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Keynote Speaker 2025
Kirk Kirkland
The Kirklands moved to Cincinnati in December of 2012 to plant Revive City. Along with serving as a teaching elder, Kirk ministers as a professional sports chaplain with the Cinncinnati Reds & church planting catalyst for the North American Mission Board. Pastor Kirk is passionate about church planting, multi-ethnic ministry, and reaching those who are far from God. Kirk & Karen have four children: Kerigan, Kolbie, Kingston and Klaire.
Breakout-Sessions 2024
"Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing in Marriage, Family, and Career in a Secular Business World"
Todd Stickley
General Manager Liquid Feed Plant
Kalmbach Feeds, Inc.
Todd has been married to his high school sweetheart, Hope, for over 36 years
and is the father of twins, Elijah and Moriah.
Todd accepted his first full time position after graduating with his Masters degree
from The Ohio State University. Over 35 years ago, he joined Kalmbach Feeds in
Upper Sandusky, Ohio where he continues to develop his career today. While at
Kalmbach, Todd has served many roles including Feed Sales, Field Service Rep.
in Poultry and Swine production, Manager of Swine Production, was the VP of
Human Resources and is now serving as the General Manager of Kalmbach's
Liquid Feed Plant.
Throughout his career, Todd has strived to stay true to his Faith with his family
and work responsibilities, always seeking to honor Him throughout the many ups
and downs in life. Join Todd to discuss how opportunities in the business world
challenge us to demonstrate our commitment to be salt and light for Him.
"The Adventure of Following Christ in the Workplace"
Ben Vollrath
President
Logan County Chamber of Commerce
Ben serves the Lord through fulltime work in the business world. His career began in corporate banking but the confines of cubicles and his love for working with people soon motivated him to switch to retail bank branch management. He then jumped to working for a public utility company doing community development for 6-years. This was a great step that allowed him to live, work, worship, and serve all in the same town of Marysville, Ohio. His love for community and economic development grew while at the utility company and in 2018 this led him to his current role as President of the Logan County Chamber of Commerce. In all these positions, Ben has viewed business as his calling and aims to advance the kingdom of God through the marketplace. Ben, his wife Jacey (married 17 years), and their 3 kids Blakely (8th), Camden (6th), and Kyler (5th) moved to Logan County from Marysville in 2018. This unexpected move to work at the Chamber followed on the heels of doing their best to move closer to Jacey’s family in Texas. God’s plans, though not always easy, are always best and they are very grateful to have landed in Logan County.
Outside of work, Ben loves hiking, camping, and staying active with his family—which currently involves coaching a lot of youth sports! Ben would take a trip to the mountains over the ocean, dogs over cats (family dog is Canyon), a Coke over a coffee, and he gets energized spending time with friends and family. Ben and his family are active at Bellefontaine Grace Church in Bellefontaine.
The Adventure of Following Christ in the Workplace: Finding greater satisfaction in the daily grind of the work world by keeping in step with the Spirit.
For many men, following Christ can seem like a boring list of do’s and don’ts. No excitement, no energy, no enjoyment, no adventure. This naturally leads men to checking out on their faith and pouring their time into areas they are able to find those things such as work, accomplishments, and getting things done. However, when you look at the life of the disciples, they discovered that following Jesus was the most unpredictable, exciting, and adventurous possible way to live. They went from the daily grind of fishing to the daily adventure of anticipating “what is Jesus going to do today?” That same anticipation is offered to men today who follow Jesus. This session we’ll dive into what the adventure of following Jesus looks like in the workplace and how that impacts daily decision and tackling the hardest of issues.
"Cowboy Up: Reaching Your Community"
Matt Wiley
Director
Marmon Valley Farm
Matt Wiley is a lifelong resident of Logan County.
His parents founded Marmon Valley Farm, which he has directed for 40 years. He enjoys welcoming and serving the 35-40,000 guests that come through each year.
He is active with the Logan County Tourism Council.
Matt served on the board for the Ohio section of the Christian Camp and Conference Association for 6+ years.
He and his wife Kathy have been members of Grace Chapel for 25+ years. They have five children and thirteen grandchildren.
In his spare time, Matt likes to do woodwork, bowling, and enjoys sharing tidbits of local history.
Matt will speak about his faith and why it is important to live differently than the world. He would talk about some ways that he tries to make a difference in his community using his personal resources, as well as using his business to reach others. In this break-out session, there will be a roundtable discussion on ways to make an impact in the community and evidence your values without coming across like you are preaching at people.
"Fathering in Tough Situations"
Lowell Gantz
Deacon Chairman/Bible Class Teacher
Calvary Baptist Church
Lowell, who grew up in Logan County, and his wife Cindy have been attending Calvary for many years. Lowell recently retired from managing a local floor covering business. He has taught Sunday school for over 45 years and currently serves as the Deacon Board Chairman. They have three adult children and ten grandchildren.
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Parenting can be challenging, and while there are many parenting books available, some make it sound a lot easier than it is. Lowell will draw from scripture and personal experience to help us navigate through unexpected parenting situations.
"Christian First Responders: Responding to People in Crisis"
Dana Kidder
Lead Pastor
Redemption Bible Church
Dana Kidder has served as Lead Pastor of Redemption Bible Church in Bellefontaine since January 2012. He has also served on the board of directors for New Path Pregnancy Resource Centers since 2015, and chairman since 2017. He is a native of the state of New Hampshire and worked in both the automotive parts and building materials industries before moving to Ohio in 2001 where he earned a degree in Pastoral Ministry from Cedarville University. Dana spent six years in associate pastoral ministry in Xenia, Ohio and Rochelle, Illinois. Dana and his wife Kristine have been married for 28 years and have two grown sons with families of their own.
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As Christians, we will almost certainly interact with people in various stages of crisis: from marriages that seem to be falling apart, to unplanned pregnancies, or terminal illness, or even the grief that comes with losing a loved one unexpectedly. Often we want to help, to say something that will make the problem go away, or most often, we simply have no idea what to do. Dana will draw from nearly two decades in pastoral ministry and the past nine years serving the local pregnancy center, as well as Scripture to equip us to be prepared to respond to these challenges in a way that genuinely helps people and honors Christ.
"Loving My Wife as Christ Loved the Church"
Wayne Downing
Pastor
Goshen Friends Church
Wayne grew up in St. Paris, Ohio, raised in a mainline denominational church. He came to saving faith at age 20 here at Calvary Baptist, Bellefontaine. Wayne served 10 years bi-vocationally at Stony Creek Church (Bellefontaine), and has served Goshen Friends Church (Zanesfield, OH) for 10 years in full-time ministry. He enjoys leading people to find peace and empowerment through a deep relationship with Jesus. Wayne and Susan have been married for 31 years (29 years of wedded bliss ;-)) and are blessed with four grown children and one gorgeous granddaughter. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Spiritual Formation through Barclay College, Haviland, Kansas. Wayne enjoys cheering on the Cincinnati Bengals with his family.
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Loving My Wife as Christ Loved the Church
God has blessed you with a wife. Husband, how are you to love her the way God wants you to love her? How do you navigate the difficult chapters of the marriage relationship? Wayne will walk you through biblical principles to equip you for the adventures of marriage, both the ups and the downs, as a faithful ambassador for Christ.
"Discipline: Leading From the Front"
Scott Akers
Elder/Teacher
Southgate Baptist Church
Scott has been a lifelong resident of Springfield, Ohio. After growing up without any church background, God opened Scott’s eyes to the beauty of the Gospel during his freshman year of college. After his sophomore year of college, Scott transferred to Cedarville University to complete his bachelor’s degree in history. While attending Cedarville, Scott played golf on the university’s golf team. He points to those 2 years at Cedarville as a turning point in his life, where the Lord grew his faith immensely because of many Godly influences, and a foundational understanding of His Word. Over the last 15+ years, Scott has worked as a member of a large police agency in the state, where he has been on road patrol, a member of the SWAT team and now at their Training Academy as an instructor. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Libby, and they have 4 boys between the ages of 13 and 7. He is an elder at Southgate Baptist Church, where he teaches adult Sunday school classes and enjoys being a part of shepherding God’s people.
Discipline: Leading From the Front
Discipline is a buzzword thrown around in our culture for a multitude of reasons. We are promised a happier life, a more physically fit body, or a more successful career, all because of a more disciplined life. However, when we attempt to use secular discipline methods to achieve Godly growth, it can often lead to fruitless frustration. The Latin word for pupil is where our word discipline originates. We are called to be disciples, or pupils, of Christ. In this session, we will discuss how we might be more Christ-like disciples, by using methods seen in the Scriptures to achieve authentic and long-lasting growth. In all of this, our goal, and the result, is that we get more of God. He is the prize! The only way we will lead well in our many spheres of life (home, work, church, etc.) is by first being led rightly by our heavenly Father.