Moody's Pastors’ Conference was a gathering of talented Christian communicators, worship leaders and representatives from nationally-recognized ministries—however, the most highly-revered guests were the 1251 pastors attending for spiritual renewal and encouragement.

The conference, which was started more than 30 years ago by former Moody president George Sweeting, began as a vision to excite pastors for ministry and provide necessary tools for effective service. One pastor from Kenya traveled to the conference because he had read about it on the Moody Web site. He showed up with $100 in his pocket and expressed immense gratitude for the opportunity to attend. Similar stories surfaced of first-time attendees whose churches sacrificed for them to travel to Chicago. Others were 30-year Pastors’ Conference veterans.

During daily sessions, pastors engaged in specific training on contemporary issues within the church, such as how to reach the next generation for Christ, as well as personal issues, such as prayer. Sessions were led by experts in the field, such as Erwin Lutzer and John Piper, as well as Moody faculty, including Bill Thrasher and John Koessler. Attendees could also visit the Exhibit Hall, located in Moody’s Solheim Center, where Christian publishers, service providers and seminaries supplied brochures, giveaways and deep discounts available only to Moody Pastors’ Conference attendees. Pastors also received complimentary resources, including books such as Riven, by Jerry B. Jenkins; The Flip Side: Break Free of the Behaviors That Hold You Back, by Flip Flippen; Good to Great in God's Eyes: 10 Practices Great Christians Have in Common, by Chip Ingram; and A Heart for the Community: New Models for Urban and Suburban Ministry , by John Fuder and Noel Castellanos.

Another daily highlight was morning prayer in the Alumni Auditorium, sponsored by Daniel Henderson of Strategic Renewal. “The room was packed out with standing room only,” said Brandon Chism, conference and event program coordinator. “It was amazing to see over 1,000 pastors focused in prayer and worshipping openly before God.”

Chism works with the Event and Guest Services (EGS) team at Moody, which coordinates Pastors’ Conference. Their staff is already gearing up for the 2010 conference, which will be May 17-20. For those who could not attend this year, select audio will be available for purchase within the next month at MoodyAudio.com.