The standard price covers your admission to the 18 main sessions, numerous breakout sessions, lunch, heavy snacks throughout the conference, and numerous other resources that we make available to conference registrants only. Our conference also runs for 5-days, compared to the average 3-4 days.

We know that the economy is rough right now and we work to make sure that you get more than what you pay for at the Pastors Conference. Our goal is not to make money off of the conference but to make sure that our conference is a viable resource to pastors and ministers in their ministries. There is a cost that is incurred for every portion of the conference and this standard fare helps us as a church to cover the costs that we incur. We have researched and studied other conferences around the country and think that ours is one of the most reasonably priced and that you will get more for your dollar at our conference than at any other conference.

We have to annually review our pricing to see if we are covering our costs. FBC Jacksonville considers this conference a ministry of the church and that is why we annually host the conference. The conference does have a cost attached to it and we try to make sure that the price is affordable while at the same time making sure that we don’t end up throwing our budget off for the year. We also have to consider the fact that costs in the economy vary every year and that affects us in the airfare for speakers, food costs for the conference, labor costs associated, etc… All of these factor together into our pricing

We want to make sure that anyone who wants to come to the conference can come. Our church considers this conference a ministry so if you cannot afford to come we have members of our church that will open up their house for you to stay in so that you do not have to pay for lodging. Carpooling can cut down on the cost of transportation as well.

The answer is yes and no. We have seminaries that offer classes at our conference and students at those seminaries may take the class (for credit as well) and come to the conference for $50. The $50 covers their registration, premium sessions, women’s conference (if applicable), meals, an exclusive time on Sunday afternoon with our pastor and staff (and occasionally guest speakers), and we provide lodging for the seminary students when needed. We do this because we love seminary students and seminaries. It allows us the opportunity to invest in their ministries. If you are a seminary student and are interested in this opportunity, please contact your registrar’s office and ask them if they participate in our conference.

We consider anyone who attends the conference an attendee and ask that you please register. If you are flying in with your husband and plan to spend your time relaxing we understand and will not charge you since you are not participating in the conference but if you do attend the conference we ask on an honor code that you pay for what you have received. We hope pastors will bring their wives and use this as a retreat time, and in order to help aid in that process we are offering a spouse’s price at half of the regular price. That $100 covers all the main sessions, breakout sessions, seminars, Women’s Conference, lunch, snacks throughout the conference, and free childcare if you bring your children.

Yes! We said last year that we would consider this on an annual basis and last year we felt like this would be even more of a ministering opportunity. We will provide daily child care during the conference for children ages birth - Kindergarten at no cost. If you would like to purchase lunches for you children and snacks they will be available for a $20 fee that will pay for lunch and snack all week.

We understand that there are unforeseeable events that happen, especially in the ministry. Our policy is that we will review every request that we receive, and if honored, you can get a full refund minus a $25 processing fee up until December 31st 2009. Once we step into 2010 the pressure is on for us, so we have to escalate the processing fee to $50 from January 1st to March 1st 2010. This is because we are purchasing materials for the conference based upon our numbers around this time and any cancellations from this point on will cost us more. There will be no refunds given after March 1st. All cancellation/refund requests are subject to review and may be denied.

You can mail your cancellation request to:
First Baptist Church Jacksonville
Pastors Conference Cancellation Request
124 West Ashley St.
Jacksonville, FL 32246

The BreakThrough Sessions are basically classes that pick up where seminary left off. We want to help you experience a break through in your ministry in an area that you might be weak in or might need encouragement in. We try and use these 6 sessions to really step in and reinforce what seminary started. We try and think through topics that will be first of all highly practical for the attendees, second of all highly insightful, and third of all something that we think no one else is offering. We want them to be something that you look forward to every year and something that helps you for the rest of your ministry.

We try and select experts on issues that pastors/ministers face. We want you to not only hear from them but also have an opportunity to interface with them so we require that the Premium Session speakers leave the last 15-30 minutes for Q&A and most of the speakers hang out after the session to make sure their material has translated from a lesson to specific action points for you.

Did you know that eighty percent of pastors’ spouses feel their spouse is overworked? Eighty percent of pastors’ wives feel left out and unappreciated by the church members. Eighty percent of pastors’ spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession. Eighty percent of pastors’ wives feel pressured to do things and be something in the church that they are really not. The majority of pastors’ wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry. Do any of the statistics described how you feel as a pastor’s wife?

Three years ago we added a new dimension to the Pastors’ Conference designed to minister to and provide encouragement to pastor’s wives. The conference is a 3-day conference and includes two days of speakers who will challenge, encourage and give clear godly counsel from the Word of God for those who serve alongside the husbands in ministry. The other day we host a Q&A panel of current pastors’ wives who will answer your questions and provide godly wisdom to help you as you serve in ministry.

How do you deal with the expectations of others as the pastor’s wife? Do you feel often that you are expected to serve in ministries that you are not called to or gifted for? How do you deal with those who ridicule your husband and/or your children? Where do you turn as a pastor’s wife for counsel? Do you feel it is hard to have personal friendships within the church? These are just a few questions that we have heard and deal with in the Q&A session portion of the Women’s Conference during our Pastors’ Conference. This panel is made up of current and past pastors’ wives who have dealt with these and many of the issues you may find yourself facing as the wife of a pastor. Come and join us on Saturday during the Women’s Conference and hear godly counsel that will help encourage you and give you direction. This is an open forum and questions will be allowed during the session.

Jacksonville International Airport

The airport is roughly 15 miles or about 20 minutes away from the church.

We have an entire page of hotels that have partnered with the conference and have special rates that are only available to conference attendees.

We have a link on our website under the travel section to Enterprise Rental car that is a partner of the Conference and has worked out a special offer on rental cars while you are here.

• A great place to get started answering this question is VisitJacksonville.com. There you will find a list of many of the activities going on in Jacksonville.
• Most people come to Jacksonville for the beach. There are several beaches located along the coast of Jacksonville that provide great fishing, surfing, and relaxation in general.
• St. Augustine, immediately to the south of Jacksonville, has some amazing historical sites and some great restaurants.
• Amelia Island, located immediately north of Jacksonville, is another great historic site with a very unique downtown covered with quaint shops and restaurants.
• There are 3 malls (Avenues Mall, Regency Mall, and the St. John’s Town Center) with the St. John’s Town Center, an outdoor mall, being our newest. St. Augustine also has an outlet center that hosts over 85 outlet stores.
• In downtown we have our Riverwalk that is a boardwalk along the St. John’s River. The Landing is located on the Riverwalk with several restaurants and shops open.
• Jacksonville has numerous golf courses that you might be interested in as well.
  This list of courses is a great starting point to plan the ultimate golf outing. Golf Link lists several of the golf courses in our area and has links to most of their websites. If your interest is golf, you will also want to visit World Golf Village in St. Augustine.

The winter months of December, January and February feature the coldest weather of the year, with January temperatures of around 64°F, but these can drop to low 50’s. Wintertime also enjoys the driest months of the year, which are usually between December, January, February and March. Snowfalls are unusual.

We serve a continental style breakfast that includes blueberry muffins, peach bran muffins, orange juice, milk, danishes, sausage or ham biscuits, bacon/egg/cheese biscuits, hot chocolate, and coffee all for purchase.

Back by popular demand, we will be serving lunch prepared by our kitchen here at FBC! The lunches will be included in the cost of admission. We have heavy snacks available for free throughout the premises during the Conference for you to grab and snack on through out the day. There are also several restaurants located within walking distance of the church.

Friday night : TBD
Monday night: TBD
Tuesday night: TBD

We have everything from ritz bits, nutra grain bars, sweet n salty mix, crackers, nature valley granola bars, mini pretzels, assorted potato chips, cheez-its, chex mix, combos, peanuts, raisins, yogurt, fresh fruit, rice krispie treats, fresh cookies, and drinks all free for the taking.

Here are a few restaurants located within walking distance from the church. There are several smaller restaurants in this vicinity but these are the larger ones. There are also several restaurants located close to the church that are just a short drive away:

• Café Nola - located one block from the church in the Museum of Contemporary Art.
• Shelby’s Coffee Shop - located about 2 blocks from the church in the Library. They serve sandwiches sand snacks as well as coffee.
• Burrito Gallery - Located about 3 or 4 blocks away off of Adams & Main St. is some good Mexican cuisine.
• Quizno’s Subs - located 2 blocks from the church, on the southwest corner of Hemming plaza.
• Subway - located 1.5 blocks from the church, on the southern corner of Hemming plaza.
• Café Magnificat - located 2 blocks from the church, on the southeast corner of Hemming plaza across from the library.
• Chew - located 3 or 4 blocks away off of Adams & Laura is this very elegant/modern restaurant that is making a lot of noise in Jacksonville. /
• Adams Street Deli & Grill- located 3 or 4 blocks away and across the street from Chew is a great sandwich/salad shop.
• The Landing - The landing is located at the River and about 6 blocks from the church straight down Laura. It houses a food court and several great restaurants as well. This is a great place to run to for dinner with friends.
  

The simple answer is yes, but you will need to check with each hotel to ask them what is located immediately close to them since we have hotels all over Jacksonville.

We have a team of staff members who in addition to their other ministry assignments work year round to plan the conference and make sure that it is comprehensive and as beneficial to ministers and spiritual leaders as possible.

We sit down as a Pastor’s Conference Committee and discuss who we think has a message that the conference needs to hear. We evaluate our speakers every year as well as every portion of the conference to make sure we are offering a conference that is well balanced, relevant, and done with excellence. If you have someone that you would like to recommend you can email that recommendation to jaxpastorsconference@fbcjax.com or submit a request in writing to:

First Baptist Church Jacksonville
Pastors Conference Request
124 West Ashley St.
Jacksonville FL, 32202

We understand that everyone has an opinion and a desire to express it. If you have thoughts or suggestions for improvement, please share them with us by email at jaxpastorsconference@fbcjax.com

You can also submit your comments in writing to:

First Baptist Church Jacksonville
Pastors Conference Complaint
124 West Ashley St.
Jacksonville, FL 32202

The dates for 2011 will be January 28th-February 1st, 2011

We would love for you too! We offer a 9:00 service for attendees because we know that not all will want to attend classes. However we would love to have you in our classes to learn hands on how Theology Driven Ministry works. We have a Welcome Center in the Children’s Building where someone can escort you to the class of your choice.