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Leadership Breakfast
September 22, 2022 @ 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Join us for FREE breakfast, networking, and an inspiring presentation.
20th Annual Leadership Breakfast
Thursday, Sept. 22
7:30-8:30 a.m.
Howie’s Activity Center
1401 Laramie St
Keynote Speaker: Darren Key
CEO of Christian Financial Resources
Author of The Quest
Darren Key is the CEO of Christian Financial Resources (CFR), one of the largest and fastest growing church extension funds in the country with a mission of “funding ministry…changing lives”. CFR offers loans, investments, donor advised funds, and stewardship resources. Since Darren’s arrival in 1997, CFR has funded well over $1 billion in ministry projects and currently manages over $800 million in total assets.
Darren holds a Bachelor Degree in Christian Service from Manhattan Christian College, Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance) from Kansas State University, and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Louisville. Darren is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and a member of Kingdom Advisors network for Christian financial advisors.
Darren and his wife, Rachel, live near Orlando, FL and have four children: Alex, adopted from Russia; Scarlett adopted from Kyrgyzstan; and twin biological girls named Amelia and Juliette.
Event Purpose
The Leadership Breakfast has been an outreach ministry of the college since 2003. It’s purpose is to inspire and invest in the Christian leaders in the Manhattan community which will in turn strengthen their businesses, churches, and organizations that they are affiliated with. This is just one of the events that Manhattan Christian College hosts throughout the year to educate, equip, and enrich Christian leaders outside of the traditional classroom.
Timeline of Speakers
2003
Don Wilson, Senior Minister of Christ’s church of the Valley in Peoria, AZ. Don did most of the talking, but he brought Doug Hawken, President and C.O.O. of PING, Inc. with him to give a short testimony. We handed out a few copies of the book From Good to Great.
2004
Chuck Harrison, the largest franchisee of Sonic Drive-In. Chuck was the one who inspired us to give away a resource to everyone each year. He actually bought the books and had them shipped to us because he liked to read and he wanted everyone to have a copy of The Traveler’s Gift.
2005
Craig Estep, Vice President of Operations, Cessna Aircraft. He talked about how to handle employee relationships. He recommended God is My CEO and the local Christian Books and Gifts helped us make that available to everyone.
2006
David Schuff, Co-Founder of Schuff International, Inc. Dave said that the Bible was the best resource he knew of for handling his business. The local Christian Books and Gifts helped us give away a bonded leather New Testament, The Message.
2007
Steve Likens, Co-Owner of Kansas City Brigade Arena Football Franchise and President of Nations Holdings Company. The local Christian Books and Gifts helped us give away The World’s Greatest Salesman by Og Mandino.
2008
Jack Salmans, President of ProHome International wanted to be sure everyone received a copy of Dinner With A Perfect Stranger by David Gregory. He said that he had given cases of this book away to other businessmen and the local Christian Books and Gifts helped us to make it possible.
2009
Don Wilson, Senior Minister of Christ’s Church of the Valley, Peoria, AZ, is one of our most distinguished alumni. He came back and spoke the whole time this year and we gave away Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell.
2010
Bill Clark, President Bionic Glove Technology, Hillerich & Bradsby Co. His topic was leadership that fits like a glove. MCC VP Student Development Rick Wright underwrote the cost of the books that we gave away, The Secret—What Great Leaders Know and Do by Ken Blanchard.
2011
Jim Prentice, Assistant to Chuck Harrison, Mason Harrison Ratliff enterprises, Top 25 Restaurant Franchisee in the U.S. The theme was man in the mirror and the local Christian Books and Gifts helped us give away The Man in the Mirror by Patrick Morley.
2012
Trip Eberhart, Director of Customer Operations for Coca-Cola Refreshments. His topic was human relations and he brought with him the company booklet entitled It’s Human Relations that Count written by the founder of the Coca-Cola Company and based on the Golden Rule to give away to everyone.
2013
Mark Hutton, Founder and CEO of Hutton Construction in 1992. Known as a great place to work, the company with its 175 employees has been consistently recognized with awards in Kansas and throughout the Midwest. The local Christian Books and Gifts helped us give away Hand Me Another Brick by Charles Swindoll.
2014
Pete Winemiller, Senior Vice President, Guest Relations for the NBA Oklahoma City Thunder. He trains hundreds of volunteers and staff every season how to represent the Thunder brand and he led the breakfast audience through part of his customer service training called Moments Matter: How to build a culture that empowers employees, benefits customers, and creates loyalty inside and out. Each attendee received a copy of the book Moments of Truth by Jan Carlzon.
2015
Dan Wood, Executive Director, National Christian College Athletic Association. He is responsible for setting and maintaining the standard of excellence for all programming, fund raising, staff development, and volunteer recruitment. The theme was Excellence: Switch or Gauge and the local bookstore helped us give away Lead for God’s Sake by Todd Gongwer.
2016
Ryan Hoage, Market Manager, and Nico Vassol, Store Manager for Walmart. Their topic was “Building a Company Culture”—How to get everyone in the organization working together to fulfill the organization’s purpose. They shared the Christian values and behaviors that have guided Walmart to its world-wide sales and status. Local sponsors helped us give away Lincoln on Leadership by Donald T. Phillips.
2017
Cody Foster, Co-Founder of Advisors Excel, the premiere organization for independent financial advisors focused on the retirement planning market. The presentation focused on his five keys to growing your organization such as leadership, marketing, client experience, culture, and generosity. The theme for the day was Grow as a Leader as Your Company Grows. Local sponsors helped us give away The Enemies of Excellence by Greg Salciccioli.
2018
Stan Franczek, President of Capstone Realty and one of Louisville’s leading commercial developers that has played a key role in the region’s success in logistics. He focused on giving practical tips about leading employees, taking risks, and giving back. Sponsors helped us give away 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B Peterson.
2019
Bret Irvin, Assistant VP of Human Resources for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, one of North America’s leading transporters of consumer goods, grain and agricultural products, low-sulfur coal, and industrial goods such as petroleum, chemicals, housing materials, food, and beverages. His topic was Training for the Future: How to Make Mentoring a Priority and sponsors helped us give away How Successful People Think by John C. Maxwell.
2020
Tony English, CFA, Frontier Farm Credit was instrumental with the merger between Frontier and Farm Credit. His focus was operational excellence and the creation of a customer centric culture which tripled the loan portfolio within 14 years. Sponsors helped us to give away Leadership at the Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey.
2021
Greg Rowden, Franchisee of Slim Chickens and Sonic. His topic was Lead Don’t Boss and he talked about ways to build synergy among your staff for a winning team. Sponsors helped us give away Soup: A Recipe to Create a Culture of Greatness by Jon Gordon.