Matt Lear - Getting Direction for the New Year

Build Groups at Disciple Leaders Network Conference

Register for the 2027 DLN Conference here [https://www.discipleleaders.com/conference-2027/]!

Katie Lundgren - Leading With Authenticity

Katie Lundgren serves on staff at Compass Church Roanoke, where she works with community groups and leaders to cultivate healthy, life-giving connection. A longtime Marine wife, her leadership has been shaped by seasons of transition and deep community. Katie enjoys walking alongside people with honesty and authenticity, believing God uses real stories—even imperfect ones—to lead us into what’s next. She lives in Texas with her husband and two kids.

Matt Lear - Getting Direction for the New Year

Matt Lear serves as the Spiritual Formation Minister at Church at the Cross in Grapevine, TX. Join Matt, Adam, and Matt as they explore launching new groups and determining the direction for a group's ministry. For more resources, visit us at: buildgroups.net

Gary Vaughan - Building Groups That Care

Gary Vaughan serves as the Executive Pastor of Adult Discipleship at Harvest Church in Carmel, IN, where he and his family have served for the past 9 years.  From 1996-2015, Gary served full-time in Southeastern Virginia at Nansemond River Baptist Church, for 12 years in Student Ministry and 7 years as the Pastor of Groups, Discipleship, and Family Ministry.  He is passionate about shepherding leaders and equipping people to walk together in Christ-likeness, living on mission as ambassadors for Christ. Gary & his wife Stacey have been married for 27 years, and have two sons, Ty (23) and Tripp (18), both attending Purdue University.  In the Vaughan house, there are two seasons: hunting season and baseball season.  Gary loves to hunt bucks & ducks, and also is a varsity baseball coach at Heritage Christian in Indy.  He is a passionate Baltimore Orioles, Virginia Cavaliers, Dallas Cowboys, & Indianapolis Colts family.  He loves spending time with his wife, Stacey, and sharing these passions with his family!

Steve Gladen - Empowering Your Leaders

Steve is the Founder and CEO of the Small Group Network. An international, non-denominational network, started in 2007, to help churches Eradicate Loneliness, engage the Bible, and impact the world. Steve also serves as an Elder of Saddleback Church.   He stepped away in August 2025 from local church ministry, where he had been Pastor of Small Groups at Saddleback Church from February 1998 to August 2025, where he oversaw the strategic launch and spiritual development of over 7,000 adult small groups on multiple campuses. He has authored Small Groups With Purpose, which has been translated into fourteen languages to date, Leading Small Groups With Purpose, and Planning Small Groups With Purpose.  He has a driving passion to see each church attendee connected to a qualified shepherd and become an integral part of their church body, living purposefully for Christ. He frequently speaks at conferences and consults with church leaders from many denominations, both in the United States and around the world. Prior to stepping into his full-time role with the SGN, Steve had been on five other church staffs of varying sizes. He earned a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1985 and a B.A. in Biblical Studies, with minors in Greek and Philosophy, in 1982 from Evangel University. Steve and Lisa have been married since 1989 and have two children, Erika and Ethan. Saddleback Community Group Leaders Handbook [https://44b9e136-4771-4978-a506-0259fe277c3a.usrfiles.com/ugd/44b9e1_c331227f4be74f43adf9a666df79b735.pdf] Small Group Guardrails image [https://static.wixstatic.com/media/44b9e1_59b98f7d7cab4d6898526b9b597af5ef~mv2.jpg]