Gospel-infused Mission & Ministry

Our Mission

Our mission is to empower everyday disciples of Jesus, church and ministry leaders, and church planters to take your next step in gospel-infused mission and ministry.

We are committed to providing engaging, practical training and resources to equip individuals and communities to live out Jesus' good news, in community and on mission, for the glory of God and the expansion of his kingdom.

  • The Equipping Group creates and curates accessible content to bolster your life, mission, and ministry - whether your are a Christian living out everyday life or work in a ministry or church, our aim is to help you create cultures of health and sending.

  • We partner with local churches, organizations, and denominations like yours, to provide high-quality, hands-on training for your specific context and needs.

  • We are not a network or denomination; we are simply a “training collective,” with fruitful and experienced practitioners who provide training and resources.

Our Values

The Equipping Group’s certified trainers will serve you with humility, eagerness, and unity, no matter the content and focus. All trainers agree to the following posture, which you’ll find in every interactions we have.

  • Training can be expensive, leaving some who need it most are unable to access it. Our team follows the Apostle Paul’s example and raises financial support (1 Cor. 9; 2 Cor. 8). We live by a “pay-what-you-can” policy.

  • We prefer to serve our partners over longer periods of time. Our trainings involve prep work and follow-up exercises, and we work with you or your group’s leader to shape training specifically around your culture and needs.

  • Everyone is in process; no one is an expert. The Equipping Group’s trainers have proven fruit in the areas they train and are current practitioners of their content. We’re like experienced guides and humble servants.

  • Our aim is long-term fruit, rather than a single training experience that fades quickly. Participants don’t just learn about a topic, but experience it in light of the gospel, and practice it too.

  • We value transformation and aim to serve you with excellence. At the same time, we believe God’s people are primarily a family, so we pursue familiarity with groups we work with, as spiritual sisters and brothers.

Our Trainers

  • Hannah lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where she spends her days writing and reading and caring for her family. Author of Made for More, Humble Roots, All That’s Good, and her new book, Turning of Days, which is a set of essays where she journeys through the four seasons searching out the spiritual and theological truths woven deep within the natural world.

  • Amelia is a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA). She is also a licensed professional counselor (LPC). She is a member of ACA, LCA, CSI, LaBAA, TxABA, ABAI, and APBA.

    Amelia earned an a Bachelor degree in Psychology from Louisiana Tech University where she also received her Master's in Counseling and Guidance. She has specialized with additional training as a trauma-informed and addiction care counselor. She is also certified in the use of the Enneagram as a personality inventory. Additionally, she has over a decade of experience in behavioral therapy working with individuals on the Autism Spectrum and those diagnosed with behavior disorders.

    Amelia and her husband, Kendrick, live in Oak Cliff where they seek to serve their community and love their neighbors. They are the parents of two, Titus and Norah, and as a family, they are devoted to seek justice and holistic health for individuals and the community. The Banks family cares deeply for the city of Dallas and everyone who calls it home. This especially applies to those marginalized and forgotten. Penny & Sparrow is an avenue, among others, for putting that care into action.

  • Bill Clem recently joined Western Seminary as the new director of the Center for Pastoral Flourishing. Bill has spent over forty years in various ministry contexts leading college ministries, planting churches, teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels and leading professional development seminars

  • Ben Connelly is a pastor, author, equipper, and occasional professor.

    He is honored to serve everyday disciples, ministry leaders, and church planters across the world through The Equipping Group, and to help lead Salt+Light Community and Plant Fort Worth in Fort Worth, TX.

  • Jess and Ben have been in ministry together for over 20 years. She's been on the team for two church plants, and has coached ministry wives and church planting resident couples for the past 5+ years. She also runs operations for a bakery and hospitality company in Fort Worth, called Hurley House.

  • Dr. Zack Eswine is Lead Pastor of Riverside Community Church near St. Louis, Missouri, and is co-founder (with Jessica) of sagechristianity.com. He enjoys writing about life and ministry in Jesus, and blogs at preachingbarefoot.com.

    Zack has written a number of books including, Spurgeon's Sorrows: Realistic hope for those who suffer from depression, The Imperfect Pastor, Recovering Eden: The Gospel According to Ecclesiastes, Preaching to a Post-Everything World, and Kindled Fire: How the methods of C.H. Spurgeon can help your preaching.

    Zack and his wife, Jessica, live with their four children as a blended family in Webster Groves.

  • Carl moved to the Twin Cities in fall of 2016. He made connections in the neighborhood by volunteering in Dayton’s Bluff Elementary school and recruiting volunteers to serve Dayton’s Bluff Elementary and Recreation Center in various capacities. He also started a community garden at no cost to the recreation center for teaching neighborhood kids how to grow vegetables. Reverend Johnson primary motivation was to end everyday hunger. Rev Johnson has held neighborhood specific block parties and seasonal events to uplift the neighborhood. His extensive knowledge of black culture and structures of identities in the black community has propelled his work with racial injustice. Carl often engages in circles and individuals cross-culturally to see communities work in unity.

  • Jason Kovacs is the Founder and Executive Director of The Gospel Care Collective, a ministry providing gospel-centered, clinically-informed counseling, consulting, and training to individuals, churches, and organizations. He has been serving in the areas of pastoral care, counseling, and orphan advocacy for over 20 years in Canada and the US. He has been married for 19 years and has 5 children.

  • Dhati Lewis is the lead pastor and church planter of Blueprint Church and president of Send Network with the North American Mission Board (NAMB). He is the author of both the Bible studies and books, Among Wolves: Disciple-Making in the City and Advocates: The Narrow Path to Racial Reconciliation, and is most passionate about making disciples, equipping urban leaders and loving his family.

  • Trillia is the author of several books including 52 Weeks in the Word, A Great Cloud of Witnesses, Sacred Endurance, If God is For Us, Fear and Faith and the children's books, The Big Wide Welcome, Creative God, Colorful Us and God's Very Good Idea. When she isn't writing, she's encouraging and supporting other writers as an Acquisitions Director at Moody Publishers. Trillia is married to her best friend, Thern; they reside with their two children near Nashville, TN

  • I was born and raised in the Boston area. I attended several schools including Boston Baptist College, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Grand Canyon University. I am currently enrolled at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I have a beautiful wife and three lovely little girls. I am currently a Pastor of Pillar Church in Fort Worth, Tx

    I have a passion for community engagement and desire to see the church equipped to be culture shapers and community pillars for the glory of God and the enrichment of its residents. I love expository preaching, presuppositional apologetics, rap music, basketball (Celtics) and football (Patriots). Some of my favorite books are: Lectures to my students by Charles H Spurgeon and Manhood Restored by Eric Mason

  • Atanasio Segovia lives in Queretaro, Mexico and serves as an equipping leader in Soma Queretaro and Familia Soma. He works to develop future leaders who love Jesus and center their life around the gospel.

  • Matt Stevens is a creative director and pastor at Vintage Church in Raleigh, NC. The intersection of those two roles is where his passion can be found: using a creative process to make disciples of Jesus. For nineteen years Matt has led pastors, creatives, and church staff to work together to ensure the gospel is preached everywhere in every way.

  • Chris Synesael is an elder & founding pastor at West Village Church, in Victoria, BC. He and Kellee have been married for over 20 years and. have four children.

  • Jeff Vanderstelt, Executive director of Saturate, planting pastor of Soma Tacoma, and early practitioner of missional communities

  • Brad is married to Mirela and they have three kids, Norah, Maitê, and Truman. Brad's the author of multiple books including Raised? Finding Jesus Through Doubting the Resurrection. Before moving to Los Angeles to serve at Soma, he and his family helped plant and lead a church of missional communities in Portland, Oregon for eight years. He holds a degree in theology from Western Seminary.

  • Tomy Wilkerson, Executive Director of Tampa Underground, a network who has led in shaping microchurches across North America.

  • Jared C. Wilson is assistant professor of pastoral ministry at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and director of the Pastoral Training Center at Liberty Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He is a popular author and conference speaker, and also blogs regularly at Gospel Driven Church, hosted by the Gospel Coalition. His books include Gospel Wakefulness; The Storytelling God; and The Wonder-Working God.

  • (Ph.D., University of Manchester) has been passionately planting churches on the East and West Coast that value tight-knit community, life-forming discipleship, locally-rooted presence and boundary-crossing mission for over 30 years. He co-founded the Missio Alliance and Praxis Gathering, currently serves as the National Director for the V3 Church Planting, writes for numerous websites and journals, and serves on numerous boards.

  • Daniel is the director of the Church Multiplication Institute at the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, a think tank for evangelism and church planting. He has pastored and helped plant churches in Detroit, Dallas-Fort Worth, Toronto, and Chicago. He earned an MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a BS in computer science from the University of Michigan, and is currently a PhD student in intercultural studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is also the co-author of Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church (InterVarsity, May 2022).

Our TEG Team

  • Ben Connelly is the Founder of The Equipping Group.

    He is honored to serve everyday disciples, ministry leaders, and church planters across the world through The Equipping Group, and to help lead Salt+Light Community and Plant Fort Worth in Fort Worth, TX.

  • Erica is the Training Operator for The Equipping Group.

    She Lives in Fort Worth, TX with her husband and their 4 boys. Over the years she has worn many hats including RN, administrative support for a local church, mom, friend, and most recently graduate student. She cares about the health of those serving in ministry and being able to provide them with tools to flourish in their work and lives.

  • Zac is the Communications Director for The Equipping Group.

    He is a storyteller married to his high school sweetheart, father of two crazies, enneagram seven, and is always looking for his next adventure. My passions are denim, fountain pens, corndogs, and Jesus.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS + ADVISORS

Jeff Lowndes (Los Angeles, CA)
Camp Rollings (Fort Worth, TX)
Tomy Wilkerson (Tampa, FL)

Amelia Banks (Dallas, TX)
Toby Cotton (Dallas, TX)
Gord Fleming (Vancouver, BC)
Tina Howard (Fort Worth, TX)