4344 Blackberry Road, Greensboro, NC 27406

(In) the church, of which I became a minister according to
the stewardship from God which was given to me for you,
to fulfill the word of God… — Colossians 1:24-26
Pastor Michael Thomas | Conference Host
& GSFI Chief Executive Pastor
4344 Blackberry Road, Greensboro, NC 27406
WELCOME
Welcome to GSFI’s 2016 International Pastors and Leaders Conference. We are looking forward to another
year of sharing, learning and fulfilling the ministry given us by the Lord. This year GSFI is focusing and operating out of the Spiritual Principle of Stewardship—God’s Plan to Fulfill our Lives. It is our prayer that this
conference will help you discover how to be fulfilled in your ministry and calling by applying the principle of
stewardship in your life. So as we dig deeper into this principle we hope you will leave with a greater understanding and a deeper commitment to our theme—LEADERSHIP IS STEWARDSHIP. Thus my prayer for
you as ministers according to the stewardship from God which was given us to fulfill His
Word; that you shall find great fulfillment and resolve in doing His will. (Col. 1:24-26)
With Love and Faith—Pastor Mike
FRIDAY CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Friday, August 19
THURSDAY CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
8:30—9:00 am
Continental Breakfast (LEC)
Thursday, August 18
8:30—10 am
Registration (Front Desk Church Lobby)
8:30—9:00 am
Continental Breakfast (LEC*) Life Enrichment Center*
9:00 am
8:30—10 am
Registration (Front Desk Church Lobby)
International Delegate Greetings (Sanctuary)
Praise & Worship Rendered by
Word in Action—Campbell, Ohio
9:00 am
Session 1—Pastor Mike Thomas (Sanctuary)
Leadership is Stewardship
Praise & Worship Rendered by
Firm Foundation—Winston-Salem, NC
9:30 am
Pastoral Symposium
Pastor Curtis Swafford
(Sanctuary)
10:30 am
Break
10:45 am
Session 2—Pastor Mike Thomas (Sanctuary)
The 9 Spiritual Principles
12:00 n
Lunch (LEC)
1:00 pm
Session 3—Financial Seminar (Sanctuary)
Elder William Thomas, The Church Coalition
2:00 pm
Break
2:15—3:30 pm
Workshop Breakouts (see next page)
7:00—9:00 pm
Evening Worship Service—(Sanctuary)
Praise & Worship Rendered by
Word of Faith Christian Fellowship
McLeansville, NC
Keynote Speaker—Pastor Curtis Swafford
Rivers of Life Church Ministries
Brandon, FL
EVENING WORSHIP OPEN TO ALL!
Leadership Symposium
Rev. Janice Williamson
(Life Enrichment Center)
12:00 n
Lunch (LEC)
1:00 pm
Session 4—Health & Wellness Seminar
(Sanctuary)
James & Karen Roberts, Peak Physique
Fulfillment through a Healthier Lifestyle
1:45 pm
Workshop Breakouts (see next page)
Mike Thomas—Room C131—FRI ONLY
Living by the 9 Spiritual Principles
3:00 pm
Questions & Answers/Closing Remarks
(Closing Session in Sanctuary)
3:30 pm
Conference Officially Closed
3:30—4:15 pm
GSFI Updates & Reporting
THANK YOU FOR COMING!
Health and Wellness Seminar | Friday 1:00 pm | Sanctuary: James and Karen Roberts will be talking
about the benefits of a good diet, cardio and strength training program for a healthy lifestyle. As a personal trainer, Karen can help get you REAL RESULTS you are looking for, by building your body from the
ground up! Learn more about James and Karen at www.karenroberts.com.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Are you interested in improving your health and wellness? Do you
need to get in shape or know someone who does? Then you are welcome to attend the FREE
Seminar on Saturday, September 19, 2015 from 9:30—11:30 am at Love and Faith Christian
Fellowship 4344 Blackberry Rd., Greensboro, NC 27406
CONFERENCE WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS & PRENSENTERS
Video Teaching by Andy Stanley, North Point Community Church, Alpharetta, GA | Main Sanctuary—THU & FRI
SYSTEMS: Liberating Your Organization—We all have systems, processes and methods that we employ, and these systems
elicit specific behaviors in ourselves, our friends, and our co-workers. If your organization or staff isn’t obtaining maximum performance, it may be because the systems you have put in place are ineffective to achieve a significant outcome. Andy Stanley will
explain ways in which many systems are flawed; how to attain the behaviors you desire through a system, the components of an
effective system; and biblical principles that should be integrated into every system.
Dorothy Swafford—Pastors’ Spouses: Building Barriers or Bridges? | Room C108—THURSDAY ONLY
Pastors’ spouses hold a very unique position in the life of the local church and may be one of its
most vulnerable member. As our work continues, we are becoming more and more aware of the
role that pastors’ spouses play in realizing the mission and vision of the church. Generally, the
pastor’s spouse is the main source of support, encouragement and the most important person and
key figure in the life of the pastor. This workshop is designed to take a look at the unique challenges
that pastors’ spouses deal with that other congregation members don’t have, including the pastors themselves.
Dorothy Templeton Swafford grew up in Lakeland, FL. Dorothy and gave her life to Christ at age 11. Dorothy was active in the church and
community activities such as BYTU (Baptist Youth Training Union), Youth Choir, Girl Scouts, Candy Stripers, Drill Team and the like. As a
member of the Lakeland Branch of the NAACP, she actively participated in sit-ins and marches during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
Dorothy excelled through her formative years of education graduating top of her class from Atlantic School of Kansas City, MO (a vocational
school). She attended the University of Miami, University of Virginia, Northern Virginia Community College and Washington Bible College.
Dorothy married Curtis A. Swafford in 1972 and later she and her husband joined Full Gospel AME Zion Church where she became a staff
minister. After nine years, her husband was assigned an AME Zion Church in Tampa, FL. The Swaffords left the AME Zion Church after six
years and started Rivers of Life Church Ministries in Brandon, FL meeting “much good success in The Lord” for 17 years. Today Sis. Swafford
enjoys being “First Lady” and strives daily to be of great support to her husband and pastor.
Gloria Harris, Esq.—Legal Pitfalls Facing Christian Leaders | Room C132—THU & FRI
Living in a global community our reach goes beyond our walls. We are facing many pitfalls and traps if
we are not willing to live above the law and be guided by our faith principles. This workshop will discuss
several issues such as, same sex-marriage, counseling, background checks, 501c3, audits and others
areas to help your church and leaders avoid these pitfalls.
Gloria Matthews Harris is Sole Practitioner and located in Advance, NC. Prior to 2007, she served as
senior in-house legal counsel and a senior management advisor for From the Heart Church Ministries (FTH), a 15,000+ member church with
churches worldwide. Also as a multi-million dollar ministry, Gloria provided FTH with legal advice to include corporate structure, governance and
finance, acquisitions, aircraft management companies. Gloria assists churches of all sizes with the preparation of IRS non-profit, tax-exempt 501
(c)(3) applications and legal counsel. Gloria’s legal experience includes being a Partner in the Litigation Dept. of McDermott, Will & Emery, Washington, DC; Executive VP and General Counsel for Gelderman, Inc., Chicago, IL, a $500ml full service commodity brokerage firm with subsidiaries worldwide; Assistant Chief Counsel for Conti, Inc. a $600ml commodity brokerage firm with U.S. and international offices; as well as serving
on many different educational and community development boards. She is an active member of Love and Faith Christian Fellowship.
Darryl Beatty—Getting “IT” Done: Turning Vision into Action | Room C133—THU & FRI
Many leaders lose credibility due to unexecuted vision and unrealized mission. One of the most unfulfilling
aspects of ministry is the lack of execution. Whenever we cannot point to actual progress the team, church,
ministry will lose zeal and lacks the enthusiasm needed to move forward. During this workshop we would like
to identify principles and strategies of mobilization and to raise our level of commitment to “getting it done” –
whatever your “IT” may be.
Pastor Darryl Beatty is pastor and founder of Word of Faith Christian Fellowship located in McLeansville, NC. He is married to Tanya Beatty,
they have three wonderful children and three grandchildren. He graduated from North Carolina A&T State University where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management. Pastor Beatty faithfully ministers the Word of God each week to a growing congregation, training and
equipping them to fulfill Christ’s great commission in Matthew 28:19. He serves as a board member of Good Shepherd’s Fellowship International
and has traveled internationally to Ghana, Liberia, as well as Norway assisting in the training and development of Pastors and Leaders. His desire is to see Pastors and Leaders operate with integrity and character as they lead their congregations and fulfill their kingdom assignment.
Harriet Dennis—Becoming a Leader that L.E.A.D.S. | Fellowship Hall—THU & FRI
Leadership, at its essence, is influence. Therefore you can lead wherever you are, even if you are not in
a formal leadership role or have a leadership title. This workshop will share 5 essential leadership principles necessary for every effective and spiritually mature leader. We will use the L.E.A.D.S. acronym to
discuss how to experience fulfillment in leadership and take a deeper dive into the 4 T’s of Stewardship
that builds character to last a lifetime.
Harriet is the founder and president of Issues of Life International Ministries (IOLIM), a church planting and equipping ministry. Harriet is a
graduate of University of Baltimore with a degree in Jurisprudence and after a 19 year career with the FBI she entered into fulltime ministry. She
works alongside churches and pastors to develop strategies for the kingdom growth. Over past six years two Issues of Life Church Ministries
have been planted in Colorado along with networking with churches in Kissi, Kenya. Harriet serves as Vice President and Executive Director for
Good Shepherds Fellowship International, headed by Pastor Michael Thomas.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS AND PRESENTERS
KEYNOTE SPEAKER & PASTORAL SYMPOSIUM PRESENTER
Curtis A. Swafford is the Pastor of Rivers of Life Church Ministries, Inc. located in Brandon, Florida. He and his wife, the Rev. Dorothy
Templeton Swafford, a native of Lakeland, Florida, were called into full-time ministry more than 25 years ago. On Aug. 29, 1986, Pastor
Swafford preached his trial discourse at Full Gospel A.M.E. Zion Church in Temple Hills, Md. Just eight years after his trial sermon, Pastor
Swafford was called into the pastorate and he and his wife moved to Tampa, Florida for their first pastorate assignment in 1994. They
labored at their first assignment for six years, through what Pastor and Rev. Swafford, have called ‘their wilderness experience’. There, he
said, God was able to show him the vision of Rivers of Life Church Ministries (ROL) “A Ministry of Relationships” and he was led to leave the A.M.E. Zion
denomination to start a nondenominational ministry in Brandon, Florida. The first service was held on Aug. 29, 1999 at the Crown Plaza Hotel, in Sabal
Park, with 15 members. Since the first service, the ROL ministry has truly grown from one relationship to another. Today there are more than 3,000
members with a complement of at least 30 ministries. Through Pastor Swafford’s simple and vivid teaching of the Word of God, he has guided many to
build a deeper relationship with Christ, their family and others, which has spanned far beyond the city limits of Brandon, Florida. He has travelled to
Uganda and South Africa to preach the gospel, as well as, mentoring to six pastors and supporting missionaries abroad. Pastor is the oldest son of eight
children and was born and raised in the ‘hills’ of Milburn, West Virginia. He and Rev. Swafford have been married for more than 37 years and are the
parents of one daughter Joy Elaine, who resides in the Washington, D.C. area.
LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM PRESENTER
Rev. Janice Williamson currently serves with her husband, Pastor
Edward Williamson, at From the Heart Church Ministries (FTHCM) of
Raleigh, NC. She is the Church Business Administrator assisting her
husband in carrying out the church mission by planning and
implementing effective organizational and fiscal process. Rev.
Williamson gave her life to The Lord Jesus Christ in 1979. She
rededicated her life in 1984 and joined Full Gospel AME Zion Church which later
became FTHCM where Dr. John A. Cherry was the Pastor. She became a minister in
April 1993 and was ordained an Elder in May 1996. Rev. Williamson worked alongside
her husband on the ministerial staff of FTHCM with a membership of 20,000+ until they
were assigned to the FTHCM of Raleigh. She and her husband continue to faithfully
serve under the leadership of their Episcopal Pastor, Dr. John A. Cherry, FTHCM
Worldwide, Suitland, MD. Rev. Williamson was born and raised in Prince George
County, Maryland. She has been married to Rev. Edward Williamson for 38 years. She
is the mother of three children and the grandmother of twelve. As a born-again, Spiritfilled woman of God she has a heart for young women, establishing community
programs, bible studies and special emphasis projects for women of all ethnicities and
walks of life. Rev. Williamson and her husband are dedicated to exhorting, edifying, and
equipping the saints through committed and effective leadership.
LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM: Partnership Between Pastors & Leaders | Room LEC
Establishing a strong bond between pastors and leaders is unequivocally one of most
necessary components in the church. This bond is built on trust, accountability,
cooperation and mutual respect. We will discuss the obstacles and challenges in
developing a partnership between pastors and leaders that will bring about vision
alignment and promote church growth—while helping leaders fulfill their God-given
purpose.
William V. Thompson is the co-owner
and Cash Flow Strategist for The
Church Coalition (TCC). William
resides in McLeansville N.C. and
received his degree in Accounting and
Social Work from Greensboro College. In 1981, he worked
for one of the top 8 accounting firms, Ernst & Whinney for
two years and received his certification as a Certified Public
Accountant (CPA). William has authored over 50
books. The Church, the Clergy & the IRS; Debt Trap; and
Principles Promises & Power are just a few. All were
published and distributed through Destiny Image. In 2010,
William established The Church Coalition, an organization
that “helps church create a bible based plan for increase."
William attends Evangel Fellowship where he served under
the late Bishop Otis Lockett Sr. since 1984 as an Elder,
Trustee & the CFO, overseeing and was instrumental in
assisting Bishop Lockett in the planting of 30 churches. His
current Pastor is Otis Lockett Jr.
FINANCIAL SEMINAR —The standard of everything
especially in stewardship is how would Jesus manage or
care for a thing. In this session we will look at how Jesus
would manage & care for the following financial items:
1. Personal taxes
2. Organization’s (church) funds
3. Personal monies
4. Understand current Laws to comply with them
Pastor Michael Thomas was born in Mt. Gilead, NC and he is married with one daughter and son-in-law. Prior to coming to
Greensboro, Pastor Thomas was an assistant Pastor to a growing church in San Antonio, TX. As a mentoring Pastor of several
Pastors who look to him for spiritual guidance and support, Pastor Thomas travels to different regions of the country and around the
world to visit with Pastors that are under him. Pastor Thomas encourages all new members of Love and Faith to join one or more of
the 80+ ministries offered by the church. Desiring that each member perform their ministry work with integrity and excellence, Pastor
Thomas wants God to be pleased with both the Spiritual and the Administrative aspects of the ministry. He is committed to fulfilling
the assignment given to him by the Holy Spirit. He believes that “to whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48). Through his
commit to God and the church, Love and Faith Christian is now thriving, healthy church ministry of more than 3500 members. Adding
to his responsibilities, God called Pastor Thomas to begin Good Shepherds Fellowship International (GSFI). In March 2010, GSFI held its first annual
International Pastors and Leaders Conference. Pastor Thomas continues to serve GSFI as the Chief Executive Pastor and Chairman of the Board. GSFI
holds national regional conferences and international conferences in Ghana, Liberia and Norway.
Living By The 9 Spiritual Principles Workshop—FRIDAY ONLY | Room C131—One of the greatest challenges facing
pastors and leaders today is developing biblical principles to live by on a daily basis. The 9 spiritual principles should be
foundational in the life of a every believer, but cemented in the life of Christian leaders. These principles must first be lived in
our personal lives and then through our ministry life. This workshop will help you lay a foundation for defining, applying and
living by the 9 spiritual principles that will change your life and guarantee your success in ministry. This is accomplished
through faith and power of the Holy Spirit.