Church will host forum focusing on intersection of faith and business
Faith in the workplace should be more than a catch phrase.
That’s the premise of the “Leading Forward Business Leadership Forum” set for Nov. 16 at Quail Springs Baptist Church, 14613 N May. The event will begin at 7:30 a.m. with continental breakfast and the opening keynote presentation will be at 8:30 p.m. The forum is expected to end at noon.
The Rev. Stephen Rummage, Quail Springs Baptist’s senior pastor, said the forum is geared toward business owners, business and community leaders, managers, teachers, ministers and volunteer leaders.
He said it follows a multiple-day event with a similar focus that was held about a year ago at the church. Now, Leading Forward will be a quarterly business leadership forum that aims to provide Oklahoma City business leaders a place to connect with each other and find encouragement as they seek ways to integrate faith and work.
“This is something that the Lord really put on our hearts about a year ago just to be able to help people in the workplace to be able to think about how their faith in Christ affects what they do in the workplace and then how they can make a difference in the workplace because of their faith,” Rummage said.
“It sort of started with that, the idea that God sort of scatters us out, his Church, throughout the week in the workplace which is a great place for believers to make a difference for their faith. If our faith isn’t making a difference in the workplace, then it really isn’t making a difference in our lives because for so many of us, what we do at work really is the bulk of our lives.”
Rummage will be one of the keynote speakers along with Rick Rigsby, Ph.D., best-selling author, former journalist and former Texas A&M University professor and chaplain and life skills coach for the university’s Aggies football team. Rigsby will speak on the topic “Making an Impact With a Few Lessons From a Third-Grade Dropout.”
Rummage, an author and founder of the radio teaching ministry Moving Forward, will speak on “Trust Matters in Leadership.”
The half-day event will also include a panel discussion featuring a panel of Oklahoma chief executive officers and business leaders that Rummage is excited about. The panelists include: Sean Kouplen, chief executive officer of Regent Bank and former Oklahoma secretary of state; Sheryl Chinowth, chief executive officer and co-founder of Chinowth & Cohen Realtors; Thomas Hill III, chief executive officer of Kimray; and Shannon Wilburn, chief executive officer and co-founder of Just Between Friends.
Todd Lamb, corporate attorney with McAfee & Taft and former Oklahoma lieutenant governor, will serve as moderator.
The panelists are expected to discuss their journey to leadership, how they inspire and motivate people and they will be asked to share leadership tips for the future.
“It’s just a great, great panel of really high energy leaders,” Rummage said. “What has really been exciting is that everybody that we asked said yes on the first ask, which is incredible.”