February 4, 2026 (Ontario, Calif.) - Gateway Seminary hosted more than 575 lay church leaders, pastors, and educators to its Ontario campus for a conference on bible teaching Saturday, January 31, 2026.

Originally launched in 2018 as a training event for local children’s ministers, the conference has grown to serve Bible study teachers, age-group and education-oriented ministers, and pastors with greater knowledge and skills to teach the Bible. This year marked the highest attendance of the conference with more than 575 coming from 27 churches based in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, and the Inland Empire. The conference is designed to serve churches, and to that end congregations are invited to bring their entire contingent of lay and professional teachers and leaders.

“Churches are dependent on faithful lay leaders to teach the Bible and disciple their fellow members,” Groza said. 

“Typically, seminaries focus on developing a wide-range of skills for students who are in or are preparing for professional or bi-vocational ministry. This conference is about growing a particular set of skills for one of the most important groups of people in our churches.”

Paul Kelly, chair of Gateway’s educational leadership department and soon-to-be director of the new Hawaii regional campus, organized the conference.

“The foundation of church education ministries are small group leaders, Bible study teachers, and youth minister volunteers,” said Kelly. 

“Getting a group of your church’s leaders together at a conference, spreading out to learn in a range of breakouts and coming back together to share knowledge and encourage each other is the exact type of experience we think can energize and elevate a ministry.” 

“The year’s conference theme was ‘Hope,’ an incredibly important topic for church lay leaders who are often on the frontlines of church ministry; praying with church members who are experiencing loss and teaching the about the hope we have in the gospel.”

The keynote speaker was Dave Keehn, professor and chair of Christian ministries at BIOLA University. His sessions focused on the theme of hope in light of grief. Keehn’s adult son passed away suddenly due to brain aneurysm in 2022.

Attendees had the opportunity participate in breakout sessions taught by Gateway faculty and local leaders on biblical studies, pedagogy, hermeneutics, theology, and more.

Sessions were also offered in Spanish, Korean, and Mandarin; some were taught directly in those languages while others were translated live by volunteers. Topics included focuses on specific books of the Bible like Daniel and Jude, perspectives on hope across the Bible from Latin American viewpoints, methods for teaching older adults, and effective engagement with biblical narratives. 

These language-specific tracks ensured broad accessibility participants who serve in churches with diverse linguistic and cultural congregations

“Southern Baptist churches in California offer services and ministries in dozens of languages,” Groza said.

 “We are committed to working with partner churches to reach the nations right here is Southern California.” 

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