2026 Church Planting Retreat

We are so excited to have you joining us for this year's retreat! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Natalie Hammond.


Scroll or click below to see leader bios, sign up links for individual sessions, and to view this year's retreat schedule.


rightarrowRetreat Schedule

rightarrowSpeaker Bios & Individual Sign-Ups


Financial Assistance $$ 

This year's retreat is only happening because of our amazing partners! We are so grateful to Living Water University, The Well Community Church, and others for their support of our church planting ministry, and our planters & their families.


If your church, association, or ministry would like to help cover the cost for planters and their families to attend the retreat this year or in the future, please click here. Any help provided will allow us to open the invitation up to more planters and their families.

CHURCH PLANTING RETREAT

April 27 – Apr 29, 2026


Monday, April 27


1:00 pm Check-in Begins (Main Lobby)


2:50 pm Kids Club Drop Off


3:00 pm PLENARY SESSION 1

Welcome & Introductions

Worship | Kima Fanai

Connecting with God | Gary Irby


4:25 pm Break/transition time


4:35 pm REGIONAL BREAKOUTS

  • Region 1 - Fireside Room
  • Regions 2 & 3 - Pacific View Lounge
  • Region 4 - Pacific View Dining Room
  • Region 5 - Beach Front Lounge


5:25 pm Kids Club Pick Up


5:30 pm Dinner (dining room)


Games & Movies in Fireside Room


Tuesday Morning, April 28


7:15 am OPTIONAL: Prayer/Scripture w/Scott Brewer (Pacific View Lounge)


8:00 am Breakfast @ Main Dining Room (Please be on time.)


8:50 am Kids Club Drop Off


9:00 am PLENARY SESSION 2

Worship

Connecting with Family | Scott Brewer


10:00 am Break/Transition time


10:10 am BREAKOUT 1

  • Ministry Budgets for Churches | Jeanette Fanai
    Prayer Chapel (Planters)

  • Four Relational Anchors Every Pastor Needs | Tim Howe
    Fireside Room (Planters)

  • Resilient Church Planting in a Multicultural NW | Ivan Montenegro
    Beach Front Lounge (Hispanic)

  • Building a Leadership Pipeline: From Disciple to Church Planter | Roy Swihart
    Pacific View Lounge (Multipliers)

  • Wives: You've Got a Friend in Me | Kim Howe
    Pacific View Dining Room (Wives)

11:00 am Break/Transition time


11:10 am PLENARY SESSION 3

Connecting with Disciples | Gary Irby & Friends


12:00 pm Dismiss / Kids Club Pick Up


Lunch is on your own ($ provided)



Tuesday Afternoon

FREE TIME!! :) Gym is available during this time. So is the beach ;)

LUNCH & DINNER ARE ON YOUR OWN (we will provide meal cash)


Tuesday Evening

6:40 pm Kids Club Drop Off


6:50 pm PLENARY SESSION 4

Worship

Connecting with Leaders | David Gass


8:20 pm Kids Club Pick Up


Wednesday Morning, April 29


7:15 am OPTIONAL: Prayer/Scripture w/Scott Brewer (Pacific View Lounge)


8:00 am Breakfast @ Main Dining Room


8:50 am Kids Club Drop Off


9:00 am PLENARY SESSION 5

Worship

Connecting with the Lost | Gary Irby & Friends


9:55 am Break/Transition time


10:05 am  BREAKOUT 2

  • Can You Hear Me Now? Active Listening in the Smart Phone Age | Michael Liner
    Fireside Room (Planters)

  • The Digital Deacon: Using AI to Enhance Gospel Outreach | Zac Minton
    Pacific View Lounge (Planters)

  • How to increase the # and effectiveness of Multiplying Churches | Gary Irby & Keith Wieser
    Beach Front Lounge (Multipliers)

  • Disaster Ready Church | Gary Floyd
    Prayer Chapel (Planters)

  • Wives: Just Open the Door | Kim Howe
    Pacific View Dining Room (Wives)

10:50 am Break/Transition time


11:00 am PLENARY SESSION 6

Worship

Director’s Session | Gary Irby


12:00 pm Clean Up/Dismiss

Kids Club Pick Up


Must be completely checked out of rooms no later than 1 pm.

  • Scott Brewer - Soul Care / Plenary session


    Scott Brewer planted Meadowbrook Church in Redmond, WA and pastored for over 45 years until 'retiring'. He has a passion and gifting for pastor care, which he has done for over 20 years. Scott now meets with individuals and small groups for soul care and spiritual direction.

    He is married to Sherrie and they have 2 adult sons and 6 grandchildren. He enjoys pickleball, camping and motorcycle riding.

  • Kim Howe -Wives Breakouts / Coaching

    Sign Up for an Individual Session with Kim


    During her 30 years of ministry Kim has worked in college summer ministry, served 2 years with a church in Argentina, ministered in France and Northern Africa with church planting and discipleship, and served with her husband as pastor and wife in California. She has worked as a high school Spanish, French and Multilingual teacher. Kim's favorite ministry is befriending internationals through English classes. She and her husband, Tim, a Church Catalyst with the Northwest Baptist Convention, have called Federal Way, WA home for 11 years. Kim loves traveling, hanging out with her 3 children (ages 22, 20, 20), and eating good food!

  • Jeanette fanai - Admin / breakout leader

    Sign Up for an Individual Session with Jeanette


    Jeanette Fanai is the founder and director of The Church Network Hub, a ministry she launched in early 2004 after God called her to the Pacific Northwest with a church planting team to help start a new church in Auburn. Combining her background in finance and accounting with a heart to serve the local church, Jeanette created the organization to support churches with their day-to-day financial and administrative needs so they can focus on what they do best—ministry—without being weighed down by the tasks that often distract from their calling.


    Over the past 22 years, the ministry has grown to a team of six and has served hundreds of churches across the country. Jeanette is married to her husband, Kima, a Worship and Associate Pastor in Kent, and together they love serving wherever God leads them.

  • Amanda Wood - GenerosityOS consultations

    Sign up for a consultation with Amanda


    Amanda serves as a consultant for GenerosityOS, an organization designed to create a lasting impact by weaving vision, discipleship, and generosity together into a single, unified strategy. Your 30 minute consultation uncovers your pain points to build a plan of actionable steps.


    Amanda is energized by collaborating with churches and faith-based organizations to design fundraising approaches that reflect each community’s unique DNA. She loves connecting the spiritual and practical sides of generosity, helping leaders translate their vision into sustainable resources that propel their mission forward.


    She thrives on building fundraising strategies that go beyond transactional asks, aiming instead to nurture authentic relationships and inspire transformational generosity. For Amanda, fundraising isn’t just about dollars raised—it’s about helping people step into the life-changing work God is doing around the world. She believes that generosity flourishes best when it’s woven into the fabric of everyday life and ministry, not treated as a one-time push.


    With a degree in business and a professional certification in strategic planning and over 15 years of experience working across the church and faith-based nonprofit landscape Amanda brings both a sharp analytical mindset and a deep passion for mission-driven work.


    Amanda is based in the Houston area with her husband, who is a senior pastor, and their two boys. Their family has strong ties to the Chicago area after having lived there for nearly twenty years.

  • Nate Parrow - IMB

    Sign up for a conversation with Nate


    Nate Parrow serves as the West Region Church Strategist for the International Mission Board (IMB), partnering with pastors to resource and equip their churches to faithfully live out the Great Commission. His passion is helping congregations grow in their commitment to pray, give, go, and send to the nations.


    Before joining the IMB, Nate served as a local pastor, where he cultivated a heart for mobilizing the church to love the nations and actively engage in God’s global mission. He is deeply committed to seeing the local church embrace its role in making disciples of all nations.


    Nate welcomes the opportunity to connect, hear how God is at work in your life and ministry, and explore ways he can serve you and your church.

  • Kima Fanai - worship leader

    Kima Fanai serves as the Worship and Associate Pastor at Riverview Community Church. Born in India, Kima spent nine years serving with Youth With A Mission where he developed a deep love and skill for leading worship, before moving to the United States in 2003 to serve as a worship leader at a church in Minnesota.


    In 2008, following the Lord’s leading, he relocated to Seattle and served in ministry in White Center, where he led worship and served as a men’s discipleship program director. In 2010, he met and married his wife, Jeanette, and together they have faithfully followed God’s call to serve churches and communities in Washington, Alabama and Kentucky. The Lord called them back to the Northwest to serve in Kent in 2023.


    Kima is passionate about worship, discipleship, and helping others grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus, serving alongside his wife and church community.

  • Gary Irby - PLenary speaker

    Church planting is in Gary Irby's blood. His father was a church planter, and before that his grandfather. Following in their footsteps, Gary has helped start multiple churches through his work as a church planter, staff member, mentor, supervisor, consultant, and Church Planting Director. Gary caught a personal vision for church planting when God made it clear that He wants us to do more than addition. He wants us to be involved in multiplication.


    Gary and his wife, Joyce, were high school sweethearts have been married for over 35 years. They have four awesome children…Randi, Nathan, Austin, and Kendall, and three amazing grandchildren. Prior to his current position Gary pastored at The Anchor Church in Seattle and Life Baptist Fellowship in Clackamas, Oregon.


    Gary has been the Church Planting Director for Seattle Church Planting since 1998, and has been directing Northwest Baptist Convention church planting since 2013.  

  • David Gass - Plenary Speaker

    David has lived all over the USA and served in multiple churches and roles. He and his family served with IMB in Southeast Asia and East Asia for 14 years before coming to the Northwest almost 11 years ago. David serves on the Church Health/Church Planting Team and gives direction to NWBC Missions partnerships. He holds a doctorate in missiology with partial emphasis on conflict resolution.

  • Tim Howe - Breakout Leader

    Tim has served in various ministry capacities, currently as Church Catalyst and Flourishing Pastors Specialist of the Northwest Baptist Convention. He has served as an interim pastor at several churches in the Pacific Northwest, guiding them through seasons of transition. Previously, he pastored churches in California and served in international ministry. He holds a Master of Divinity, a Master of Theology in Biblical Studies, and is completing his Doctor of Ministry at Gateway Seminary.


    Tim has been married to his lovely bride Kim for over 26 years, and they have three grown children: Nadia, Mateo, and Mariel.

  • Roy Swihart - Breakout Leader

    Roy Swihart is the owner of Interwest Construction Inc. and the founding pastor of Cowboy Church Bow in Bow, WA. He is passionate about developing leaders and building reproducible discipleship pipelines that multiply not only servants, but pastors and church planters. Through initiatives such as Foundations, MY12, and the 2T2:2 Church Planting Track, Roy is actively raising up the next generation of leaders to live on mission and plant Gospel-centered communities. Roy and his wife Amy are deeply committed to ministry, family, and investing in others to fulfill the Great Commission.

  • Zac Minton - Breakout Leader

    Zac serves as an Evangelism Specialist and Church Health/Church Planting Catalyst for the Northwest Baptist Convention. He is the author of "Hope for the Broken Soul" and recently completed the Google AI Essentials Specialization through Coursera and is a certified trainer for Google in AI. He is passionate about helping church planters and revitalizers navigate the intersection of theology, soul care, and modern technology. Zac lives in Spokane Valley with his wife, Nichole, and their two children.

  • Gary Floyd - Breakout Leader

    Gary Floyd has dedicated over 30 years to serving Northwest Baptists, strengthening local churches in their mission to minister to their communities. As the initiator and current director of Northwest Baptist Disaster Relief, Gary leads efforts to provide help, hope, and healing to victims recovering from disaster, helping them rebuild while growing in a relationship with Christ. Gary and his wife, Dianne, are members of FBC Toledo (WA). They reside in Winlock, WA—home of the world’s largest egg—where they enjoy time with their three adult children and six grandchildren.