20th Anniversary Celebration of Biennial Conference Encourages Christians to Finish the Great Commission by 2030
Orlando, Fla., Jan. 26, 2022 – More than 650 pastors and church leaders gathered in Orlando, Florida, last night and thousands more online for The Global Church Network’s (GCN) 20th anniversary of the biennial Synergize 2022.
Representing more than 60 nations, individuals are participating in the conference, held Jan. 25-27, to focus on the remaining priorities for FINISH: 2030, GCN’s strategic mandate to help fulfill the Great Commission by the 2,000th anniversary of the founding of the Church.
“I believe that we are not done, and the best is still in front of us,” said James O. Davis, founder and president of GCN and founder of Cutting Edge International. “It’s not about money, methods, men or models but the motivation and a desire to do it - to finish the task. This is the moment God is bringing the Body together. The Lord Jesus Christ is still building the Church around the world.”
Synergize 2022 is co-hosted by Davis; Peter Mortlock, senior pastor of City Impact Church; Carla Sunberg, author and General Superintendent at Church of the Nazarene; and Alex Mitala, founder of New Birth Fellowship.
The Tuesday evening session was kicked off by speakers Davis and Sheila Walsh, internationally known author and Christian speaker and co-host of “Life Today.” With a theme of “Recovering The Cutting Edge,” the three day Synergize 2022 gathering will focus on five major leadership steps: Admit Its Loss, Acknowledge Its Loan, Affirm Its Location, Allow Its Liberation and Appropriate Its Lift.
“This conference theme for me has been a very personal journey,” stated Walsh. She shared her story of growing up in Scotland and the impact on her life as a result of her father’s aneurysm when she was 5-years-old, which turned him from a loving, caring father into an angry, violent man. “I think when we experience pain in our childhood we have to find a coping mechanism, a way of carrying on. God is the only one who knows if we are serving out of pain or passion … part of recovering the cutting edge is to come out of those dark places, to be known as He knows us.”
Walsh ended with a word of encouragement for attendees and a supplemental charge in their mission to share the Gospel worldwide.
“If any of you feel you are lost or you have slipped too far, I want you to know the Shepherd knows where to find you,” Walsh said before closing with a beautiful rendition of “How Great Thou Art.” “What I want for every one of us is to simply say, ‘Father, we are all in and going to run with you until we are able to sing this song in your presence.’”
At the end of the evening session, core leadership team members Drs. Leonard Sweet, Kenneth Ulmer and Tommy Barnett honored Davis with an award for his 20 faithful years and working toward fulfilling the Great Commission since founding GCN.
“In 2002, 5,000 people joined together in this city and were excited about launching a plan to fulfill The Great Commission because a man’s dying request is the most important,” said Barnett. “God raised up this great man of God, James O. Davis, with fortitude and grit to continue what Dr. Bill Bright first started, and we are so grateful for him and his faithfulness.”
Prior to the Synergize 2022 opening session, key leaders gathered for the GCN annual Global Church Leadership meeting during which the launch of the Tongdok Bible app developed by Dr. Byoungho Zoh and Davis’ new book, “Living Life from a Heavenly Edge,” were announced. Additionally, GCN presented the Synergize 2022 Award to Drs. Ronnie Floyd and Sunberg, the Global Church Teacher Award to Dr. Craig S. Keener and the President's Award to Dr. Dave Roever.
Synergize 2022 is being held at The DoubleTree by Hilton at Seaworld. In addition to FINISH 2030, the conference will highlight additional GCN’s initiatives, including The Mount Everest Training Center (METC), The Global Church Divinity School, Million Ministers Mandate, Billion Hour Prayer Emphasis, Bible Translation Reformation and Global Church Evangelists Network.
Full event schedule and registration information for Synergize 2022 available at https://synergize.tv/.
About Global Church Network (GCN)
GCN is an international organization established in 2001 to mobilize and synergize the Body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission. Over the last two decades, GCN has grown from a small nucleus of leaders to 2,650 denominations/fellowships and more than 700,000 local churches. Since 2002, GCN has held its biennial Synergize Conference (formerly “Beyond All Limits”), co-founded by the late Dr. Bill Bright and Dr. James O. Davis, in Orlando, Florida. The organization has also developed extensive online resources through the Global Church Divinity School and pastoral training through Global Hubs of Christianity. Priorities include identifying the remaining unreached people groups around the world and challenging national churches to translate the Bible into every remaining language and place a missionary presence in the unreached communities.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: For questions about the conference, livestream information or to arrange an interview, please contact Heidi McDow at heidi@alarryross.com or 214-679-3409.