Our Story

The conference started in the early 1990’s as a single-church event designed for the purpose of giving the men of First Baptist Church of St. John a chance to do something they rarely had the chance to do – get away for a couple days and spend time in fellowship getting to know one another. In its early stages, this was a bi-annual event, with one weekend in the spring and one weekend in the fall. Under the leadership of Cliff Harlow, the “Men’s Retreat” grew for several years, with the determination that having an annual event was more successful. Cliff arranged for the event to be held each spring at the Windermere Baptist Conference Center. Multiple formats were tested, but in general each event featured about 4 teaching sessions, along with afternoon free time for fellowship activities.
Around the year 2006, the men from Fellowship at Weldon Spring began attending the event to make it a 2-church event. The format of the event was basically the same, with the addition of praise and worship music to each of the teaching sessions. Attendance grew into the 30’s with the addition of the men from Fellowship.
The Conference began to take a new direction in 2010. A third St. Louis church got involved – the Rock Church. In addition, the metro-east Perfecting Faith Ministries got involved. There were also several men from other local congregations that were invited to come for the first time, as well as a group of men from churches in Pittsburgh, PA! With the addition of all these men, attendance reached a conference-high of 75!  In 2012-2013 Brother James Ransom became the events lead facilitator and the name of the event became Changing One Man At a Time (C1MT). The focus of the event began to shift as fellowship included the teaching of doctrine from Acts 2:42 adding a new dimension to the Conference.  Small group breakout sessions were added to enhance the understanding of the topics being taught. New teachers brought challenges; men from different cities, different backgrounds, different denominations, different races all came together with a common goal: get closer to God and to each other.

In subsequent years the event schedule has changed to provide balance between teaching, prayer, and fellowship.  Fellowship time still exists for guys to talk, play games, or just hang out and watch a movie, but the main focus is to challenge men to be the men God has called them to be. Some men have attended 10, 15, even 20 times; others are just getting started. In 2018 C1MT held its first Conference in Pittsburgh, PA and is looking to expand further in different regions of the country. All men are welcome. Whether you are a long-time attendee, or brand new to the event, it is our desire that you join us in the mission to become the men we were created to be.