Why Ignite the Church?

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany to invite public discourse about the need for change and renewal in the Church. Luther's efforts ignited the Protestant Reformation that changed history.

 

500+ years later, with 80-85% of churches in the United States plateaued or declining, the Church needs to embrace a new season of change and renewal to ignite the Church for another 500 years.

 

In the bold spirit of Martin Luther, the Ignite the Church Conference is a grassroots gathering designed to encourage, inspire, and challenge leaders as they serve in our rapidly changing world. Like Luther, we believe that greater Kingdom impact is possible and we strive to embrace his passion for Church renewal for the sake of future generations.

 

The conference was birthed in 2017 by a mission-minded group of Central Florida pastors affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The 2017 conference was attended by 30 leaders from 9 states. The 2020 conference was attended by 130 leaders from 25 states. The 2021 conference shifted to a COVID-19 induced series of six 90 minute "virtual" conference webinars that were attended by 381 leaders from 35 states and Canada! The 2022 Hybrid conference was attended by 70 people in-person and 200 on-line. After the 2022 conference we began to discern that the Spirit was calling is to grow a wider Ignite the Church movement. of passionate leaders to exponentially grow the Kingdom impact of the original conference. We are praying that the 2024 gathering will be a significant next step forward for the movement's vision!