Guest Article by Pearl Winslow
In 2014, I had the privilege of attending the inaugural Cutting It Straight (CIS) Expository Preaching Conference, hosted by my friend H.B. Charles Jr. It was absolutely phenomenal! It quickly became a mandatory date on my calendar, as it gave me an opportunity to hear from a diverse combination of some of our multiethnic elder statesmen, young word-centered up-and-comers and some names I didn’t previously know, but was so glad to have heard.
Each year, CIS gradually grew. Not only did it grow numerically, it also grew in the richness of its content. Additional tracks were added. There was an intentionality over the past few years to add Women in Ministry, Worship and Arts, Youth and Young Adult, and Christian Education Tracks. Each year, I circled that date on my calendar to take advantage of the opportunity to make the trip from Dallas and spend with some of my new-found “FRAMILY” that was being developed around the word of GOD and the emphasis on every area and aspect of ministry being “Word-Centered”.
This year, in the providence of GOD, I was given the opportunity to actually become a team member of the men and women that had faithfully served me and others for the preceding three years. In this new endeavor, I was greatly assisted by some of the most gracious staff members of Shiloh Church and our faithful volunteer teams. These men and women know how to pull a plan together!
Even when we were faced with assisting in the varied recovery aspects from Hurricane Harvey in Texas and the Gulf Coast and Hurricane Irma here in Florida the weeks directly preceding CIS, they remained steadfast. However, Irma provided many of our guests and even our speakers with challenges that precluded them from being with us. In this aftermath, our team moved forward and we adjusted our plans accordingly.
We had a small core team of staff that have varying responsibilities, but these men and women have a heart-felt commitment to excellence and it bleeds through! I want to take a moment to THANK each of them by name and their teams by extension:
Dan Beckwith – Executive Pastor, Shiloh Church
Crystal Charles – Women and Minister’s Wives Track
Eugene McCormick – Christian Education Track
Joshua Eggerson – Youth and Young Adult Track
Joe Pace – Worship and Arts Track
Danita Matthews – Special Events and Operations
Nicole Clark – Executive Assistant to Senior Pastor
Alan Wise – Media and Marketing
Daryl Jones – Volunteer Coordinator
Our team had the pleasure of leading some of the most dedicated, loving, and compassionate volunteers this year! These men and women truly LOVE to represent Shiloh Church, but more importantly, they represent the Kingdom.
As we begin to see the plan coming together, our efforts were rewarded by GOD! He gave us the opportunity to host 682 participants from around our nation and one guest who flew in from West Africa to attend CIS for the first time!
Each of our speakers were well received and extremely knowledgeable. Our attendees were empowered by these rich deposits of content which covered a plethora of topics with the goal to train, model, and promote Expository Preaching and Biblical Teaching.
We are presently planning Cutting It Straight 2018, which will take place here at Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, Florida on September 18-20. It is our prayer that you will make this an annual part of your ministry budget and that you will be mindful to invite other Pastors, ministry leaders, and laypersons to attend as well. If CIS has been a blessing to you, please allow it to also be a blessing to other ministries in your community and in your sphere of influence. We also take this opportunity to request your prayers for us, our projected speakers and our time together next year.
Lastly, you can register now for Cutting It Straight 2018 HERE . Early Bird Registration of $149.00 ends on April 18, 2018.