Paul Nixon

Paul Nixon

Pastor of Epicenter, a new United Methodist community of faith in Washington, D.C., and author of I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church

Keynote Speaker

Our keynote speaker, Paul Nixon, is the pastor of Epicenter Church, a new United Methodist community of faith focused on serving the people who live in the urban expanse of greater Washington DC.

Formerly the Director of Congregational Development for the Alabama-West Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church, Paul is the author of several books: Fling Open the Doors: Giving the Church Away to the Community (2002); Healing Spiritual Amnesia (2004); I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church (2007); and a fourth entitled Meeting Jesus on the Red Line, due on bookshelves this fall.

Prior to his move to D.C., Paul and his son lived for several years on the coast of northwest Florida, where Paul served first on the leadership team of the 4000-member Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church, and then as the founding pastor of Gulf Breeze Church’s east campus, the Community Life Center.

Here's what Paul says about his current ministry with Epicenter, an exciting new church start in the D.C. area: "We are a multi-site church with locations in Arlington, Washington and Silver Spring. We will be launching weekly worship services in Arlington and in Downtown DC beginning in the fall of 2008. We anticipate eventually joining the people from our various sites together monthly for a high-energy Epicenter Celebration, with an eclectic blend of music, other art forms, and faith sharing -- a spiritual Earthquake event, where God shakes us up and sends us out to live out God's dreams for the city."

Paul will speak in the main plenary sessions Friday morning and Friday afternoon. In addition, he will lead two workshops: "Church Planting" on Friday morning and "Continuing the Conversation" on Friday afternoon.