This year’s Exponential conference included the Ventures program — a shark-tank style chance for Wesleyan college students to pitch missional innovations aimed at making disciples in their contexts.
Facilitated by The Wesleyan Church’s Next Gen team, the program, Ventures brought students from four of the Wesleyan schools — Indiana Wesleyan (IWU), Kingswood, Oklahoma Wesleyan (OKWU) and Southern Wesleyan (SWU) universities — into a creative environment to prototype new ministry ideas. Each student or team presented a ministry initiative before a panel of leaders, received feedback, and left with both encouragement and a financial investment in their project.
The $4,000 first-place prize was awarded to Dalton Miller from IWU for Team Chaplain’s Multiply. Dalton (a graduate student and IWU baseball coach, committed to bridging the spiritual formation and athletic offices) will use the prize money toward equipping student-athletes to be disciple-makers within their teams and around campus. His model is rooted in his existing work in cultivating prayer leaders on each athletic team. Together, they’re ready to share proof-of-concept with other schools, so athletes can lead on and off the field. One leader reflected that they’re “already expecting exceedingly abundantly more souls transformed” because of this model.
The $3,000 second-place prize went to Kevin Ellis from OKWU for his initiative Speak Holiness. Kevin integrates music and social media to call his generation to holy living. As his mother (Reverend Arlynn Ellis) shared in a post online, the opportunity to present and receive feedback (and financial support) was “a dream come true” for her son.
In third place, Tanton Schnider and Cody Challoner of Kingswood received $1,500 for Breakthrough Church, a concept centered on spiritual renewal in local communities. And in fourth, Dillon Bennett and Luke Burleson from SWU shared their vision for CPR — Central/Clemson Prayer Room, a campus-based prayer initiative aiming to unify and awaken students through intercession, which received $1,000 of funding.
While these four projects received funding, everyone who participated walked away with something more lasting — affirmation, coaching and prayer. One Next Gen team member noted, “We were absolutely blown away by each presenter … it was the highlight of my week.”
The Ventures event was made possible through resources stewarded by Church Multiplication and Discipleship, with funding and endorsement extended by Jesse and Aimee Pratt. The rubric and event design were led by Young Adult Catalysts Ian Nacy and Tisa Herbert, who will carry the vision forward into future gatherings.
“The church needs more opportunities where people are incentivized to engage the imagination,” wrote Amy Boyle, Next Gen team member. “For me, as a 22-year-old, it was faith-building and inspiring to listen and offer feedback as each person shared the ministry assignment God placed on their heart.”
That spirit of encouragement, seeing and blessing young leaders’ giftings, was pervasive throughout Exponential. Whether through praying over presenters or offering tangible support, the Next Gen team modeled how Wesleyans are eager to carry the holiness message into the future.
Moving forward, the hope is that Ventures will continue in different forms at Empowered Tour sites, with versions adapted for middle and high school students through the Quest initiative. Leaders are also working to capture stories from these presentations on video for wider sharing, and others present at the event have returned to their campuses inspired to take next steps. “They’re not just preparing to do ministry,” said Reverend Tisa Herbert. “They are actively multiplying disciple-makers right now.”
While the Ventures concept started as a shoulder event to the main conference, for those in the room, it felt like a sacred space. For more stories of missional innovation, visit wesleyan.org/news.
Rev. Ethan Linder is the pastor of discipleship at College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Indiana, and contributing editor at The Wesleyan Church’s Education and Clergy Development Division.
