Under the Southeastern Conference’s 2026 theme, “Higher,” nearly 100 pastors gathered at the Conference Campground in Hawthorne, Florida, February 9–11, for the semi-annual Pastors’ In-Service – a strategic leadership initiative reinforcing renewed commitment to mission-focused alignment, leadership excellence, and pastoral effectiveness across the field.

More than a routine training event, the gathering reflected the Conference’s intentional focus on strengthening pastoral leadership as a critical driver of healthy churches, effective ministry systems, and sustained mission growth.

The gathering provided an intentional space to assess progress across individual churches while affirming pastors’ ongoing work in evangelism – the ministry’s central mandate. It also served as a strategic forum for reflection, alignment, and leadership strengthening.

Workshop sessions and presentations centered on the leadership responsibilities of the pastor. Beyond theological and spiritual guidance, pastors are called to serve as holistic leaders who model healthy, mission-aligned, and administratively sound practices that advance both ministry effectiveness and organizational health.

The program integrated seasons of prayer, worship, and spiritual reflection, ensuring a balanced emphasis on operational training and spiritual renewal.

General sessions included The Pastor’s Role in Financial Stewardship, Transforming Church Culture, and Strategic Administration and Operational Oversight. These sessions equipped pastors with practical tools to strengthen governance, financial accountability, and congregational engagement at the local church level.

Featured keynote presentations included Transforming Church Culture, delivered by Dr. Kleber Gonçalves, Director of Mission Integration Systems and Strategy at AdventHealth, and Tax Talk for the Faithful: Tax Education for Pastors, presented by Pastor Eugene Mason, retired conference treasurer/pastor and clergy tax specialist.

In his closing remarks, Conference President Dr. Michael K. Agyei Owusu framed the training as a strategic investment aligned with the Conference’s value of Healthy Leadership & Management, emphasizing that excellence in leadership and faithful stewardship are essential to cultivating healthy ministry systems and advancing the mission across the field.

With renewed clarity of purpose, the pastoral body was commissioned to lead their congregations toward higher levels of faithfulness and mission impact. Framing the charge within the Conference’s forward trajectory, Conference President Owusu called pastors to remain forward-focused in both mission and personal calling, embracing a spirit of continual growth and faithful pursuit. He urged the assembly to adopt as their watchword the familiar text from Philippians 3:14: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” leaving the gathering with a shared sense of vision, unity, and renewed commitment to the work