Eight local churches and Bethel University are partnering together to offer, “ReFuel,” a two-day conference for church worship teams and leaders. The event will be held Friday, Jan. 17 from 7:30-10 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Bethel’s campus.
The conference, now in its tenth year, is a joint effort coordinated by staff from Nappanee Missionary Church, Maple City Chapel, Gospel City Church, Wakarusa Missionary Church, New Life Fellowship, That Downtown Church, Grace Community Church and St. Mark Missionary Church.
David Cummings, conference director and worship pastor at Nappanee Missionary Church, says the goal of ReFuel is to create time and space for worship and production teams to be together, be encouraged and be equipped to continue to lead their local church in worship. “We desire to see God’s Spirit inspire and strengthen the hearts and hands of those who serve the local church through the creative arts,” he says.
Friday’s schedule includes a Night of Worship from 7:30-9 p.m. in Everest-Rohrer Auditorium followed by the Josh Garrels Trio from 9-10 p.m. in the Dining Commons.
Saturday’s schedule includes a general session, keynote breakout sessions, Chick-fil-A lunch, afternoon breakout sessions and a second general session.
The conference is now sold out, but more information and the entire list of conference partners can be found at ReFuelConference.com.
This year’s primary general session and breakout speakers are:
Josh Baldwin
Josh Baldwin is a gold-certified singer-songwriter and worship leader who joined Bethel Music in 2014. He began his journey in North Carolina where he was a worship pastor for 10 years, and is now a resident of Thompson’s Station, Tennessee. Josh writes corporate worship songs for the global church, and his music is an expression of who God has been for him in every season.
Baldwin’s newest album, Made For More (2024), is his second live worship album, following his 2022 release, Where The Glory Is. The album features songs that Josh wrote from his heart for the local church and corporate worship, including the album’s lead single and title track, “Made For More.” Josh’s gold-certified single “Stand in Your Love” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Christian charts and garnered his first K-LOVE Fan Awards nominations for “Breakout Single of the Year” and “Worship Song of the Year.” He has appeared on numerous Bethel Music albums including Victory (2019), Peace (2020), Homecoming (2021) and on Come Up Here (2023) with his song “Time and Time Again.” Most recently, Baldwin released a bundle with several new recordings of his song, “Made For More,” including a new acoustic version and a live recording at the Cascade Theatre in Redding, California.
As a worship leader, Josh enjoys creating space for people to feel seen, encouraged and invited into intimacy with God. Josh lives in Thompson’s Station with his wife, Sheila, and their two children, while he continues to tour domestically and internationally.
Jon has become a staple songwriter and worship leader at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. He is best known for the songs “I Am Free,” “Overcome,” “Strong God,” “Make A Way,” and “On The Throne.” He has collaborated with top Christian writers, producers and artists including Jason Ingram, Paul Mabury, Mia Fieldes, Jeremy Camp, Kari Jobe and Paul Baloche. As a co-founder and leader of Desperation Band, Jon has led worship throughout America and in over 10 countries around the world. “Worship is the greatest weapon we have over our fear, shame and sickness,” says Jon. “When we take a moment to declare the greater reality of Jesus, earthly realities grow strangely dim.”
Paul Baloche
Paul Baloche has written hundreds of worship songs that are sung by thousands of churches each week. “Open the Eyes of My Heart,” “Above All,” “Hosanna,” “Your Name” and many others have become congregational favorites throughout the world. A three-time Dove Award winning songwriter, Paul travels the globe teaching and leading others in worship. Through leadworship.com, he developed a series of Master Classes designed to equip and train leaders and worship teams world-wide. He has recorded 12 albums for Integrity Music. He has served as the Worship Pastor at Community Christian Fellowship in Lindale, Texas for over 25 years. Paul is an ordained minister and received an MDiv from the Methodist Episcopal Church. He currently resides in New York City with his wife Rita. They have three grown children.
Curb | Word Entertainment recording artist Meredith Andrews is passionate about writing and leading songs that keep people’s hearts and minds set on Jesus. Over the course of her career, the Dove Award-winning artist has been using her musical gifts, love for God and her huge heart for His people to teach and remind us all about the enormity of our awesome and loving Savior. Andrews was previously part of the Vertical Worship team, and more recently Belonging Co., her home church in Nashville. As a gifted songwriter and recording artist, she has been a part of multiple songs sung by churches across America such as “Open Up The Heavens,” “Lamb of God,” “Not For A Moment,” “Spirit of the Living God” and “Faith and Wonder.” Andrews often leads worship at major women’s and worship leader conferences across the U.S. and has toured with Matt Maher, Natalie Grant, Big Daddy Weave, Vertical Worship, Phil Wickham and Michael W. Smith, among others. Meredith released new music in 2024 starting with “The Lamb, The Lion, The King” on January 19, 2024, followed by “Always Do” on February 16, 2024, culminating in her new album release Heaven’s Frequency on March, 22, 2024.
Other breakout speakers include Brian Tabor, Jen Smale, Scott Longyear, Lauren Smith, Kyle Smith, Caitlin Caggiano, Doug Gould, Sheri Gould, Josh Holowicki, Derek Kerr and many more!
About Josh Garrels
Singer/songwriter Josh Garrels has built his career on deeply personal, introspective lyrics and exploratory sounds that range from pastoral indie folk to hip-hop. Emerging in the early 2000s, he is the co-founder of Small Voice Records, on which he issued 2008’s “Jacaranda.” In 2015, he landed on the Billboard 200 with “Home.” Although Garrels has remained loosely tied to the Christian music community throughout his career, he has shied away from declaring himself either a strictly Christian or secular artist, instead letting his music tell his life’s story.
Born in 1980 in South Bend, Ind., Garrels initially played in punk bands during his teenage years and fell under the spell of East Coast rap before college. In his early twenties, he came into the Christian faith, which became a major thread in his musical journey. He began releasing self-produced, home-recorded albums with 2002’s “Stonetree,” followed a year later by “Underquiet,” and “Over Oceans” in 2006. Possessed of a rich, soulful voice, he began to add more orchestral elements into his folk-based sound, sometimes rapping, sometimes crooning his complex but approachable songs. On his own Small Voice Records, he released 2008’s “Jacaranda” and toured extensively, eventually moving to North Carolina where he released a collection of rarities called the “Lost Animals EP.” In 2010, he collaborated with the Brooklyn-based Mason Jar Music collective performing an orchestrated version of his song “Words Remain” at a historic Episcopal Church in Manhattan.
In 2011, he released the elaborate double album “Love & War & the Sea in Between,” which was influenced by his adopted home of Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The album was praised by both Christian and secular media as a career milestone for Garrels. The year after its release, he again partnered with the Mason Jar Music to film the music documentary “The Sea in Between,” which was filmed on remote Mayne Island in British Columbia and for which he provided the soundtrack. He had a number of his songs placed on TV shows including CBS’ “The Ghost Whisperer” and ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” and scored several small films. In 2015 he released “Home,” which he offered to fans for free download via the website NoiseTrade. Subsequently, the album landed at number 19 on the Billboard Digital Albums chart and 83 on the Billboard 200. The following year saw the release of the holiday-themed “The Light Came Down.” In 2019, he issued “Chrysaline,” which he produced both on his own in Muncie, Indiana and in Charlottesville, Virginia with Isaac Wardell.