“Why Bother With a Conference?” — A Word to Pastors from Your Tribe

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” — Hebrews 10:24–25 (ESV)

It’s Tuesday morning. Your email pings with a reminder about this summer’s Regular Baptist Ministries conference. A week later, an invitation from Crossroads Fellowship arrives in your mailbox. You glance at the dates, check your calendar, sigh, and wonder: Do I really have time for this?

If you’re like most pastors, the demands of ministry never seem to ease. Sundays arrive quickly. Staff require follow-ups. Hospital visits accumulate. Budgets become tighter. Sermons need completing. And you still haven’t returned that deacon’s call whose voicemail said, “We really need to talk.”

With all this going on, who has the time—or money—for a few days away at a pastors’ conference?

But maybe the better question is: What kind of pastor will you be if you don’t?

You Were Never Meant to Carry This Alone

Hebrews 10 urges us not to neglect meeting together. This isn’t just about Sunday church attendance; it’s a reminder that the Christian life is communal, and pastoral ministry, in particular, requires brotherhood. Conferences like those hosted by Crossroads Fellowship and Regular Baptist Ministries are not merely optional add-ons to ministry; they are moments of reconnection with the Body of Christ, especially with those who are laboring in the same vineyard.

There’s something powerful about being in a room full of pastors who preach from the same Book, face the same cultural headwinds, and care about the same Gospel. These aren’t strangers with shiny new models of ministry to sell. These are your brothers in arms, your tribe, your gospel partners.

Paul reminds us in Philippians 1:5 that one of his great joys was their “partnership in the gospel.” Conferences like these renew that partnership—not just in words, but in person. Face to face. Prayer to prayer. Shoulder to shoulder.

These People Are Your People

It matters who you gather with. You can attend national events featuring famous speakers and polished programs. And yes, there’s value in that. But there’s something profoundly significant about gathering with pastors and churches that share your doctrine, your priorities, and your story.

The Crossroads Fellowship is a family of churches that has been active since the 1930s—faithful through generations, standing on the Word, centered on Christ, and committed to the local church. Regular Baptist Ministries shares this heritage: Bible-preaching churches, disciple-making pastors, and a gospel-resilient network of ministry partners.

You’re not attending a “cool” event with catchy slogans. You’re sitting across the table from a man who has planted a church just like yours. You’re praying with someone who has weathered a split and stayed. You’re encouraging a bivocational pastor who is doing kingdom work in obscurity—and realizing how much you need his example.

This isn’t about celebrity. This is about fellow soldiers, as Paul referred to Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25: “my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need.”

We need each other—not just for strategies, but for soul survival.

You Get More Than Ideas—You Get Perspective

Yes, conferences provide workshops, keynote speeches, and resource tables. However, more than anything, they offer perspective.

Sometimes what we need most is not the next “how-to” on ministry leadership. Sometimes, what we need is a fresh view of Jesus and His church: to hear again that the Gospel is still powerful, that churches are still being planted, that disciples are still being made, and that God’s Word is still working.

Psalm 73 captures this shift so well. Asaph is discouraged, disoriented, and spiritually exhausted—until verse 17: “…until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.”

In the presence of God, surrounded by the faithful, everything changed.

Conferences can serve as that sanctuary moment—a time to lift your eyes from your own church’s struggles and remember the big story God is writing through all His churches.

Your Presence Matters More Than You Think

You might wonder, "What do I really have to offer? I’m just trying to stay afloat myself." But your presence at these conferences is a vital part of your ministry. It encourages others, shows solidarity, reminds younger pastors that they are not alone, and honors those who’ve walked before us.

It also models something vital to your church: that pastors remain learners, continue to be followers, and still require grace and truth.

And truthfully, you never know whom you’ll bless just by showing up. A hallway conversation, a prayer in the lobby, a story shared over lunch—these moments aren’t small; they’re eternal.

Paul says in Romans 1:11–12, “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”

What if your attendance is someone else’s answered prayer?

If the Lord Tarries…

There’s a future ahead—one that may stretch far beyond us. If the Lord doesn’t return in the next decade, we’ll need stronger, more rooted, and relationally connected churches than ever before.

Crossroads and Regular Baptist Ministries have stood firm for nearly a century. They’re not flashy, but they’re faithful. They’re not trendy, but they’re trusted. And they are building not just for now, but for what’s next.

If the Lord tarries, we want to participate in preserving and passing on enduring leadership—not just for a single generation, but for those who will preach after us, plant after us, and pastor after us.

That work begins in part by gathering—by being known, connected, and committed to the larger story that God is telling through His church.

So, Pastor—Why Bother With a Conference?

• Because you’re not alone.
• Because these are your people.
• Because your heart needs it.
• Because your church will be better for it.
• Because the Kingdom is bigger than your zip code.
• Because the Gospel is worth every bit of encouragement we can give and get.

So make the time. Block the dates. Say “yes.” We’ll see you there.