The Leaders’ Summit
Transformed &
Transforming
Pursuing Wholehearted Leadership
October 12–14, 2026
Fort Myers, FL
Somewhere in the weight of ministry, the person doing the work can start to disappear.
Christ never loses sight of you. Not in the exhaustion. Not in the drift. You are transformed in him, and his grace is still transforming you. The Leaders’ Summit is simply a chance to remember that. To slow down long enough to let it be true again.
What does it actually look like to lead from wholeness instead of wounds?
Most leadership culture rewards output. Results. Execution. And the leader learns, slowly, to outsource their soul.
But the damage done from the inside out is the kind nobody talks about at conferences. The slow drift. The shrinking interior. The way hurt begins to shape decisions that should be shaped by love.
There is another way. It begins with the whole person — body, mind, soul — in real communion with Christ. It looks less like striving and more like abiding. And it turns out, it produces more.
That's what we're gathering to explore. Not ministry as productivity. Ministry as formation.
Cost
$299 - $399
*We are offering a special ticket for lead pastors' wives who are attending. We also have scholarships available if the ticket price is prohibitive for your church.
Location
Summit Church University
19601 Ben Hill Griffin Pkwy
Fort Myers, FL 33913
Why now?
1
The world got harder & your soul didn't get bigger on its own.
We are leading in one of the most polarized, pressurized moments in modern history. The external noise is deafening. The leader who isn't actively cultivating an interior life will eventually lead from the noise — not above it.
2
This isn't just another topic — it's the culmination of a five-year journey.
Since 2021, Harbor Network has been walking its leaders through a deliberate arc of formation — one core value each year, building on the last. Wholehearted leadership is the fifth and final chapter. This gathering isn't a standalone event. It's the destination the whole journey has been pointing toward. Come mark the milestone with the people who've been walking it with you.
3
The next chapter of Harbor needs all of us in it.
We'll be casting a fresh vision for what's coming. For how God is calling our churches toward greater involvement, ownership, and investment. The future of thriving churches starts with the conversation we're about to have.
Schedule
Monday
October 12
3:00 - 6:00 PM • Check In
6:00 - 9:00 PM • Welcome party w/ food trucks, fellowship
Tuesday
October 13
9:00 AM • Worship + “Why Wholehearted Leadership?” - Jamin Stinziano
10:00 AM • Plenary 1: John Starke
10:30 AM • Break
10:40 AM • Panel: Wholehearted [Spiritual] Formation
11:15 AM • Plenary 2: Ronnie Martin
11:45 AM • Reflection & Prayer
12:00 - 2:30 PM - Lunch (on own)
2:30 - 4:00 PM - Afternoon Workshops
Focus: Wholehearted Leadership for You
Leading in Weakness: The Clay Pot Conspiracy – Dave Harvey
When Leaders Hurt: Lament & Healing – Dr. Suzanne Bates
How Your Story Shapes Your Leadership – Jonah Sage
Leadership, Anxiety, and Our Bodies – Chad Lewis and Lisle Drury
Finances & the Whole Person – Nate Johnson
4:00 – 7:00 PM • Dinner (on own, Join your team or friends at one of the area's restaurants)
7:00 PM • Worship + Interview - Jamaal Williams and Rechab Gray
8:15 PM • Plenary 3: Justin Giboney
8:45 PM • Prayer & Reflection
9PM • Dismissal
Wednesday
October 14
10:00 AM • Worship
10:45 AM • Plenary 4: Dave Owens
11:30 AM • Guided Prayer & Reflection
12:00 - 2:30 PM - Lunch (on own)
2:30 - 4:00 PM - Afternoon Workshops
Focus: Wholehearted Leadership for Your Church & Network
Wholehearted Leadership Development in Your Church Context (and beyond) – Charles Shannon and Dan Hyun
Healthy Systems, Healthy Staff – Sarah Greenslade & Kate Killian
Leading Wholeheartedly in Hard, Under-Resourced Places – Byron Cogdell
From Doctrine to Contextualized Ministry: Clarifying Your Church’s Theological Vision – Dave Owens and Rob Maine
Multiplication Movements – Ed Marcelle, Brandon Woodard, Jesse Furey
4:00 – 7:00 PM • Dinner (on own, Join your team or friends at one of the area's restaurants)
7:00 - 10:00 PM - 15-Year Anniversary Celebration - Party and dessert trucks
Speakers
Justin Giboney
Justin E. Giboney (JD, Vanderbilt University) is the cofounder and president of the AND Campaign, a Christian civic organization focused on raising civic literacy, promoting civic pluralism, and equipping Christians to engage politics with the love and truth of Jesus Christ. An ordained minister, attorney, and political strategist, Giboney has been featured in publications such as the New York Times and Christianity Today and is the coauthor of the book Compassion (&) Conviction. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife and three sons.
Co-Founder & President, AND CampaignJohn Starke is the lead pastor of Apostles Church Uptown in New York City. He is the author of The Possibility of Prayer (IVP), The Secret Place of Thunder (Zondervan), and The Sabbath We Need (IVP). He and is wife Jena live with their children in Manhattan.
Lead Pastor, Apostles Church UptownJohn Starke
Ronnie Martin
Ronnie Martin is Director of Leader Care & Renewal for Harbor Network and Pastor-In-Residence at Redeemer Community Church in Bloomington, Indiana. A former internationally known recording artist with over 15 albums on the Tooth & Nail Records label, Ronnie is the author of several books, including The Unhurried Pastor (with Brian Croft) and The God Who Is With Us (B&H). He co-hosts The Heart of Pastoring Podcast with Jared C. Wilson.
Director of Leader Care & Renewal, Harbor NetworkDave Owens is the Executive Director of Harbor Network, where he has served since the network's founding as Sojourn Network in 2011. Under his leadership, Harbor has grown to a national network of over 125 churches across 30 states, committed to launching, leading, and multiplying thriving churches. Dave holds a Bachelor of Music Performance in Percussion from Columbus State University and lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
Executive Director, Harbor NetworkDave Owens
Jamin Stinziano
Jamin Stinziano is the Central Lead and Teaching Pastor of Summit Church in Fort Myers, Florida. A founding leader of the church since its launch in 2003 at Florida Gulf Coast University, Jamin has helped guide Summit into a multi-campus church with a vision to see the gospel saturate Southwest Florida. He is passionate about preaching the Scriptures, developing leaders, and strengthening healthy, mission-driven churches. He also serves on the board of Harbor Network. Jamin and his wife, Rebecca, live in Fort Myers with their children.
Central Lead and Teaching Pastor, Summit ChurchJamaal Williams is the Lead Pastor of Sojourn Midtown in Louisville, Kentucky, and serves as President of Harbor Network. He holds a B.S. in Biblical Studies from Boyce College and an M.Div. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jamaal is the author of In Church as It Is in Heaven: Cultivating a Multiethnic Kingdom Culture (IVP), and his writing and speaking focus on gospel renewal, leadership development, and the pursuit of unity in diversity within the local church. Jamaal and his wife, Amber, live in Louisville with their children.
Lead Pastor, Sojourn Midtown & President, Harbor NetworkJamaal Williams
Breakouts
Note: the topics provide a desired, general direction. Subjects & speakers subject to change.
Leading in Weakness: The Clay Pot Conspiracy
Paul didn't just tolerate weakness — he boasted in it. This breakout reframes vulnerability not as a liability but as the Christ-shaped posture that cultivates endurance, dependence, and surprising resilience in leadership.
Dave Harvey When Leaders Hurt: Lament & Healing
Leaders carry grief they rarely name. This session explores lament as a biblical pathway to personal renewal — learning to honestly acknowledge pain so we can lead with wholehearted presence rather than emotional numbness.
Dr. Suzanne BatesHow Your Story Shapes Your Leadership
Every leader carries patterns, triggers, and formative experiences that quietly drive decisions. This breakout helps you gain awareness of your own story so you can lead from insight rather than reactivity.
Jonah SageStress, Anxiety, and Our Bodies
Stress doesn't just live in your mind — it lives in your body. Discover practical rhythms for physical health, stress regulation, and embodied rest as foundational for sustainable, wholehearted leadership.
Chad Lewis & Lisle DruryFinances & the Whole Person
Money is one of the least talked-about pressures in ministry life. This session equips leaders with financial practices and rhythms that sustain ministry families, foster wholeheartedness, and align stewardship with calling.
Nate JohnsonWholehearted Leadership Development in Your Church Context (and beyond)
Healthy churches don't just develop programs — they develop people. Learn frameworks for equipping elders, lay leaders, and future planters with spiritual depth and missional alignment at every layer of your church.
Dan Hyun & Charles ShannonHealthy Systems, Healthy Staff
Good intentions don't build healthy teams — good systems do. Learn practical tools for staffing, compensation, communication, and operational structures that sustain healthy churches of all sizes.
Sarah Greenslade & Kate KillianLeading Wholeheartedly in Hard, Under-Resourced Places
Not every ministry context comes with margin, momentum, or easy wins. Gain encouragement and strategies for faithful, wholehearted leadership in complex, under-resourced, or spiritually resistant places.
Byron CogdellFrom Doctrine to Contextualized Ministry: Clarifying Your Church's Theological Vision
Every church has theology — but does it have a theological vision? Explore Anchor & Compass as a framework to ground ministry in doctrine, align practices with identity and mission, and articulate a compelling "why."
Dave Owens & Rob MaineMultiplication Movements
Church planting isn't just an event — it's a movement. Explore how residency pipelines, regional strategy, and a culture of multiplication turn one church's mission into a gospel movement that plants and reproduces.
Ed Marcelle, Brandon Woodard, & Jesse FureyLodging
Hilton Garden Inn
Fort Myers Airport/FGCU
Group Name: Harbor Network Leaders' Summit
Arrival Date: October 12, 2026
Departure Date: October 15, 2026
Cut-Off Date: September 12, 2026
Room Type: King or Two Queen Standard
Group Rate: $139 per night, plus 11.5% tax
Homewood Suites by Hilton
Fort Myers Airport/FGCU
Group Name: Harbor Network Leaders' Summit
Arrival Date: October 12, 2026
Departure Date: October 15, 2026
Cut-Off Date: September 12, 2026
Room Type: King One-Bedroom Suite
Group Rate: $139 per night, plus 11.5% tax
*Rate includes daily hot breakfast buffet.
15
We have something worth celebrating.
Fifteen years of planting churches. Of coming alongside pastors in their hardest moments. Of believing that thriving churches aren't an accident — they're the fruit of patient, faithful, wholehearted leadership.
On Wednesday evening, we will close Leaders’ Summit 2026 the way you close fifteen years of anything worth doing: outside, together, with food and music and faces from all chapters of the story.
Bring your memories. Bring your gratitude. Come ready to laugh and tear up a little and raise a glass to the God who is not finished with any of us yet.
FAQs
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We have reserved blocks at two local hotels that are offering great rates starting at $139/night, plus tax.
Hilton Garden Inn, Fort Myers Airport/FGCU, book here.
Homewood Suites by Hilton, Fort Myers Airport/FGCU, book here.
However, you’re more than welcome to stay in an Airbnb, with a friend, or anywhere else!
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The conference starts with check-in on Monday afternoon, October 12, followed by a low-key outdoor gathering in the evening. We will wrap up with a final evening session on Wednesday night and a 15-year celebration party after that. You can depart anytime Thursday morning, October 15). So you need lodging for October 12-15, 2026 (3 nights).
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Your registration includes access to all main sessions, worship gatherings, and afternoon breakout workshops. It also includes the Monday evening welcome party (food trucks on us), the Wednesday night 15-year anniversary celebration (desserts and drinks provided), and free coffee and water throughout the event. After the summit, we'll send you the audio from every main session at no extra charge.
Lodging and most meals are on your own, but we build in generous time for lunch and dinner so you can connect with your team, friends, or regional partners. See our lodging section above for group hotel rates starting at $139/night.
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There will be food trucks on-site during the welcome party on Monday evening, and Harbor plans to cover the food truck bill. We are still working on the details of what this looks like with each food truck, so more details to come.
On Wednesday night during the 15-year celebration we’ll have desserts provided for you at no charge, and non-alcoholic drinks.
Other meals are on your own and we try to give you ample time for meals with your team, or with friends, regional connections, etc.
There will, of course, be free coffee and water at every main session and breakout.
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We won’t be offering a digital ticket. However, we will send the audio of the main sessions to attendees for free after the conference.
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Yes! Email Casey Smith if you’re interested in sponsoring! We have limited space and availability.
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We have set aside scholarship funds to help get you there if cost is a barrier. Email Melissa Martin for more information on how to apply for these funds.
Still have questions?
You're welcome to reach out to our team. We'd be happy to answer any questions you have.
The leader you want to be is still becoming.
Come be shaped. Come be known. Come be sent back into the work with something that nothing can take from you.