BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (BP) — Pastor Bartholomew Orr, one of four keynote preachers at Lifeway Christian Resources’ Black Church Leadership and Family Conference, credits his mother Lorene with teaching him the value of a good object lesson.

She gave him a globe-topped pencil sharpener for his 12th birthday and often used a decorative bowl emblazoned with “I love you” to spur conversations on the meaning of love in Orr’s childhood home.

“So the illustrations have always been a part of who I am,” Orr told Baptist Press after he extended to worshipers dolls, an action figure and a rugged chunk of “gold” in his July 23rd sermon titled “You Trippin’” from Obadiah 10-14. “You know, I like to take the style of Jesus. He took common things that people would be familiar with and gave them a heavenly meaning and brought the two together. He took these earthly stories, giving them this heavenly meaning in order to teach.

“I’ve just tried to learn from Jesus to say, let’s be creative then in how we tell the story, connect it with people,” said Orr, lead pastor of the multisite Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, Miss., who acquired the moniker “the flying preacher” in 2018 when he used a zipline in the sanctuary to encourage worshipers to be ready for that day.

In his conference sermon, Orr exhorted worshipers to “stop trippin’” over things such as family issues, past hurts and personal pride that cause them to stumble when pursuing the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus, emphasizing the conference theme “Pursue the Prize,” taken from Philippians 3:12-14.

“If you are that individual that shows up at the funeral,” he said, pulling a Barbie doll out of his bag, “you crying all in the casket and making up a fuss, and you know good and well you didn’t visit them when they were sick, I need to tell you tonight, you trippin’.

“If you are that one that’s the Spider-Man in the family,” he asked with the visual aid of a Spider-Man action figure, “if you are spinning webs of deception, even in the church house… you need to stop tripping.”

In its 33rd year, the Black Church Leadership and Family Conference (BCLFC) onJuly 21–25 at Ridgecrest Conference Center immersed attendees of all ages in activities including early morning and evening worship, daily Bible study, Fuge camp and dozens of educational and motivational breakout sessions addressing various ministry areas.

Evening worship services on July 21-24 spotlighted the unique preaching style of such leaders as Kerwin Lee, who ended his July 24th sermon with a rendition of a song he admitted was secular.

Lee utilized the tune when illustrating King David’s perseverance and success in his sermon from 1 Samuel 30, “It Pays to Pursue,” focused on the benefits of pursuing “what God told you to go after.”

The founding senior pastor of Berean Christian Church in Stone Mountain, Ga., said he himself sometimes wants to give up, but he plays a song to help him along.

“Please pray my strength in the Lord,” Lee asked, “because it’s not a gospel song.”

As Lee introduced Gloria Gaynor’s disco-era tune, many worshipers already realized he was referencing “I Will Survive” and joined him in reciting the lyrics.

“Whenever I find myself very depressed, I put Gloria on,” he said. “I put Gloria on and she says, ‘At first I was afraid, I was petrified.’” Others joined as he continued with the lyrics. “Weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with the lie? You thought I’d stumble. You thought I’d lay down and die. But not I.” As musicians chimed in, so did worshipers in asserting resolutely, “I will survive. As long as I know how to love I know I’ll stay alive.”

Conference convener Mark Croston, Lifeway’s national director of Black Church Ministries, said the event constantly evolves to meet the current needs of the church.

“Our theme was Pursue and Prize, and every teaching and message equipped and encouraged us to do just that,” Croston told Baptist Press. “Both through classes on AI (artificial intelligence) to those on preaching were all packed with people eager to learn.

“God always meets us on this mountain, and that keeps new people coming and previous attendees coming back.”

In the opening night worship service on July 21, Quintell Hill, African American church mobilization strategist for the International Mission Board, exhorted worshipers to love their neighbors with the love that God revealed in Christ. “Remember Me as You Press On” was his subject, taken from Luke 10:2-37.

Justin Lester, lead pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Vallejo, Calif., preached the Tuesday evening sermon, “What We Gon’ Eat,” taken from Philippians 3:12 and encouraging churches to remain focused on Christ.

Featuring 70 breakout sessions and attracting more than 700 attendees, Croston said the conference is one of Lifeway’s largest annual training events.

In addition to Fuge camps that leaders said drew more than 20 decisions for Christ, the conference offered gender-specific afternoon sessions on both July 22 and 23 that addressed issues faced by men and women.

Featured Woman2Woman speaker Kim Hardy, a Bible speaker, author and podcaster from Atlanta, spoke July 22 on “Activate Your Yes,” featuring her 2024 resources and book by the same title. Kim Coleman, wife of First Baptist Church of Crestmont Senior Pastor Jerome Coleman from Willow Grove, Pa., was the July 23rd Woman2Woman speaker. Man2Man speakers were Maliek Blade, podcaster and founding CEO of Whole Brother Mission, on July 22; and Andre Rogers, pastor of Concord Fellowship Baptist Church in Columbia, S.C., on July 23.

Morning Bible study teachers, presenting from Lifeway’s YOU Curriculum, were Mark Lavarin, pastor of First Calvary Baptist Church in Durham, N.C.; Jasper Paul Taylor, lead pastor of Broadview Missionary Baptist Church in Broadview, Ill.; Christopher Waters, senior pastor of Greenforest Community Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga.; and Charles Owusu, pastor of Word of Life Baptist Church in Lithia Springs, Ga.

Among other participants were evening worship leader Glenn-Alan Shelton, minister of music and performing arts at Colonial Baptist Church in Randallstown, Md.; morning praise and worship leader Russell M. Andrews, minister of music at East End Baptist Church in Suffolk, Va.; U.S. Air Force Capt. and Chaplain Najarri Whitehead, who served as Fuge camp pastor; Fuge Camp Director Stephani Spencer, with the Baptist General Association of Virginia; and Children’s Day Camp Leader Ashlin Jenkins, East End Baptist Church children and youth leader.

Registration is open for the 2026 conference, scheduled for July 24-26 at Ridgecrest, with additional information at lifeway.com.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.)