Michael Foster

A different sort of event for church leaders and their wives... Faithful ministry can be lonely and comes with pressures most people never see. Over time, church leaders and their families can get worn down or stuck in the same ruts. Instead of working on themselves and the ministry, they can end up stuck in the grind of just keeping up and barely surviving. With this in mind, we’re reworking our pastors’ conference into The Evergreen Summit. We’re calling it “Evergreen” because the aim is to equip pastors, elders, and their wives for the long haul of ministry. We’re going to do things a little differently in two main areas. First, no keynotes. Frankly, most pastors’ conferences are largely a summons to hear “big names” preach sermons. We want something more practical and interactive. This isn’t about platform building for Christian celebrities or content generation for media-centered ministries. Second, no recordings. We want presenters and attendees to be able to speak freely about the real challenges of ministry, so this event will not be livestreamed or recorded. We will provide printed materials for all attendees, but all workshops and mastermind group conversations will remain private. So what will we do? We’ll have three workshop blocks, each consisting of three back-to-back 20-minute presentations. Each block will be followed by a 15-minute break, and then the three presenters will take part in a moderated panel and answer questions from attendees. Our full lineup of workshop sessions is still being finalized, but it will include topics like How I Survived a Coup d’État, Cultivating a Leadership Pipeline, and Protecting Your Wife and Kids. We’re aiming to be very practical and brutally honest. There will also be one workshop block just for ministry wives, led by Rosaria Butterfield, Emily Foster, and a presenter TBA. It will run concurrently with one of the main workshop blocks. Another key component of the summit is the masterminds. These are small groups of six to eight people who will identify two real problems within the group and work together to find a path forward. There will be two mastermind sessions for the men’s track and two for the wives’ track. We’ll also share meals together and have a catered party on Friday night for all attendees. The goal is to come ready to work on real problems and return home refreshed and ready to get things done. We will not have childcare available, but babes-in-arms are welcome. Presenters include: Michael Clary • Rosaria Butterfield • Chris Wiley • Michael Foster • Doug Ponder • Bryan Laughlin • Emily Foster • Brian Brown …and more to be announced. Date July 16-18, 2026 Location East River Church, 299 Haskell Lane Batavia, OH 45103 Purchase Tickets here: eventbrite.com/e/the-evergree…

@TheRhetorRick Perfectly calibrated to trigger

RETVRN

@mattpat1 He is going to pay for it.

This is not a paid partnership

@RossLeavitt1 People are welcome to copy the structure!

@thisisfoster Would be much more valuable to multiply than to expand. Have multiple regional events and keep them small. This would also help sidestep celebrity culture.

The first Evergreen Summit has come and gone. It was, in many ways, an experiment. We had ideas about what might help pastors and their wives, but until people actually experienced it, we didn’t know whether those ideas would work. The comment I heard over and over was that this was unlike any pastors’ conference people had attended before. Thankfully, they meant that as a compliment. We didn’t do anything revolutionary, but we made a handful of deliberate decisions that seemed to produce exactly what we hoped they would. First, we didn’t record anything. That wasn’t because we were trying to hide something. It was because we wanted people to know that one thing everyone would say about the Evergreen Summit was, “You had to be there.” The Summit isn’t primarily about consuming content. It’s about working through real ministry with peers. Not recording also created a freedom that is increasingly rare. Men knew they could be honest about what was actually happening in their churches, their marriages, and their own hearts without wondering whether a clip would live online forever. That simple decision set the tone for the entire conference. People were open, and that openness carried into every discussion. Second, we intentionally structured the teaching differently. Rather than hour-long lectures, we grouped three sessions of roughly twenty-five minutes together. One speaker would finish, the next would step up immediately, then the third. The goal wasn’t to exhaust a subject but to get everyone thinking. The sessions existed to feed the discussions, not replace them. After each block, all of the speakers returned for an open Q&A panel where attendees could ask whatever was on their minds. Then we broke into facilitated roundtables of about seven pastors each. Each man identified one of the significant challenges facing his church. The group worked to define the issue carefully before jumping to solutions. Once everyone had laid their cards on the table, each roundtable selected a handful of those issues and worked through them together so that men left with practical next steps instead of merely taking home another notebook full of conference notes. We repeated that pattern three times over the course of the Summit. Just as important were the unstructured moments. Thursday and Friday evenings were designed simply to let pastors and their wives get to know one another. We encouraged everyone to exchange phone numbers and build friendships with like-minded couples. Ministry can be lonely. It doesn’t have to be. The women’s track followed a more traditional format, but it shared the same goal. Rosaria Butterfield taught two sessions, Emily taught one, and after each teaching block we held panel discussions with Rosaria, Emily, and two seasoned pastors’ wives. There were also prayer groups, fellowship, and plenty of time simply to talk. If there’s one area we’ll refine for next year, it will probably be the women’s track, but even there we heard very positive feedback. Overall, I wouldn’t change much. It was a privilege to spend a few days helping strengthen pastors, their wives, and ultimately their churches. If the Lord is pleased to use the Evergreen Summit in even a small way to help faithful men endure for the long haul, then it has accomplished exactly what we hoped. One thing has become clear, however: this is never going to be a massive conference. We had roughly one hundred attendees this year. We may make room for another fifty couples next year, but not much beyond that. The Summit isn’t infinitely scalable because one of its greatest strengths is intimacy. The more you chase size, the more you risk losing the very thing that makes the event valuable. So we’ll grow carefully, if at all. Lord willing, we’ll gather again next year and do what we set out to do from the beginning: equip pastors, elders, and their wives for a lifetime of faithful ministry. More info on next year’s Summit will be coming soon.

I get to preach the funeral of a friend tomorrow who was just a little older than me. You’d think it would be hard, but I know what he would want me to say: Repent & Believe the Gospel. Easy enough.

Spoke at @thisisfoster’s Evergreen conference today about organizational leadership and how important it is as a crucial secondary skill for pastors. I think almost all business books are complete garbage. But I still recommend five. They are: Essentialism, McKeown Extreme Ownership, Willinck Traction, Wickman Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager, Kogon 4,000 Weeks, Burkeman

@nathanweisser This was about troublesome people.

@thisisfoster I was hoping you'd have a category for someone that is shifting people's hearts and minds on a specific issue, but they're actually right on that issue, and their point should be considered. Have you ever had something like that?

I’m going to give you two paradigms for dealing with troublesome people in your church. Not all troublesome people are the same. That brings us to the first paradigm, which takes the form of a triad. You can generally categorize difficult people into three groups: annoying, corrosive, and toxic. An annoying person isn’t really a threat to the church. They’re simply annoying. They have habits, quirks, or a temperament that you and others don’t always enjoy. But they are fundamentally with the church. They submit to its mission, its confession, and its constitution and bylaws. They simply have characteristics that are more off-putting than rebellious or sinful. Those are the people you have to learn to love. If the source of the annoyance is significant enough, try to coach them through it where possible. But annoying people are simply part of life. Sometimes it comes down to nothing more than a personality conflict. As a Christian leader, that’s something you have to rise above. The second category is corrosive. This is no longer a matter of personality. These are people who are becoming increasingly at odds with some essential aspect of the church. They are pushing back against its doctrine, its leadership, its structure, or its direction. Their criticism is beginning to spread and other people are starting to feel its effects. It slowly eats away at the health of the church. This has to be addressed immediately and directly. It may require multiple conversations. But unlike the merely annoying person, this is not something you can simply live with. Left alone, it will continue to erode relationships and undermine the well-being of the church. Then you have toxic people. If corrosive people slowly eat away at the church, toxic people radiate their rebellion. Whether it is open defiance, divisiveness, or rejection of the church’s core doctrine, they actively spread their influence to others. These situations require swift action. You cannot afford to let them linger because the damage they can do is often rapid and sometimes irreparable. That brings us to the second paradigm. This one describes how you respond to the latter two categories. The pattern is simple. Convert. Contain. Expel. Your first goal should always be to convert them back to the mission and doctrine of the church through biblical admonition, patient conversation, and faithful teaching. Seek to uncover the misunderstanding or source of the conflict. Then walk them through what the Scriptures say. Many people can be won back if you address the issue before it hardens. An annoying person can become corrosive. A corrosive person can become toxic if problems are ignored. Leaders who deal with issues directly and without unnecessary delay often prevent matters from ever reaching that point. Suppose, however, that you cannot yet win them over but you are not ready to expel them because there is still reason to hope they may repent. That is when you contain their influence. Keep them from spreading their discontent. That may mean removing them from positions of influence, limiting opportunities for them to stir up division, or addressing the matter directly through meetings and pastoral oversight. If they cannot be won, refuse to back down, and cannot be contained, then they must be expelled. Scripture requires us to drive out divisive men. That must always be done biblically and according to the procedures laid out in your constitution and bylaws. But it must be done. These are simply two helpful frameworks for thinking through difficult situations. Thankfully, most people never fit into any of these categories and are, at worst, just a little annoying. Before you bring the hammer down on someone simply for being annoying, remember how annoying you can be yourself. It is one of the quiet miracles of the Christian life that God knits together churches made up of people like us.

@hoss_roger I disagree.

@thisisfoster The Rio Grande Presbytery channeled this post when they suspended Garris.

@ArmenThomassian You are free to use them however you find it helpful.

@thisisfoster Corrosive and toxic are too similar as descriptors. I'd replace toxic with usurpative. The corrosive person murmurs. The usurpative person seeks influence.

@Thatbrian @jonharris1989 To be fair, there is a clerics only breakfast.

@Thatbrian @jonharris1989 Brother, this is crazy. It’s a gathering for pastors/elders and their wives that has sessions, panels, and workshops. Pretty standard there. There’s just no recording or sponsors. That’s the big difference.

Ten minutes into @thisisfoster’s Evergreen Conference. It’s not recorded. It’s exclusive. Pastors and wives only. It’s analogue. The environment is already different than other conferences. People are comfortable. Lots of honesty. There is a safety in knowing you can talk about real issues and it’s not blasted on the internet. The scale gives it a valuable feel. This isn’t for the masses. There’s a certain back and forth between speaker and audience that doesn’t work in the typical conference environment. It’s super practical. The world will change by meaningful reachable decisions everyone involved can make. I suspect this is the way forward for training the next generation of Christian leaders.

@Thatbrian @jonharris1989 That’s why I called it a summit.

@thisisfoster @jonharris1989 Okay. It seems the antithesis of the norm for conferences, so maybe we're both right.

@Thatbrian @WozzleBaby @jonharris1989 It’s extreme to not record the sessions?

@WozzleBaby @jonharris1989 @thisisfoster I don't disagree, but it also is extreme—just like what it stands in contrast to.

@Thatbrian @jonharris1989 It’s not a correction as much as an option.

@jonharris1989 @thisisfoster This sounds like an overcorrection.

@MagnusonBrettA Most. Definitely call back within a couple hours. I’m easy to get a hold of if you call me. I only have one cell phone number and I put it on all my emails out to the church.

@thisisfoster curious...out of 10 phone calls from a member of your church during normal hours, how often are you picking up?

Here’s the least “edgy” part of my unrecorded session at Evergreen tonight: “If you start putting your health, both spiritual and physical, your family’s well-being, and your relationship with your elders first, will people leave your church? Yes. Yes, some will. And they’ll say mean things about you on the way out. They’ll say you’re too busy to be a pastor. Or they’ll say you’re a sports fanatic who’s living through your kids, and that’s why you’re at all their baseball games, not because you’re an involved dad who knows this is a short season of life. They’ll say you take too many vacations or too many date nights with your wife. They’ll say all sorts of things. You’ll just have to get over that. They’re not going to leave and admit they’re needy, desperate people who don’t respect boundaries and only want pastors who refuse to enforce them. So yes, you’re going to lose those types of people, and you’ll be happier for it. Because even that purposeful ignoring you’re doing is part of your discipleship, and they didn’t respond to it the way they should have. They should have followed your example, started taking responsibility for themselves, and learned to live within the confines of real life, where everything isn’t treated like a 911 emergency. It is a million times better to lose those sorts of people than to lose your marriage, your family, and your own relationship with God. You are a man with limits. And when you live like that, the God without limits does amazing things through you. While some people will leave, others will follow your example. Those who are mature will come alongside you and labor faithfully in the day-to-day realities of Christian living. Your example of stability and well-maintained boundaries begins to extend far beyond you. It becomes the way of life of the entire church. Those who grew up without healthy families, who grew up in dysfunction, will find themselves in a spiritual community that normalizes self-discipline and personal responsibility. A place where each man carries his own load, and the church is there to help when he becomes genuinely overburdened. When you manage your own life and your own household well, you lay the groundwork for a church that can actually minister to dysfunctional individuals and families without being pulled into their dysfunction. You’ve got to maintain the right pH balance.”

@thisisfoster I mean, it's not bad actually. Better than most of the generic promotional material you see for film and TV these days.

This feels like something my eighth grade English teacher would’ve thought was the coolest thing and would help us finally fall in love with epic poems. It’s got that a very special school assembly vibe.

@TonyCampbell_WI Yes. I have legitimately considered somewhere in the range of 60+ groups.

@thisisfoster Have you ever considered joining Evangel Presbytery?

I transferred out of the PCA into the CREC as an evangelist under the oversight of All Saints Presbyterian in 2020. I received the following from the Clerk of Calvary Presbytery (PCA): "October 23, 2020 Rev. Foster, Calvary Presbytery has dismissed you from membership according to BCO 38.3.a. (The PCA only recognizes transfers between PCA Churches so this is the ordinary method of response to your request). The vote was unanimous, and I read a selected portion of your email to the brethren - yesterday at the Autumn meeting- which was well received. Thank you for your labors in the PCA. We send with you our brotherly affections and charge you to make your new place/people/parish of call better... by God's grace." So, I asked to be transferred out of the PCA and left on the best terms allowed by the BCO, given I was transferring outside of NAPARC. East River, then, was begun as a church plant of All Saints (CREC) that was carried out under the oversight of Rev. Gregg Strawbridge. That work began in earnest in December of '20. We particularized as a congregation in April '22. In July of '24, East River session and congregation voted to resign our church's membership in the CREC because they amended its constitution to require sessions to practice paedocommunion in some cases of transfer members. This would require us to violate our vows to uphold standards (which included) and our constitution (which explicitly forbade paedocommunion). We tried to stop it. We were unable. We pursued an appeal. We failed. We then followed their Book of Procedures and left as respectfully as we could. It wasn't what we wanted, but it's where we landed. And we did everything by the book. As an independent church, we set a 3-year timeline to decide on some form of affiliation and established an accountability board to which members could appeal any judicial action taken by the session or submit a complaint regarding the fitness of a session member. We then immediately started exploring options. After 1 1/2 years, we decided the wisest thing for now is to simply formalize the already existing relationship we have with our two church plants and a few regionally located ones. That's it. We followed the rules. We never got disciplined. It had an unfortunate outcome. We are not going to submit ourselves to corrupt and/or toothless courts, but we will pray for those who have the institutional powers to do something about it. May God give them strength to do it! Guys like Timothy are well-intentioned but ultimately clueless young men. I hope he can bring this vigor into session and committee meetings.