Some of you may be asking questions about the Purpose@Work conference, such as ‘who is behind it?’, ‘where did come from?’ and ‘where is it going?’. I will briefly review how we got to where we are today.
In October 2005 Henry Blackaby challenged a group of Christian business people at the Toronto Stock Exchange to "Know and follow God's agenda". Following the meeting I shared with him the vision for holding a Christian workplace conference in Toronto. He believed business leaders in Canada were ready for this and agreed to speak at the event. God providentially worked things out so that he, along with Ken Blanchard, Oz Hillman and approximately 300 others attended the first Purpose@Work conference in March 2007. Every province of Canada was represented, except one, and the resounding response from the delegates was "do it again!".
So here we are again with an amazing group of keynote speakers and workshop leaders. It is very hard to communicate the quality and depth of these people. They are all totally committed to making a significant difference in and through the workplace for God’s glory. This again is a "do not miss event" and I encourage you to make plans to be there as soon as possible. I honestly believe you will not regret attending.
The Workplace Transformation Group (WTG) was formed to champion this national annual event and is chaired by Gerry Organ. The WTG is operating on a partnership platform of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. This year’s steering committee is comprised of: Gerry Organ (One Way Ministries), David Macfarlane (EFC), Jessica Parker (CBMC), Robert Melnichuk (Crossroads Global Core Group), Bruce Smith (King-Bay Chaplaincy), John Friesen and Lynda Watkins (Fair Havens Ministries) and myself, Ian McSporran (Coldwell Banker Realty).
This year there will be a pastor’s track as well as a special workshop track for emerging leaders (under 35's). My encouragement to each and every one of you is simply to "be there". This year the schedule begins on Wednesday evening (April 2nd) and goes through until Friday afternoon (April 4th). The schedule on Thursday is morning until late evening so we recommend that you reserve a room at the Holiday Inn Express (we have great rates for anyone attending the conference) so you can get full benefit from the event.
Where to from here? Good question and a great one to put to our God. It is His agenda we are seeking and not ours.
I am looking forward to meeting many of you in April.
Blessings,
Ian McSporran
Founding Member of the WTG