Devoted Leaders 2026.
Let us invite you to join us for our Devoted Leaders Conference (23-25 June 2026) as we gather 100s of leaders from across the UK and further afield. This will be an in-person conference for church, marketplace and emerging leaders. We're praying for a time of encounter, encouragement and equipping; three things we all need in this season!
One of the reasons ChristCentral exists is to raise up leaders; men and women who can bring leadership in the context God has given them. This may be the local church, in business, or trans-locally serving our wider family of churches.
To do this we know it is vital to gather leaders for extended times of being in God's presence, where there is space for worship, the prophetic and teaching & training. We believe that as we gather together this event will provide a setting where God can speak, shape and re-arrange us as a family of churches.
We hope you are able to join us, see you there!
Jeremy & Ann Simpkins (Conference Hosts)
Book for 2026 now!
Confirmed Speakers for 2026:
We've included some bios for our confirmed speaking team below.
Paul Manwaring Paul is a popular author and speaker with a background in UK prison management and nursing and holds a management degree from Cambridge University. His work now focuses on spiritual leadership; equipping others to transform cities and he carries a passion for showing the connection between sacred and secular. He is married to Sue and they have two sons and three grandchildren.
In 2001 they moved from England to Redding, California to attend the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM). Paul quickly joined the church's senior leadership team and later founded Global Legacy (now the Bethel Leaders Network), Bethel's relational network for revival leaders. They have since returned to the UK, although Paul continues to be part of Bethel's senior leadership team, their leaders network and also ministers across Europe.
Damilola Makinde Damilola serves as the advocacy engagement lead at the Evangelical Alliance and is also part of the formation team at King's Cross Church (KXC) in London. Her professional background includes work in law and public policy and within her church role has been involved with preaching and leading worship. She is noted for her passion to be a public witness for Jesus, demonstrated through thoughtful engagement with key cultural and political issues.
She is deeply formed by the scriptures and enjoys sharing their wisdom with others. Damilola is originally from London but grew up within the Nigerian diaspora in Ireland, giving her an experience of tri-cultural heritage that has contributed to her powerful and prophetic voice today. She's passionate about seeing revival in our nation and her work with the Evangelical Alliance enables her to share her passion for raising up the next generation with churches and church leaders across the UK and beyond.
Andrew Bunt Andrew is part of King’s Church 1066 where he serves on the team for the Bexhill venue and on the preaching team. He works as the Emerging Generations Director at Living Out, a charity that helps people, churches and society talk about faith and sexuality.
Andrew studied theology at Durham University and King’s College London and loves helping people to understand and apply the Bible. He is the author of multiple books, including ‘People Not Pronouns: Reflections on Transgender Experience’ (Grove Books, 2021), ‘Finding Your Best Identity: A Short Christian Introduction to Identity, Sexuality and Gender’ (IVP, 2022) and the forthcoming ‘Getting God’s Perspective: A Short Christian Introduction to Worldviews, Sexuality and Gender’ (IVP, 2026).
Chris Frost Chris leads the team at Gateway Church Leeds and has worked full-time there since 2008. He is passionate about leading their community into wider kingdom influence both locally, nationally and internationally. Chris also leads the ChristCentral UK team helping to bring oversight to our churches across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. He is the co-writer of 'Leadiagrams' - 52 visuals to help you thrive in your faith and lead effectively and more recently wrote 'The Light We Long For', an accessible Christmas resource that connects everyday festive symbols with the good news of the gospel, designed to help Christians naturally share their faith with friends and neighbours. He and his wife Jo have two children, are passionate about intimacy with Jesus, eating out and enjoy family adventures!
Jeremy Simpkins Jeremy has been involved in leading Newfrontiers churches for over 25 years now. In 2009 Jeremy & Ann moved from the church they had planted in Teesside to lead Christ Central Manchester.
In 2011 when Terry Virgo multiplied Newfrontiers from one apostolic team to multiple teams, Jeremy started to lead ChristCentral. At this time, Jeremy was asked to lead a new apostolic team and so ChristCentral Churches was born. This team now serves over 300 churches in 30 nations and works with other recognised and emerging apostolic leaders. Jeremy & Ann have recently relocated back to Hastings, where they are part of Kings Church, their original home base and sending church. On days off, they enjoy costal walks and pub lunches!
More Details:
We'll release more details about the conference as these details become available.
Resources from Previous Events.
Catch up on content from our previous Devoted Leaders Events below or on our media page!
2024 - Video
2024 - Audio
2023 - Video
2023 - Audio
2022 - Video
2022 - Audio
Dates for 2026
23-25 June 2026
Timings
Tuesday 23 June 2026
Registration: 09:00-10:30hrs
Conference Opens: at 10:30hrs
Day ends: 21:30hrs
Wednesday 24 June 2026
Starts: 09:30hrs
Day ends: 21:30hrs
Thursday 25 June 2026
Starts: 09:30hrs
Conference Closes: 16:00hrs
Location
Kings Church Darlington, Prospect Pl, Whessoe Rd, Darlington, DL3 0QT
Tickets
Super Early Bird - £99 (til 23:59 31/12/25)
Early Bird - £109 (til 23:59 31/03/26)
Standard - £119 (til 23:59 15/06/26)
On-The-Door - £119* (from 00:01 16/06/26)
* on the door tickets do not include the Tuesday evening meal
Day Tickets
Day tickets are now available on the booking system, we hope this allows many of your teams who have family or work commitments to join us for some of the week!
Book for 2026 now!
Going Green at Devoted Leaders
Once again this year we're working in partnership with the CreationCall team to help us make Devoted Leaders more environmentally friendly. More details coming soon.
FAQS
Accommodation
Please book your own accommodation - there are a variety of options in and around Darlington, but please book early to avoid disappointment.
Brochure
Coming soon....
Creche
An unsupervised creche room will be available for parents / carers to use during the event for very young children / babies. We hope to include a main session video link in this area.
Meals
On Tuesday evening we are planning an evening meal and a quiz, (the cost of Tuesday evening meal is included in all full conference tickets**).
For all other meals you'll find there are local amenities including: coffee shops, supermarkets and fast food outlets (many less than a mile away). You are welcome to bring a packed lunch with you and remain in the venue or make the most of the outside spaces.
You may decided to use the dinner break on Wednesday evening to gather with your local church team.
** except 'On-The-Door' tickets
Parking
Parking is no longer available on-site. Please find a map of local roads which you can park on here. We'd recommend car sharing wherever possible to and from the venue to help with capacity in local streets.
Refreshments
Tea, Coffee and cold drinks will be available throughout the conference during our refreshment breaks.
Future Dates
We are currently planning dates for Devoted Leaders 2028. More details to follow! In 2027 we hope to be all together at the Devoted Festival.
