Two Years In The Making, The Chosen Conference Brings Star Power To Simple Messages Of Unity and Spiritual Empowerment

By Raoul Dennis

MAIN PHOTO: REV. SKIP LITTLE AND HIS WIFE REV. BEVERLY LITTLE

For two years, Reverend Skip Little of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden worked behind the scenes with his wife, Beverly, and dozens of other leaders, specialists, technicians, planners, creatives and professionals to bring life to the Chosen Men’s Conference (Aug. 14 - 15) that Reverend John Jenkins envisioned with him.

Every light switch, every sound check, every nameplate and parking space has been planned to the most minute detail in preparation for the 1,300-1,400 men expected to walk through the doors during the conference.

Former NFL Coach Tony Dungy and CBS Sports Anchor James Brown will serve as keynote speakers among a dream team of national and global talents including Kwame Kilpatrick, Pastor Jonathan Evans, Christian Music Artist Anthony Evans, Gospel Vocalist Joshua Copeland and Comedian Broderick Rice.

Days before the conference, Rev. Little met with Prince George’s Suite Magazine & Media to discuss the meaning of the event and the goals the leaders have for men in Prince George’s.

The Suite: Okay. What is it that inspired the idea for the men’s conference?

Reverend Little: That's a great question, The Suite. What inspired us is that we are really big on discipleship now. Our theme for our church is be a disciple, make a disciple. We believe if we can disciple men, whether they're single or married, whether they're young or old, if we can disciple them, they'll be better leaders within their homes, and they'll be better leaders on their jobs and within their community. We believe firmly that everything starts with the man, as God intended it to be. Once he gets things together, everything else falls in order. Thank God for women and we're not discounting them in any way. We believe if a brother gets it right with the Lord, then he'll get it right with his girlfriend, he'll get it right with his wife, he'll get it right with his children, and everyone else that he's in relationship with or contact with.

The Suite: How long ago was that original impetus to decide to have the men's conference, and how many months have you been working on making it happen?

Reverend Little: Yes. We got this about almost two years ago. We've been planning for two years, identifying and praying on the speakers that we're going to have. God just so heard it that Tony Dungy is going to be there along with James Brown. That's going to be on Saturday. On Friday night, we have Jonathan Evans. He took over his dad's church. Dr. Tony Evans's son took over his dad's church down in Dallas, and his brother Anthony Evans, they're going to be singing and performing on Friday night. Then on Saturday, it's going to be Tony Dungy, James Brown, and Kwame Kilpatrick. Then we're going to end with a discipleship interview.

The Suite: This is a major undertaking. You've got major people who are going to be attending. How many do you expect to attend the entire conference?

Reverend Little: Right now, we are currently registered at 1,200. Our goal is to hit 1,500.

The Suite: Outstanding. Tony Dungy and James Brown, those are major names. How did all of that come about? Help me with the behind-the-scenes as to how you all were able to get these two gentlemen to come on board and what their reasons were for saying yes.

Reverend Little: That's a great story. James Brown spoke at our first Disciplemakers Conference. He did a wonderful job speaking. After he spoke two years ago, we began discussions and a greater relationship with him. We began to talk about what does discipleship look like for him. He shared with both me and Pastor Jenkins that the person who holds him accountable to his walk is Tony Dungy. When we heard that, we said, wouldn't it be great if we could have them both speak and then share about what discipleship looks like between them?

Because Tony's actually younger than Brother James Brown, we wanted to pull on what that dynamic look like and show other men that if Tony Dungy and James Brown can keep each other accountable and hold each other accountable, certainly we can at our levels. Whether it's at the gym or whether it's working for the local government or a private industry, we can have that type of discipleship relationship with one another so that we as men can not only be followers of Jesus Christ, but apply God's word and see the fruit of applying God's word in our families, in our homes, and again, in our jobs. It's all about improving the man. That's what it's all about.

The Suite: It sounds like once the seed was in the mind, it was really just a matter of the mechanics?

Reverend Little: It was a matter of the mechanics. The reason why it took two years to happen was getting those two schedules in line.

The Suite: First Baptist is not new to women's conferences, men's conferences, family. You are a great pillar in our community. This is not new to you. What is different about this year and this Chosen conference?

Reverend Little: In Prince George's County, because our church is based here, we have a strong commitment to the men of Prince George's County because we are an international church, men from around the country and around the world. What we've seen is we're trying to get ahead of the trend where we see the degradation of what it means to be a Godly husband and father, the degradation of what it means to operate with higher sexual and moral integrity, and what it means to operate with greater Godly character. We want to get ahead of that trend.

We want to be a place and a resource as a men's ministry, whether you're a member of the church or not. If you want to learn how to be properly equipped to be a Godly husband, to be a Godly father, to operate with higher standards. How do you lead without being arrogant? How do you mentor young men who are worthy of your duplication? How do you handle success, but also how do you handle disappointment? How do you put Christ at the center of your life, your family, your marriage, your parenting?

The Suite: That is a powerful undertaking. I would argue, however, that it's not new for what you all do.

Reverend Little: No, it's not new. It's not. We just have a renewed focus and a renewed desire. We always hear how men don't step up to the plate. We always hear where we lack. With 1,200 men registered, that should make great news. We just want to highlight that. That there are some men out there who are not all bad. There are some men out there who are stepping up to the plate as dads and stepping up to the plate as husbands and as boyfriends, as employers, as entrepreneurs, that are stepping up to the plate, leading God's way.

We wanted this conference to highlight those brothers who are not making the news but are making a difference in their families because they're leading with Christ. We don't think it's highlighted enough.

The Suite: You touched on something that sparked my curiosity. A lot of our young men who have gone on to have awkward moments in their lives, made bad choices at one point or the other. Not bad people, not bad people, but just made a mistake or made a bad choice or wrong place, wrong time, wrong crowd. How do you reach them as well? How do you get them to say, I need to get there on August 14th?

Reverend Little: First of all, it's come as you are. You don't need the big cross or the big Bible to enter the door. We built this 1,200-man register. It was built on one relationship at a time. It wasn't major marketing or major communication. It really has been a grassroots effort in me being in relationship with another brother, or you being in relationship with another brother, saying, "Hey, look, listen, I know you. I know where your struggles are. I know where your successes are. Come to this conference, and let's see how we can vote Matthew 6:33, which is, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness, and all those other things to be added unto you." It was really based upon relationships.

Our church's mission and vision statement is developing dynamic disciples, discipline, discipleship, and duplication. We really sounded the alarm for duplication. If you know a brother that could benefit, if you know a man, if you know a son, if you know an uncle, if you know a nephew or cousin or best friend or a coworker, it might be somebody you don't even know in the gym or the gas station or a restaurant you frequent on a regular basis. If you know a brother because you're in relationship with him that could benefit to improve his life by seeking God first, then this conference is for you.

Or you might be God-curious. You've tried many different ways and many different approaches, but you haven't seen the success you want in your own life. This conference is for you. We built all of these 1,200 men that are coming, and we'll probably hit 1,300 before Friday. They're all coming because they were based on relationships. It's like I know you, The Suite, and you know me.

I'm saying, "Okay, Raoul, I know what's going on. I know your wins. I know your losses, man. I think we both can benefit from hearing from some mighty men of God who've had different trials in their life, different ups and different downs. Let's see how they have recovered based upon God's word, and that you don't have to recover by yourself, that you can recover with me and you can recover with some other brothers that have a similar story or a similar path as you do. Come as you are. Bring your struggle. Bring your successes." The reason why we're able to fill the room is because it was filled based upon one relationship at a time, based upon a part of our initiative vision statement, which is duplication.

Also, I don't want to be selfish with God. I want to share my God with you, which is the God of the 66 books of the Bible, and the God that says in John 14:6, "I'm the way, the truth, and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me," and that was Jesus speaking. That's how we built it. I think that's where the momentum came from, that we weren't looking to rush to do a conference just to do a conference.

We wanted this relationship to be built on one relationship at a time because I know Brother Raoul, Brother Raoul knows me, and we both know what we need to finish this race strong with Jesus Christ. One of the ways we do that outside of the classes we offer, the focus studies we offer, the discipleship ministries that we offer, the once-a-month men's fellowship that we offer, we can also do it by having this conference. If it is a brother out there who is disconnected from other Godly men and disconnected from the Word of God and disconnected because he may have church hurt, this will be a great opportunity to bring him back into the fold and to remind him that Jesus Christ still loves him. Amen.

No matter what he's done and no matter how long he's been disconnected, He still loves him. I believe hearing the praise and worship of 1,200 men, man, oh, man, it's going to be a wonderful thing. We want brothers to experience it.

The Suite: How many other folk at First Baptist are involved in making this whole project come to life?

Reverend Little: I would say probably about at least 30 individuals, starting with our senior pastor. One thing I love about our church, because we are a tithes and offering church, our senior pastor, John K. Jenkins Senior, he promotes that. What we're able to do is we're able to subsidize the ticket for the brothers. What does that mean? Whatever the price you see for the ticket, know that it was a subsidy that went with that. That subsidy came from the members' tithes and offerings. That subsidy was given to us by our senior pastor. We have full support from our senior pastor.

He wanted to make sure that he had an affordable event, that we bring these high-priced ticket speakers in, that a brother's not spending $100 or $200 for a weekend. He's spending a reasonable amount. We recently had a buy one, get one free, because it wasn't about the revenue. It was about spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, spreading hope. As I said before, that Matthew 6:33 moment where he seeks first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness, and all those other things will be added to him.

The first person on that committee was our senior pastor, John K. Jenkins, Sr. Then we had the leader of our men's group, which his name is Deacon Ricky McCullough who oversees our men's ministry. He was instrumental along with Deacon Darrell Spears, who sits on our planning committee with the men's ministry. Then every leader within a ministry that has a major men's demographic, they too, also participated in the planning and the execution of the conference happening this weekend.

The Suite: What were all those moving parts engaged in?

Reverend Little: Reframe the question again so I can answer it, because I want to give you a little pre-conference event insight.

The Suite: Okay, can do. If I were walking through First Baptist with a video camera, and we were going to time-lapse the final product, what would people see these 30 people doing? What would the audience see that would make them go, " Wow "?

Reverend Little: Wow, okay, sir. You gave me what I needed, brother. You gave me what I needed. First of all, you would see our pastor, who's the senior pastor of our church, myself, First Lady Trina Jenkins, my wife, Reverend Beverly Little. I’m in the Family Life department, and my wife is the assistant director of the Family Life department. We oversee the women's group, the men's group, young adult at that time, seniors, and special ministries. We would get together with that group, and then we'll come up with an idea for the conference. If you have the conference, then we're bringing the operations side.

That's Dr. Jones's team. First Lady is our chief ministry officer. Dr. Jones is our chief business officer. The CMO side would have a meeting with the CBO side, and that means we'll meet with Marketing and Production. Marketing communications- I'm sorry, that's one team. We'll meet with the Production team. That's another team. We would meet with the Events team. That's Stacy and her team. Sherry's on the phone right now. We would meet with the Production. That's lights, camera, and action, and sound. Then we would meet with our Music and Arts department. That's Anthony Brown and Reverend Mike McCoy.

They all make the world go round from a church ministry or operations side of it. Then you had the volunteers, you have the male chorus, you have the deacon's ministry, you have the men's ministry, you have brothers in discipleship ministry, you have great hymn ministry; it's the discipleship ministry. These are all the men on the volunteer side that are going to help make this happen. Then you have the deaconess ministry, because they will be assisting largely on Friday and Saturday to register the men.

All these different components have been working together in coordination to market, promote, and strategize on how to make for a very efficient and smooth operation. When a person drives into the parking lot and walks through the door, takes a seat, hears the speakers, takes a break, hears some more speakers, goes to lunch, comes back from lunch, hears some more speakers, and exits the door. We want it to be a seamless process.

The Suite: That's what I thought.

Reverend Little: Yes, it's more like 30 different moving parts of the church. If you are a man in the drama and arts department, if you are a man, let's say, that works security, if you're a man that works the parking lot, if you're a man that's an usher, we brought all these people together to spread the word.

For the last two or three weekends, all those components have been working together in the church parking lot, in the church lobbies, in the church corridors, before and after service, just to promote the event. I hope that gives you an idea of the many meetings that all those people had to make this 1, 200 become a reality.

It wasn't a single man's effort. It was our pastor's vision. He gave us the vision. Pastor Jenkins gave us the vision, and we ran with it. That's what we did. We ran with his vision.

The Suite: You also mentioned that you asked people to go and bring their faith list? I think it's an acronym for something…?

Reverend Little: No, it’s their Frances list. It's F-R-A-N-C-E-S. It stands for Friends, Relatives, Acquaintances, Neighbors, Co-workers and Classmates, Enemies and Strangers.

That comes from a teaching from our pastor. Again, Make a Disciple, Be a Disciple. That acronym was developed by Pastor Jenkins.

The Suite: Brilliant. Excellent. Help us understand a little bit about your journey. What brought you first to the church? Then what brought this particular project to you to help complete?

Reverend Little: Yes. I used to work for DC government before. I was an accountant, believe it or not, before I started to work for the church. My journey started in 2011 when they advertised a position. It was a paid position to be the marriage leader at our church at First Baptist Church of Glenarden. My wife was somewhat reluctant because she was in private industry. She worked for a technology firm called Nextel at the time. I worked for DC government. I shared with my wife that I had a calling to serve God and to help marriages and help families out. I think this is a wonderful opportunity.

She said, "I'm reluctant, but if you go for the opportunity and you get it, then I'll have to reassess my conversation with the Lord, but I'm going to follow you." Long story short, we interviewed for the position, and we got the position as the leaders of the marriage ministry.

Reverend Little: We were the leaders of the marriage ministry for about 10 years. Then we had such tremendous growth with the marriage ministry. We started off with maybe 30 or 40 people. Now, we see between online and in-person, well over 1,000 people or 500 married couples. We expanded the ministry. When First Lady Trina Jenkins got promoted from being the family life department head to chief ministry officer, then that's when we got promoted. Me and my wife got promoted to be the family life department heads. Now, we oversee seniors, married couples, men, women, and singles.

When I got to the men's ministry, I saw a unique opportunity to grow it when I was having conversations with Pastor Jenkins. He and First Lady Trina Jenkins asked me, "What would you like to see happen with the men's ministry?" I said, "I'd like to have a prayer breakfast, and I'd like to have a men's conference." They said, "All right, Skip, I agree. It aligns with being a disciple, make a disciple. It aligns with the mission and vision of this church. Let's see if we can make it happen." Now, we used to do it before for the men's ministry, but we partnered with another organization that had retired out of Philadelphia.

We hadn't had anything in two or three years, maybe four or five years. The last time we had a conference, it was called The Red Zone. We partnered with another organization to do that. This is the first time that we did it on our own. Two years ago, we had a little over 900 men register, and we had a prayer breakfast along with that, and we had about 600 men to that prayer Breakfast. Today, that Prayer Breakfast sees 1,000 men when we have it. Now, this is the first conference we have had in two years. The first year was 800 men. This year it's 1,200. We're hoping if we hit 1,300, 1,400, that'll be good.

We do the men's conference every other year, and we do the Prayer Breakfast every year. It was just a need that Pastor Jenkins saw; it was a need that First Lady saw; it was a need that my wife, Reverend Beverly, saw. It was a need that I saw. Along with the other leaders of the church, we all just got behind it. We see the growth. That's what I'm trying to say. We see the need, and it's a successful event. That's the way we're doing it. I hope I answered the question on that.

The Suite: You nailed it. When you were 19, is this what you thought you would be today?

Reverend Little: No way. I still can't believe it. I've probably gone through questioning God, questioning life, and relationship challenges. Whether it was parental, whether it was a girlfriend. I went through it all, drinking, smoking weed. I went through it all. Everything that you could experience, I experienced outside the will of God. One day in 2002, I got invited to First Baptist. I heard the message preached by Pastor Jenkins. That message forever changed my life. I knew when I answered the call to Christ, I also answered my call to ministry. I immediately went to school and got my master's degree in Divinity from Howard University. I haven't looked back since. It's been a wonderful journey with Christ. I wouldn't trade it for the world.