From all ages and walks of life–wherever they are on their faith journey–Carl Kerby reaches people with biblical truths, providing knowledge and reasons why we can trust God and his Word. A founding Board Member of Answers in Genesis, Carl served fifteen years there before co-founding the apologetics ministry, Reasons for Hope (rforh.com).
Featured Speakers
Carl Kirby
Reasons for Hope
Fifty to eighty-eight percent of young people raised in Christian homes walk away from church after age eighteen. Carl examines causes of this huge exodus, and shows us solutions to offer by starting with the Bible. Young people need to know how to stand uncompromisingly on the Bible’s authority and accuracy to answer skeptical questions of our age.
Come engage, explore, and examine Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) potential blessings and ethical challenges. Carl recognizes God as Creator of all, including the human capacity for innovation. Discover how AI, of human ingenuity, can alleviate suffering, promote justice, and advance medical research. Harness AI for our greater good and be grounded in Christian ethics.
To reach the world with the Gospel, we need as many tools at our disposal as possible. One that every one of us can use is conversation! Carl uses video clips attacking Christianity and the Bible to show us how and how NOT to answer the attacks leveled against Christians. He challenges you to be both real and relevant as you talk with, not at people, and reach their hearts.
“If On the Origin of Species was biology’s deadliest blow to supernaturalism, we may come to see A Universe From Nothing as the equivalent from cosmology.” (NY Times 03/23/12) Let’s see if this statement stands up to scrutiny. We critique the video for Dr. Krause’s book tour with Dr. Dawkins. Look at the evidence. God created everything or NOTHING created everything?
Dr. Roger and Jan Smith
Parenting Matters Now Podcast
Dr. Roger Smith, medical doctor, and Jan, his wife, horse farm and business manager, have four children they homeschooled until college. They mentor and teach at church and serve as board members for Homeschool Louisiana and The National Alliance of Home Education Leaders. Roger (rogersmithmd.com) hosts the Parenting Matters Now podcast and wrote Parenting with Influence.
Having raised four children to lead productive adult lives, the Smiths bring real-life stories from their past to illustrate good and bad approaches to controlling kids in the family. Develop influence to reduce the struggle for control as your child matures. Effective handling at each stage of growth, toddler to teen, sets the stage for more influence. Be encouraged and inspired.
Having watched their children approach life with gusto, sensing few boundaries, the Smiths share what they think made it possible to develop abilities to think outside the box and live like it! Stories and examples from Scripture make the ideas and approaches apply to your home. Let’s examine what that may look like as we all want our children to be brave.
Unlock the door to feeling successful in your homeschooling journey. Oftentimes we try extremely hard but sense no progress. Three keys can help you move forward to achieve a sense of accomplishment. Don’t worry! These simple truths help you open doors to minimize fear and maximize victory for you and your children.
Bullies get too much attention and take many forms. Our children can prepare for resilience in the face of opposition or attacks. You can understand their mental and emotional needs to equip them to be resilient. Training helps them face foes with strength and character, managing the fear. Dr. Smith discusses strategies for equipping your child and yourself.
Communication patterns open or close the door to connectedness. Conflict is a normal part of every relationship, yet healthy conflict resolution is not common. Simple principles help us develop this skill. Let’s review some of the basic communication principles that are foundational to successful conflict resolution.
Angie Tolpin
Podcaster | Homeschool Mom of 8
Angie Tolpin is an author, a speaker, and the host of a podcast for women, Heart of the Home. Married for 25 years, she and her husband, Isaac, a church planter and pastor, homeschool their children and minister with BeCourageousMinistry.org. Angie, mom of nine, grandma to three, home educator the past twenty-one years, has graduated three, and educates six more.
Each parent and child are uniquely designed by God. To choose a curriculum or plan a year’s activities can be daunting for any parent regardless of years under their belt. Angie coaches you through crafting a unique homeschooling experience for each child with confidence and excitement for a new adventure, a grand biblical purpose, and inspiration to get you through.
There are more attacks on Christian values, the family unit, and the pursuit of faithful righteous living now than in previous generations. We must NOT parent out of fear, but courageously equip our children to stand firm in faith and truth while trusting in the Lord! Angie dives into hard topics for this generation and encourages parents to confidently follow God’s Word.
As managers of the home, homeschooling moms, and wives, we can blend aspects of our jurisdictions, forget them, or they rest on the back burner as we prioritize the eternal over the earthly. We have priorities, but let’s model faithfulness to bring glory to God. Be excited to be intentional in your home and to be a foundation leading to more fruitful homeschooling!
The Bible warns us that we will face tribulation, and exhorts us to count it all joy. In homeschooling, our faithfulness is tested and tried. Angie gives practical encouragement to stay the course through transitions in life. She shares how the trials we walk through faithfully with our family produce lasting fruit and equip children for launching into the real world!
Moms, you are God’s chosen Titus 2 Mentor in your daughter’s life! Daughters, you are blessed by the Lord when having a built–in Titus 2 Woman in your life–learn from her! Many are without this blessing, so don’t take it for granted. This is a unique and intentional relationship purpose that if lived out biblically honors the Lord and benefits both mother and daughter. Enjoy teatime during this workshop!
John-Clay Barnett
Award -Winning Christian Filmmaker
John-Clay Burnett started ReelCast Productions (reelcastproductions.com) to specialize in cinematography, editing, and color grading. He worked for award-winning Christian films including I Can Only Imagine and Answers in Genesis’s Hike and Seek. He teaches at Lamplighter Guild and Christian Worldview Film Festival. He loves the Lord, his family, and storytelling.
Explore the history of cinema from a biblical worldview. Select and refine film project ideas, laying groundwork for their creative journey. Delve into the essential elements of storytelling and learn how to craft a compelling narrative that captivates audiences. Learn practical techniques and practice writing film projects.
Discover the critical role of lighting and music in enhancing emotional impact of a film. Learn techniques of lighting to build atmosphere, and music to elevate storytelling. Gain practical knowledge about camera framing, shot composition, and essential settings to effectively capture narratives on film.
Essential pre-production tasks set the stage for a successful film shoot. Learn how to create effective storyboards, develop shooting schedules, and coordinate logistics, ensuring that all aspects of a project are meticulously planned. Dive into practicalities of directing by learning how to work with actors and execute your vision on set, ultimately bringing the story to life.
Explore essential editing techniques to transform raw footage into a cohesive narrative. Navigate the process, working through revisions and feedback to refine a film and enhance the storytelling. Then, focus on final touches to bring a project to life, including selecting appropriate fonts and color palettes complementing the film’s aesthetic appeal.
Director John-Clay Burnett shares how he and his family created The Case of the Missing Boot. His family’s real-life sibling camaraderie was this film’s inspiration. Find out more with four young detectives who learn the value of teamwork, bravery, and perseverance!
Workshop Speakers
Dwight Cover
Disciple Children about Sex, Gender, and Marriage – Pastors & Church Leaders Workshop
Topics like sex, gender, and marriage can be awkward for Christian parents to nurture children to a bold biblical conviction. Equip and see past the awkwardness to the awesomeness God invests in these “private” (or not-so-private) matters. Forty-plus years of study and pastoral ministry inform Dwight’s shared wisdom. A light reception follows.
Dads, Prepare and Launch Sons as Men of God
Come join this interactive session to probe the question:
How—in our confused, truth-censored, and coercive culture—does a godly dad prepare and send out a godly and confident “arrow” son to “overcome the beast” by fulfilling his life’s calling with integrity of heart, manly backbone, and skillfulness of hand?
Dad, I Became a Man Last Night! (Young Men 12+)
What makes a man a man? How does a boy become a man and develop as a man? What mindsets and habits help (or hinder) becoming and being the man God created you to be?
Brandee Gillham
Science of the Human Body Lab: The Eye
(Age 10+; age 7 – 9 and under require an accompanying adult)
(Pre-registration is required; max 40 participants; $10/person)
The Lord has given us such a gift to view the world around us. Even Darwin denounced “natural selection’s” ability to form the intricacies of the human eye. Only the Lord himself could knit together such a complicated anatomical structure. Learn amazing facts about the human eye and how to draw it, then dissect a preserved cow eye.
Science of the Human Body Lab: The Heart
(Age 10+; age 7 – 9 and under require an accompanying adult)
(Pre-registration is required; max 40 participants; $15/person)
God has placed every part in the body, just as he wanted them to be (1 Corinthians 12:18). God’s design for the human body is wonderful and amazing. The Creator sculpted the four-chamber heart and amazing vessels. Learn how to draw the heart from a schematic approach, then finish by dissecting a preserved sheep heart.
Science of the Homan Body Demo: The Brain
(All ages welcome; not a hands-on workshop; no pre-registration required)
The human brain is one of the most fascinating organs that the Lord created when He knit us together in our mother’s womb. Come see the design, complexity, and intricacy of a brain. Watch Brandee demonstrate how to draw the human brain and build it out of clay. Then she dissects a preserved sheep brain.
The Anatomy of Christianity
The more intricately we explore human anatomy and physiology, the more obvious a planned, intelligent design of God becomes. Before the late 18th century, the purpose of science was a search for God. Join Brandee to look at specific anatomical structures and functions of the human body pointing us directly to the Creator himself, God!
Hope in the Difficult
Hope is the expectation of a result based on God’s Word. It also means waiting–somewhere between the already and the not yet. How do we hope when that waiting becomes difficult? How do we have “hope as an anchor for our soul?” Brandee reminds us of Scripture and promises found in Psalm 27:13, “I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
Kevin Boden
9 to 5: Working Dad into the Homeschool Journey
Many working dads find it challenging to be involved in homeschooling their children. After all, when you’re gone for 9+ hours a day, how much time is really left? Do we really want to “do school” when dad is off work anyway? Why is their involvement so vital? Learn some tools to help them be an integral part of the homeschool journey rather than a bystander.
The New Face of Homeschooling
Home education has a history and a future, but that future is changing. Micro-schools, learning pods, traditional co-ops, online learning, accredited programs…the options seem endless. Kevin looks at homeschooling trends and movements. Even with changes, the heart and building blocks of homeschooling do not change. Let’s not lose our history as we move into the future.
Divisive Devices: Navigate the Interruption of Screens
Screens impact us and are here to stay. How much “screen time” is too much? What ages are appropriate? Every member of the family feels effects of them and the ubiquitous internet, whether we recognize it or not. Fortunately, there are principles to help us determine what is best. As we often come to learn, the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.
Everything in Its Time: Busyness, Rest, and Homeschool
Rest and homeschool may feel like polar opposites. In the busyness of life, we often forget that busyness doesn’t equal learning, that rest doesn’t equal laziness, that learning doesn’t equal books. We can guard the quiet moments of the day to focus on what’s most important. Be encouraged as Kevin shares the common parts in light of the overarching whole.
Family Advocacy: Pass Your Freedom to the Next Generation and Make Homeschool Safe Act
Not everyone supports freedom. A “model bill” with restrictions on homeschooling was written for every state to adopt. Widespread publicity of tragic child abuse cases gives them gripping talking points while ignoring research about child abuse. Let’s look at where we came from, where we are, and the risks ahead, and protect homeschool freedom for generations to come.
Megan Tolpin
Built-in Besties: God’s Purpose in Sibling Relationships (Age 11+)
What does it look like to be an intentional and loving sibling? How we treat siblings and interact in leading, following, encouraging, listening, sharing, and spending quality time makes a bigger impact than most of us realize. People come and go, but family stays. Let’s look at what God says.
Pursuing Christ in a Rebellious World (Age 11+)
As young people today, we need to know God and have our own personal faith grounded in the truth. Megan shares ways to pursue God’s heart and invest in this all-important relationship. Learn practical and encouraging tips on studying the Bible and understanding God’s heart. Let’s love others genuinely and in a way that brings Him glory!
Cheryl Delamarter
Beginner Watercolor: Christmas Tree Card
(Age 7+; need ability to draw basic shapes)
(Pre-registration is required; max 20 participants; $10/person)
Learn a specific painting technique allowing for your own creative expression and apply it to countless designs. In four or five steps, create a beautiful Christmas tree with depth and texture enhanced by pen and ink accents. Take home a watercolor Christmas card with a supply packet to continue your watercolor artistic journey.
Intermediate Watercolor: Collage of Leaves
(Any age with ability to paint and draw)
(Pre-registration is required; max 30 participants; $15/person)
Create a background of colors from which we will develop a collage of leaves. Learn how to use stippling and cross-hatch to shade images and bring texture to the collage. Then, enhance color by adding paint with a dry brush. Go home with a beautiful piece of your artistic expression made into a greeting card with a supply packet to continue your watercolor artistic journey.
Susan Bradrick
Twenty-Four Hours Is All We Get: Ways to Wisely Use Your Day
Has this happened to you? With an adequate fixed income, your bank account empties before the bills are paid. Similarly, the daily twenty-four hours God gives us can be used for the non-essentials, and we fail to carry out God’s crucial assignments for us. Homeschooling parents, come discover important ways to avoid this serious pitfall.
Logan Ownbey
Christian Heritage Choristers
Join other homeschoolers to lift your voices to the glory of God! Singers of ages 6-12 should pre-register early for Choristers music.
Neil Craig and David Craig
Christian Heritage Chorale
Join other homeschoolers to lift your voices to the glory of God! Singers of ages 13+ should pre-register early for Chorale music. In Canada? Pre-register no later than March 22, 2025.
Christian Heritage Orchestra
Join other homeschoolers who are instrumentalists to accompany the Chorale. Orchestra participation is by invitation only.