I’m back in the groove of the Westbrook life but I am still processing the amazing experience called Exponential 08. Even as I process it, so are hundreds of others and it looks like the bulk of the people who attended enjoyed it as much as we did. An evaluation survey was sent out to all of those who attended and nearly every area that was surveyed is receiving high marks.

So much of this conference was super. It was a blessing to be a part of putting the Multi-ethnic track together. My track partners (Mark DeYmaz, George Yancey, Linnea Carnes and Jim Spoonts) were great. An added bonus was having our new friend Ed Lee from Houston pop in for a couple of sessions. In addition it was great to meet and listen to Efrem Smith from Minneapolis, MN. Efrem was actually the conference emcee but when I met him he graciously accepted an invitation to share some some thoughts in one session. Efren talked about the intentionality that is necessary to plant and grow a healthy multi-ethnic church. I’m even advocating that he has a space on the main stage next year not as an emcee but as a speaker.

Another really cool aspect of this trip is that we were able to bring several of our staff guys down for the week. Usually I will bring one or two guys with me but this year I was joined by Rob Daniel, Amado Lobatos, Chris DiNaso, Rick Marcum, Dave Fischer and Dave Rudin. As I led a session on the Unique Challenges in the Pursuit of Building a Multi-Ethnic church I had Rob, Rick and Amado join me for a portion of the session. I’m plan to blog about that session later on today

We hung out, enjoyed the time away, had some deep conversations and even enjoyed a couple of fun hours at the Magic Kingdom thanks to the generosity of Pastor Rob’s brother who works for the “Mouse”. Actually ESPN - who is a part of Disney. Thanks Ken for the free Disney tickets.

We all learned so much about Reproducing churches, heard some great messages from Andy Stanley, Dave Ferguson, Tim Keller and Rick Warren. We were blessed and are planning on sharing these blessings as we serve Christ everyday.