Hello, my name is Steve Krier and I serve as regional president for Converge Heartland. You know, a lot of times what we talk about in Converge is we talk about being better together. And what we mean by that is that we will invest in one another to help each other grow and become all the things that Christ wants us to become both as leaders and as churches. We do that not just by sharing best practices, but by investing our lives in the lives of other people. We call that being relationally devoted. It is not only a core value of Converge, but it is what makes Converge Converge.

In almost 25 years of pastoral ministry and vocational ministry, all of that has been in Converge for me. First as a youth pastor and then as a church planter and now as a regional president. And I know that if I ever get stuck, if I ever run into a situation I’ve never seen before, if I go through a difficult season, a time of trial or if it’s maybe something amazing happening and I want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make the most of these opportunities that God has given us, I know that whatever season of life I’m in, I can call another Converge leader and they’re going to answer the phone and they’re going to talk with me and share what they know and maybe even get me connected to someone else in all of these things. It is one of the reasons why I have stayed in ministry because there were some difficult seasons where other Converge leaders and pastors were walking with me through those times.

In Heartland, we have these area pastor fellowships where we call them LEAD teams. And what they are is they’re groups of pastors that get together and share with one another. And the amazing things that we’re seeing is they’re praying for one another, they’re walking with each other through difficult seasons. They are sharing what they know so that the other leader can get better. One of the most recent things that I’ve seen, which is just absolutely amazing to me is one of our pastors actually had to have surgery and there was a long recovery time after that, but there was nobody at his house to be able to take care of him while he was recovering. And one of the other pastors in a neighboring town heard about it and he invited that pastor into his home for two weeks and cared for him while he was recovering from surgery.

You see, it’s not just about the dos and the don’ts. It’s not just about the opportunities. It’s not just about best practices, but it’s about being actually connected to one another, praying for one another, investing in one another and being connected not just as colleagues, but as brothers and sisters in Christ.

So if you are a part of Converge and you’re not connected to your region yet, I would encourage you to do so. You can go to our website, converge.org/regions, find out where you’re a part of, reach out to the office because I know that your region would love to walk with you in all the ups and downs of life.