Clark Forbes highlights the importance of understanding diversity and cultural context when reaching Gen Z with the gospel, noting their shift from guilt-innocence to honor-shame paradigms influenced by social media. He encourages churches to equip parents and youth pastors to navigate these changes and provide a sense of belonging rooted in the gospel. After Forbes' message, a panel discusses prioritizing family ministry and integrating intergenerational discipleship to support a variety of family structures and leverage existing church resources.

Episode Resources:

• Family Discipleship Curriculum and Courses from Rooted Ministry
• Rooted Ministry resources

Family discipleship is essential for lifelong faith. In this breakout session from TGC23, Cameron Cole teaches from Ephesians 3:11–16, challenging parents to embrace their central role in their children's spiritual formation.

Formative Christian practices like prayer, Bible reading, and spiritual conversations are crucial, and parents should prioritize their own spiritual growth as they actively participate in church life and discuss the gospel with their children regularly. The local church has a role to play as they equip parents through resources like video courses and Bible studies, promoting family discipleship as essential for lifelong faith.

Cole ends by encouraging parents that our confidence and rest are ultimately found in the Spirit's work.

Discipleship is essential for the spiritual growth of the next generation. In this breakout session from TGC's 2023 conference, Terrence Shay emphasizes the distinct roles of home and church in disciple making, with parents as primary disciple makers and the church providing a supportive community.

As we seek to effectively nurture children's spiritual development, especially in a post-pandemic culture, may the church equip and support parents with resources and a community to aid their children's spiritual growth and love for Christ.

While Scripture calls Christian leaders to be gentle, kind shepherds, there continue to be cases of pastors who dominate their flocks with a heavy hand. How should we understand this issue of “spiritual abuse”? How big of a problem is it? In this breakout session at TGC23, Mike Kruger explores the definition of spiritual abuse, how it’s often misunderstood, and what steps churches can take to address it.

Unity matters. Christ prayed his church would be marked by it. Yet disunity among Christians abounds, and it’s not always civil in tone. With the Bible’s clear admonitions about foolish controversies and quarreling, how can we know when a fight is worth having? Jen Wilkin offers a framework for diagnosing how to pick your battles and how to conduct yourself when a battle is worth the fight.

A strong theological foundation plays a vital role in encouraging and sustaining hope. In this breakout session from TGC's 2023 conference, Ligon Duncan, Nancy Guthrie, Leigh Swanson, and Melissa Kruger provide practical advice and encouragement for pastors, elders, women’s ministry leaders, and others who desire to start and sustain biblically faithful and theologically rich women’s ministries in their congregations.

The year 1776 remade the world. In one extraordinary year, a combination of books, ships, machines, inventions, paintings, and declarations created a new cultural landscape that we could characterize as WEIRDER: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic, Ex-Christian, and Romantic.

In this breakout session from TGC23, Andrew Wilson teaches how these different transformations came together to shape our world—how the church of 1776 responded and what we can learn from them.

Read Andrew Wilson's book, Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West.

Rebecca McLaughlin expands on five key points for how to give a memorable address, including using metaphors and sharing stories to engage your audience. She joins Melissa Kruger, Jen Wilkin, Courtney Doctor, and Elizabeth Woodson to discuss their journeys into Bible teaching. The women highlight the importance of preparation and how to use gifts in the church. They encourage humility and integrating apologetics in women's ministry to address contemporary issues.

Watch the Q&A that follows the panel discussion!