.

The conference offered nearly one hundred seminars and workshops led by presenters such as Richard Ross, founder of True Love Waits; Timothy Paul Jones, professor and associate vice president at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky; Lysa TerKeurst, president of Proverbs 31 Ministries; and David Jones, young adult editor at Randall House Publications.

To help create conversations, D6 2014 offered a unique opportunity. Twenty-three Coaching Intensives provided attendees with intimate, small-group training sessions where they came face-to-face with a leading advocate of family ministry. Each speaker/coach spent almost two hours with a maximum of 20 people, answering specific questions about ministry challenges and opportunities.

The Main Stage

During Main Stage Sessions, conference goers heard from 24 keynote speakers on a wide variety of topics related to generational discipleship. Ted Cunningham, author of Fun Loving You and founding pastor of Woodland Family Church in Branson, Missouri, debunked the “myths” of marriage and parenting sometimes perpetuated by our culture. He reminded listeners, “The fast track to a healthy marriage is to unplug from your spouse as your source of life.” He took this one step further, challenging parents to eradicate kid-centered homes and make Jesus the source of life, not one another.

Discouraged parents, disheartened children, and full disclosure of God’s plan for parenting—three topics tackled by Emerson Eggerichs, founder of the Love and Respect Conference. He encouraged parents not to give up hope because a “discouraged parent can lead to a disheartened child.” He reminded them that children have freedom to choose their own will and way. God calls parents to parent His way…whether or not children ever respond. “Christian parenting has nothing to do with your children, and everything to do with pleasing God.”

Husband and wife team, Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott, authors of many marriage and relationship books and founders of the Center for Relationship Development, “knocked out” the topic of marital conflict with three rounds of “Fight Night.” They offered simple solutions for resolution: confronting the issue without conflict and working together to solve the issue without attacking one another.

Following his daughter Chrystal, Dr. Tony Evans, pastor, best-selling author of dozens of books and pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship near Dallas, Texas, warned listeners, “The foundational issue of our day is the breakdown of the family.” He reminded the audience that just as God chose Abraham to transform his family in the very face of a collapsing culture, he is calling parents today to raise kids, “not just to become adults but to advance the Kingdom.” He and Chrystal urged listeners to live out their faith and message at home and to make the dinner table a place for ongoing discipleship.

Kyle Idleman, author of Aha, Not a Fan, and Praying for Your Prodigal and teaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, spoke from Luke 9:23, reminding attenders of the priority of the gospel. “We can do a lot of incredible things,” he said, “but it is ultimately the gospel that saves.” He warned against confusing knowledge of God with intimacy with God, urging listeners to teach their children the passionate pursuit of the heart of God: “You can’t say yes to Jesus without saying no to yourself.”

For a second year, D6 Minis gave several speakers an opportunity to deliver short messages in rapid-fire succession. Lydia Randall challenged listeners to disconnect to connect, reminding them, “There is something that happens in a real-life connection that simply doesn’t happen through technology.”

Brian Haynes, creator of Legacy Milestones and lead pastor at Bay Area First Baptist Church in League City, Texas, reminded the audience that staffing is crucial in family ministry. He suggested hiring based on values rather than strategy, and encouraged church leaders to hire and promote from within when possible.

Walker Moore, founder and president of Awe Star Ministries and author of Escape the Lie, defined the Orphan Heart as the void left when someone lives as if he or she has no heavenly Father. Moore shared his own struggle and healing, concluding with the powerful statement: “Today, I no longer have an Orphan Heart. Today, I am my Father’s favorite child.”

During the final Main Stage Session in Dallas, Greg Stier, founder of Dare 2 Share ministries and author of 13 books, passionately urged the audience to rekindle their urgency for sharing the gospel…effectively. He recounted his own life and conversion and reminded listeners that it takes everyone—parents, church, friends, and mentors—to disciple young people until they complete the cycle by sharing their faith. “Discipleship, Jesus style,” he said, “is reaching people who reach people who reach people who reach people…”

Face Time

The D6 conference is much more than seminars and main-stage speakers. Between sessions, attendees flooded sponsor exhibits and consumed record amounts of coffee while connecting over common challenges, swapping solutions, and even praying together over ministry burdens.

They sang along with Matt Papa, minister and recording artist from Durham, North Carolina, whose music is saturated with theology, with lyrics that, in his own words, “help people see the beauty and glory of Jesus.” They enjoyed the high energy of Seeds Family Worship, Nashville-based worship leaders who write songs designed to help kids (and parents) memorize Scripture.

Perennial D6 favorites, Tommy Woodard and Eddie James, The Skit Guys, balanced sidesplitting humor with serious sketches that called listeners to examine their priorities in ministry, prayer lives, and more.

Conference emcees Tommy Swindol, discipleship pastor at Donelson Fellowship, Nashville, Tennessee, and Josh Griffin, high school pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, kept the conference moving at a fast pace, with a good balance of humor and serious dialogue with speakers…not to mention a number of quirky activities when least expected. (It’s amazing what a room full of church leaders can do with Lego® bricks in five minutes!)

As D6 drew to a close, Tommy Swindol challenged attendees to connect to Jesus above all else, reminding them that He is the true vine, the source, the core of strength for life and ministry. After a time of dedication and prayer, united voices lifted in worship, ended the conference with the haunting refrain, “Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders; let me walk upon the waters, wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior.”

“I am so proud to be part of the D6 Conference team,” said Brandon Roysden, conference coordinator. “It was another great event. The speakers were right on target, from the main stage to breakout rooms, and the Randall House team worked hard to make this a success.”

According to Ron Hunter, D6 Conference director, the “D6 Conference continues to be the global leader in generational discipleship.” Ron noted, “D6 has redefined family ministry to reflect the way Scripture originally described it, and thousands of churches and homes are healthier today because of this movement.”

He shared several international milestones including Norway hosting the first international D6 Conference in 2013, and the D6 Conference meeting in Paris in September 2015, bringing an emphasis on generational discipleship to Europe, and then to Asia in 2016.

Closer to home, the 2015 D6 Conference will meet September 16-18, in Louisville, Kentucky, to explore the theme Refine.

About the Writer: Eric K. Thomsen is managing editor of ONE Magazine