Celebrating a Year of Historic Giving

It was great to see so many of our churches represented at the 2023 Converge Heartland Annual Meeting and Cultivate Conference! According to attendee feedback, this year’s conference featured some of the best speakers and content we have ever had. All of the workshops and main sessions focused on cultivating local church outreach and evangelism. You can click below to watch videos of each main session!

• Session 1: Todd Miles, PhD, Professor of Theology at Western Seminary

• Session 2: Duane Tweeten, President of Training Leaders International

• Session 3: Pastor John Jenkins, President of Converge Worldwide

• Session 4: Duane Tweeten, President of Training Leaders International

• Session 5: Todd Miles, PhD, Professor of Theology at Western Seminary

During the Annual Meeting, we shared our 2023 Vision Report and discussed some historic events that took place this year, as well as some we will be celebrating next year. For the first time in Converge Heartland’s history, we passed one million dollars in annual revenue and sent a total of $1,488,982 to fund a variety of district ministries. Some FY23 generosity highlights that brought about such a historic year include:

• $231,000 in general giving from churches and individuals

• $200,000 given for Ukraine Relief

• $187,000 in recurring giving for donor-supported staff

• $167,000 in grants from the Wesleyan Investment Foundation, purchasers of the former Converge Cornerstone Fund

Besides these revenues, Central Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, generously deeded Converge Heartland a property that has long blessed missionaries and ministry families throughout the region. On behalf of the District Board of Overseers, thank you—we are both grateful and humbled they entrusted us with the stewardship of this historic outpouring of generosity.

As we look forward, we are resourced to plant new churches, strengthen existing churches, develop our staffing capacities, advance into new district territory, and resource our international partners. Though we are in a new year, our predecessors have faithfully pursued gospel-centered ministry efforts like these throughout the history of our district. These are the types of work they were faithfully doing long before the Great Plains Baptist District and Dakota Baptist District consolidated into what we know today as Converge Heartland. As a matter of fact, together, we are approaching our 150th year of gospel-centered ministry as a district. Therefore, next year’s Annual Meeting and Cultivate Conference will be a special 150-year celebration you will not want to miss! Stay tuned for more details.