In this webinar we will consider some of the reasons why we tend to not be as effective as we could be in seeing our children and youth stay consistently involved in church and following Jesus into their adult years.   Where are the gaps and how can we better fill them?

For 41 years Eldon has served in church youth ministry, Christian Education and community youth work in three provinces of Canada (Saskatchewan, B.C. and Ontario) 

Currently, Eldon serves as the Dean of Students (formerly Director of the Youth Ministry program) at Master’s College and Seminary in Mississauga, Ontario, where he currently teaches a course “Next Generation Ministry”.  He is the founder and Executive Director of Global 180 Student Communications, a community youth charity and is a Mental Health First Aid Trainer for the Mental Health Commission of Canada.  He has also served on multiple committees and leadership teams, including two years as the Chair of the Canadian Short Term Missions Network, Lead team member on the Billy Graham Association’s “2000 Acts” Project and short-term Mission projects in England, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Kyrgystan, Estonia, China, Poland and Ukraine.

As a Canadian youth specialist, Eldon has been involved extensively with youth and adults, developing strategic programming for church and community youth, leadership development and team management and has been involved in youth leadership training in numerous leadership conferences in Canada and overseas. With Global 180, his ongoing vision is to help establish local, national and international strategies for empowering youth in their schools and communities and is currently developing a franchiseable model for youth work in middle schools.  

Eldon and his wife Jacqui have been married for 40 years and have three amazing adult children.  They reside just outside Toronto, Ontario in Mississauga.

NextGen Ministries webinars offer monthly conversations with specialists who are proven practitioners in their areas of leadership and want to equip others to effectively reach, teach and disciple children, youth and families to be whole, healthy, fruitful missional followers of Jesus by sharing their expertise.  A broad variety of topics will be covered that are relevant and timely.

NextGen Ministries webinars are hosted by Western Ontario District Children & Family Ministries and are available to anyone who registers for the online event. An accessible playback will be made available to registrants; should you be unable to participate in the live presentation, or if you want to watch the webinar again or with others.

Families are the primary spiritual influence in a child’s life, and creating intentional spaces for them to grow together is essential. Building spiritual habits and roots early helps children and adults alike deepen their relationship with Jesus and form lifelong foundations of faith.

One approach is the Interactive Family Prayer Night, designed to help families slow down, connect, and hear from God together. Families move through three self-guided prayer stations focused on our family, our community, and the world. Each station encourages reflection, conversation, and creativity, supporting families of all shapes and sizes—grandparents, parents, aunts, foster parents, or any influencal adult in a child’s life to grow spiritually together.

These prayer nights provide meaningful opportunities for families to build a firm foundation of faith and love for Jesus, equipping them to reach out and love others in their world.

Dee-Ana brings over 35 years of joy, creativity, and leadership to children’s ministry. She currently serves as Children’s Pastor at Living Waters Church in Fort Langley, BC, a role she has held for 20 years. She is passionate about creating safe, inclusive, and engaging environments where children and families can grow in their love for God, others, and themselves.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Leadership from Trinity Western University and ministry credentials with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. A leadership specialist at heart, Dee-Ana believes everyone can lead and inspires both children and adults to live out their faith where they are. Her journey with children has been adventure-filled—from growing up in a family that traveled the world sharing about Jesus, to serving as a daycare director, Children’s Pastor, and a foster parent. Dee-Ana’s greatest encouragement comes from her husband, Troy, and her two adult sons, who inspire her to remain curious and full of wonder.

NextGen Ministries webinars offer monthly conversations with specialists who are proven practitioners in their areas of leadership and want to equip others to effectively reach, teach and disciple children, youth and families to be whole, healthy, fruitful missional followers of Jesus by sharing their expertise.  A broad variety of topics will be covered that are relevant and timely.

NextGen Ministries webinars are hosted by Western Ontario District Children & Family Ministries and are available to anyone who registers for the online event. An accessible playback will be made available to registrants; should you be unable to participate in the live presentation, or if you want to watch the webinar again or with others.

Coaching skills can help you empower people around you and get more out of your energy as a leader. Luciano will review the basic coaching behaviours that help leaders with their work relationships, where coaching lives among the helping disciplines, and why un-solicited advice giving almost never works. Coaching can be a leadership behaviour that transforms your relationship with those that you work and lead. Find out how you can add coaching skills to the way you lead.

About Luciano:

Rev. Luciano Lombardi is presently serving as the Director of Leadership Enhancement and Development at the Western Ontario District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. He is a Leadership Coach and Coaching Trainer. With over two decades of experience as an educator and leadership coach, he has worked with hundreds of leaders and leadership teams, helping them with self-awareness, leadership strategy and building healthy work environments.

He is founder of CoachLombardi, his personal coaching practice, and co-founder of Leadership Coaching Canada, a Christian coaching training team that trains and certifies leaders in coaching skills. He is also the author of three books; A New Humanity: A Walk Through the Letter of Ephesians, A Free Humanity: A Walk Through the Letter of Galatians, both available on Amazon, and Coaching Changes Everything: Make Coaching Part of Your Leadership Behaviour.

Luciano’s goal is to help leaders be strong leaders, enabling and developing people around them and helping their organizations create healthy work cultures that drive productivity and innovation.

NextGen Ministries webinars offer monthly conversations with specialists who are proven practitioners in their areas of leadership and want to equip others to effectively reach, teach and disciple children, youth and families to be whole, healthy, fruitful missional followers of Jesus by sharing their expertise.  A broad variety of topics will be covered that are relevant and timely.

NextGen Ministries webinars are hosted by Western Ontario District Children & Family Ministries and are available to anyone who registers for the online event. An accessible playback will be made available to registrants; should you be unable to participate in the live presentation, or if you want to watch the webinar again or with others.

Many churches host outreach events like carnivals, pancake breakfasts, and block parties. While these are great for community engagement, they rarely lead directly to increased Sunday morning attendance. That’s because the leap from a casual family event to a worship service is simply too large for many Canadians.

Instead of viewing outreach as a one-off event, think of it as a bridge—something that intentionally connects your community to your church family. When designed thoughtfully, these “bridge events” can foster trust, build relationships, and gradually invite people into deeper spiritual engagement.

In this session, we’ll explore practical and strategic ways to create bridge events that open the door for families in your community to experience the love of Christ and eventually become part of the family of God.

 About Jeremiah: 

Jeremiah is an author, speaker, coach, and a founding leader of Church Vitalization Canada. With over 27 years of pastoral experience in both local and global contexts, he brings deep insight into innovative thinking, culturally relevant evangelism, and leadership at every level. His passion for seeing Canadian churches thrive in reaching lost people stems from a strong conviction that the local church is the hope of the world. Known for his creativity, inspiration, and practical wisdom, Jeremiah communicates timeless truths in dynamic and culturally meaningful ways. Whether speaking to leaders, congregations, or communities, he equips and challenges others with fresh perspectives that spark transformation.

NextGen Ministries webinars offer monthly conversations with specialists who are proven practitioners in their areas of leadership and want to equip others to effectively reach, teach and disciple children, youth and families to be whole, healthy, fruitful missional followers of Jesus by sharing their expertise.  A broad variety of topics will be covered that are relevant and timely.

NextGen Ministries webinars are hosted by Western Ontario District Children & Family Ministries and are available to anyone who registers for the online event. An accessible playback will be made available to registrants; should you be unable to participate in the live presentation, or if you want to watch the webinar again or with others.

Infobesity: Developing Healthy Digital Habits in a World of Constant Noise

Join us for a facilitated conversation on practicing what it means to be a modern day follower of Jesus in a digital world, including healthily digital habits in your home.

About Andy:

Andy has been in ministry for over 20 years in urban, suburban, and rural contexts. He has worked with high school assemblies across Canada, city-wide youth forums, local governments, churches, and national leadership boards, and he speaks on culture, leadership, and ministry. He is currently pastoring a revitalization process in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Dr. Andy Gabruch has a mentoring ministry called DUCO, meaning “to lead for today.” Since 2016, DUCO has intentionally mentored forty plus young leaders towards full-time ministry, coached dozens of churches on leading, reaching, and discerning younger generations, various strategic projects with non-profit organizations, and planted five next-generation ministries when he was the Next Generations Director with the PAOC British Columbia and Yukon District.

He has a Master's Degree in Leadership and Management from Briercrest Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry in Semiotic Studies on Christ, Culture, and the Church from George Fox University. He has written dozens of resources on ministerial leadership and discipleship and has released his first book, Infobesity: How to be Followers of Jesus in an Information Overload World (2024), with Wipf + Stock Publishing Group in Portland, Oregon.

He has been married to Annick for over twenty years and has four teenagers.

NextGen Ministries webinars offer monthly conversations with specialists who are proven practitioners in their areas of leadership and want to equip others to effectively reach, teach and disciple children, youth and families to be whole, healthy, fruitful missional followers of Jesus by sharing their expertise.  A broad variety of topics will be covered that are relevant and timely.

NextGen Ministries webinars are hosted by Western Ontario District Children & Family Ministries and are available to anyone who registers for the online event. An accessible playback will be made available to registrants; should you be unable to participate in the live presentation, or if you want to watch the webinar again or with others.

In the midst of demanding family life, schedules and activities, healthy rhythms and priorities can easily be lost in the rush.  Discover key habits and principles to help equip families in your local church and community to thrive, rather than survive.

About Crystal:

Crystal Henderson served as a Children’s Ministry Pastor for 20 years before pursuing three years of child development/children at risk post-secondary studies.  She is a certified Life Coach for Children who utilizes The Stoplight Approach to help individuals and families improve emotional health and strengthen relationships using a brain-based framework. Crystal focuses on the whole child, their social and mental health, spirituality, values, school, home life and communities to not just cope but flourish amidst life's challenges and everyday stressors. She makes her home in Alberta with her husband and two daughters.

NextGen Ministries webinars offer monthly conversations with specialists who are proven practitioners in their areas of leadership and want to equip others to effectively reach, teach and disciple children, youth and families to be whole, healthy, fruitful missional followers of Jesus by sharing their expertise.  A broad variety of topics will be covered that are relevant and timely.

NextGen Ministries webinars are hosted by Western Ontario District Children & Family Ministries and are available to anyone who registers for the online event. An accessible playback will be made available to registrants; should you be unable to participate in the live presentation, or if you want to watch the webinar again or with others.

Join us for a powerful session focused on creating truly inclusive ministry spaces. Our guest speaker will guide us through the biblical foundation for inclusion, the importance of prioritizing relationships over perfect programs, and practical tools to help you take the next steps. Whether you're just starting or looking to grow your inclusive ministry, this session will equip and encourage you.

About Ashley:

For the past 8+ years, Ashley has been the children’s pastor at Bethel Church in Stratford, but has since stepped down from that position in order to pursue her Masters in Inclusive Education at Trinity Western University. Ashley has worked in a variety of settings that support children with exceptionalities and loves being able to transfer that knowledge and skill set to the church. 

She is passionate about making all children and families truly feel seen, heard and loved because every single one deserves to experience the truth that they are part of Gods family. Ashley loves being able to share what she’s learned to empower and equip other leaders in their journey of creating more inclusive ministries. 

NextGen Ministries webinars offer monthly conversations with specialists who are proven practitioners in their areas of leadership and want to equip others to effectively reach, teach and disciple children, youth and families to be whole, healthy, fruitful missional followers of Jesus by sharing their expertise.  A broad variety of topics will be covered that are relevant and timely.

NextGen Ministries webinars are hosted by Western Ontario District Children & Family Ministries and are available to anyone who registers for the online event. An accessible playback will be made available to registrants; should you be unable to participate in the live presentation, or if you want to watch the webinar again or with others.

For the third installment in the trilogy of CFM Pastor Retreats we will be having a one-day-only in-house retreat at the WOD office in Burlington in our new multi-purpose meeting space.  The day will include guided conversations with a leadership coach who has led leaders, churches and organizations in vision alignment and what it takes to practically fulfill a vision and stay on track to mission, vision and values.  The cost of the day includes resources, refreshments, lunch and dinner. For those planning to arrive the night before, discounts are available for accommodations at nearby hotels upon request.

Date: Monday, January 27, 2024 at 10:00AM - 5:00PM
Cost: Early Bird - $65/person (ends January 17, 2025)
Late Registration - $85/person (ends January 24, 2025)
Location: Western Ontario District Office, 3214 South Service Rd. Burlington, ON

Plan to join us for a CFM Christmas Connect!

Dates and Location:
Thursday, December 5, 2024 - Kennedy Road Tabernacle, Brampton

Cost:
$25/person (includes lunch)

Plan to join us for a CFM Christmas Connect!

Dates and Location:
Wednesday, December 4, 2024 - Waterloo Pentecostal Assembly, Waterloo

Cost:
$25/person (includes lunch)

Plan to join us for a CFM Christmas Connect!

Dates and Location:
Monday, December 2, 2024 - Evangel Community Church, Chatham

Cost:
$25/person (includes lunch)