I have been a little tied up and weekends and have not done my "Saturday is for Seminars." I will try to get back into the swing of doing so.

Thanks again for those of you who pray for me while I am on the road.

Here is where I am now and/or will be going soon:

Ridgecrest, NC
Right now, and for the next 16 hours, I am in beautiful Western North Carolina at Ridgecrest Conference Center. I preached last night and will do so again in about 4 hours at the Sunday School Weekend/Week at Ridgecrest in Ridgecrest, NC.

Glorieta, NM
I'll be doing this again at Glorieta, NM later this month. But, I get to have my family with me in Glorieta, so that makes it even better.

Originally, my family was going with me to Ridgecrest. We love the camp and kids programs each year. However, the folks at B&H Publishing asked me to make a change to respond to a request from the International Christian Retail show... which is where I am heading early tomorrow.

The International Christian Retail Show
Early tomorrow, I fly to Denver for the International Christian Retail Show, Christian Booksellers Association on July 12th. (Is Colorado close to North Carolina?) I went last year and had a little too much fun with Twitter, so I have to be on my best behavior this year.

The folks at ICRS have asked me to speak on church and culture research in the Sunday afternoon main session. It's also good to meet new and old friends and talk to people about the research we do at LifeWay Research. I will also be doing a book signing Monday morning, so if you are there-- drop on by and say hello.

Looking Ahead
On Nov. 10-12, 2009 I'll be speaking at the Great Commission Research Network which is planning a joint meeting with the Society for Church Consulting Summit 2009. This is a big three-day conference (or two conferences in one location) that will go down at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Here's some info from the website.

Conferences At a Glance

Nov. 10: Church Consulting Summit 2009
The first day of this historic joint event is the Society's inaugural summit. This year's theme, "Battling Ministry Giants," will feature a practical array of workshops, case studies, and discussions led by SCC board members and sponsors. Topics include conflict management, church visioning, conducting community research, and many more practical areas of church consulting.

Nov. 11-12: GCRN's Annual Conference
The second conference is focused on how churches can reach out in times of calamity and recession. GCRN (formerly the American Society for Church Growth) will present topics like:

• Transformational Churches: Who They Are and How They Do It - Ed Stetzer
• An old Strategy Revisited: Prayer Ministry in Times of Crisis - Chuck Lawless
• Building Bridges of God During Calamity - Gary McIntosh
• Future Trends in Church Consulting - Tom Harper

Joint Conference Schedule

Day One (Tue., Nov. 10) - Society for Church Consulting

• Case study breakouts
• Expert panel discussion
• Practical workshops
• Exhibit area
• Member meeting
• Networking receptions

Days Two and Three (Wed. & Thur., Nov. 11-12) - Great Commission Research Network

• Lectures
• Research presentations
• Exhibit area (same for both conferences)
• Bus tour of local churches damaged by Katrina
• The prestigious Donald McGavran Award
• President's banquet

You can download the brochure here, and register here.

New Orleans

While I am at New Orleans, I will be planning a "Tweet-up" with friends (and potential new ones). My friend Steve Lemke, has promised to buy me lunch and, if I time it correctly, I am pretty sure I can get him to come to his first-ever TweetUp.

Watch Twitter and the blog for more details.

Hope to see you on the road!