Our Vision
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:13-14
to See a Church United & Thriving in Multiple Locations, Moving Forward
as Healthy Christ Followers.
Our Speakers
Tom Mercer
President, Executive Director
of the Oikos Movement
Tom has been in pastoral ministry for almost 50 years. For 38 of those years, he served as the Senior Pastor and primary teacher at the High Desert Church in Southern California. During that time, the church grew from 125 to over 14,000 regular attenders, from one campus to four.
For the past decade, Tom has also been an ambassador for the oikos principle around the world,
frequently speaking at conferences, churches, university classrooms, and denominational gatherings, challenging church leaders to become more efficient through simplification. Tom received his formal education at
Biola University and Talbot Seminary.
He is the author of three books, 8 to 15—The World is Smaller Than You Think, Not My Church, and Diary of a World Changer. Tom and his wife, Sheryl,
have been married for 42 years.
They have three married children and eleven grandchildren.
Mark Neal
Executive Director of Clarity Ministries
Mark is the Executive Director of Clarity Ministries, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to helping pastors, ministry leaders, and Christian business leaders find clarity in God’s direction for their lives. He does this in several ways by hosting retreats and coaching and mentoring pastors and ministry leaders focusing on health, wholeness, and intelligent executive leadership. He offers coaching focused on strategy and hosting clarity events all over the nation that helps encourage and strengthen leaders within the local church.
Mark was in pastoral ministry for 25 years. For 20 years, Mark was a Lead Pastor and primary teacher at three different churches. Mark has planted a church, pastored a mega church, and revitalized a church. Lead pastoring in these three distinctive contexts has helped him successfully mentor and coach pastors and spiritual leaders no matter their ministry stage or context.
Mark is passionate about pastors and ministry leaders not losing their souls while leading God’s church. He and his wife, Lori, have been married for 25 years, and they have two grown children and a teenage daughter still at home.
His whole life has been deeply connected to the ministry. He grew up in a pastor’s home, spent time on staff, planted a church in Las Vegas, and led multiple large churches. Mark has learned that ministry is complex and confusing on a personal level, for families, and also in managing the difficulties and complexities of church life.
David Bennett grew up in Southeastern Ohio where he met his bride, Karen. He has offices in Roseville, CA and Fort Worth, Texas. They have two sons, Joel (27) and Jay (25). Dave graduated from Cedarville University with a B.A. in English and Bible. He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with the Master of Theology degree and an M.A. in Counseling from Ashland University.
Dave has pastored in Cleveland, Ohio, and served as a Financial Consultant at a major brokerage firm where he and his partner managed over $380 million of customers’ assets in the late ‘90’s. Currently, he serves clients helping individuals and non-profits make wise decisions about their resources so that they can accomplish their goals. He does this through developing written step-by-step action plans resulting in increased giving for their regular operating, for capital projects and for longer term resourcing through individual’s estates. This has resulted in over $100 million raised for buildings, funding staff, debt reduction, support raising for new churches, scholarships, missions projects and other ministry expansion initiatives.
David Bennet
Financial Coach
to Equip and Encourage the Berachah family to finish well.
Our Mission
