What is the Candeo Music Conference?
Worship Leadership Conference
The Candeo Music Conference is a two-day conference experience hosted at Candeo Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa designed for worship leaders, tech leaders, and their teams to grow spiritually, theologically, and practically in the art and heart of leading worship in the local church.
Through main sessions and breakouts, we aim to awaken a deeper hunger for God, expand your vision of who He is, and equip you with practical tools to lead and serve your church more faithfully.
Our desire is to help bridge the divide between Spirit and Truth—forming worship leaders and teams who don’t just lead songs, but pursue the kind of worship that God is seeking
In a moment where leading worship can easily drift toward performance, production, or preference, we want to recover something deeper. This weekend is about forming leaders who are rooted in Scripture, shaped by the gospel, and equipped to lead with clarity, conviction, and pastoral care.
We’re gathering worship leaders, musicians, and tech teams from around the country to pursue that together.
This year, we’re joined by Aaron Williams (Integrity Music, founder of The Way of Worship), a trusted voice in our broader worship community who shares a deep conviction for forming worship leaders with both theological depth and pastoral instinct.
We are also joined by Jeff Sandstrom, the Co-founder of MxU. Jeff has spent his career as a front-of-house engineer for artists such as Chris Tomlin, Passion, Lauren Daigle, Steven Curtis Chapman, and many others. His passion for mixing eventually grew into a passion for helping church teams raise the bar for excellence in production, as well as in how they develop and lead their volunteers. That passion led to the creation of MxU. MxU exists to help church leaders train and equip their worship and tech teams.
Through worship, teaching, songwriting, and hands-on training, our aim is to help you grow not just in skill, but in spiritual depth and theological clarity. We want you to leave with a renewed vision for what it means to lead your church in worship and practical tools to do it more faithfully.
Whether you are building a team, developing leaders, or simply trying to lead your church with greater intentionality, this conference is designed to serve you and your ministry.
Songwriting Intensive
This year, the conference will include both a songwriting event (optional add-on) on Friday as well as the main Worship Leadership Conference Friday Evening and Saturday. This will include sessions and breakouts from worship leaders and pastors from around the country.
What is the Songwriting Intensive?
The Songwriting Intensive will be a focused time of learning and songwriting together, led by Aaron Williams (songwriter of Abide and artist/writer with Integrity Music). The intensive will include sessions of inspiration and teaching that lead into group songwriting, followed by a final song share to close out the time.
Our hope is that God would use this experience to birth songs in our churches that carry the truth and beauty of the gospel and shape the worship of the next generation.
MAIN SESSION SPEAKERS
INTEGRITY MUSIC / THE WAY OF WORSHIP FOUNDER
AARON WILLIAMS
JEFF SANDSTROM
MxU CO-FOUNDER
DALTON SHAFFER
WORSHIP LEADER, CANDEO CHURCH / CMC FOUNDER
JAKE HERING, PHD
PASTOR OF TEACHING AND VISION, CANDEO CHURCH
WORSHIP LEADER, CORNERSTONE CHURCH
JACOB BOYD
CONFERENCE PRICING
WORSHIP LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
EARLY REGISTRATION - $55 (THROUGH DECEMBER)
SONGWRITING INTENSIVE
WITH AARON WILLIAMS
EARLY REGISTRATION COST + $79 (THROUGH DECEMBER)
CONFERENCE PARTNERS
PRESENTING PARTNER
We are excited to have MxU as our presenting partner this year at the Candeo Music Conference. This means that MxU will be here with us at the conference as well as host one of the break outs! We would encourage you to check out their website and sign up for a membership if you don’t already have one. MxU is an amazing resource to help you train and equip your whole worship team!
SUPPORTING PARTNERS
INTERESTED IN PARTNERING WITH THE CANDEO MUSIC CONFERENCE?
LISTEN TO LAST YEAR’S CONFERENCE
Main sessions available now.
Frequently Asked Questions
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This is a conference designed for worship leaders, tech leaders, and volunteers. We intentionally design the main sessions to have something for everyone on your team, with breakouts that are more tailored to specific parts of your team.
Whether you are on staff, serve on the backline, or in the tech booth, we have something specifically for you to help you grow as a leader and in serving your church.
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Lunch is provided on site for both Friday (Songwriting Event) and Saturday (Conference)
A gluten free option will also be provided upon request (in registration).
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Yes! This conference is starting on Friday with registration opening at 5PM, and main session 1 starting at 6PM— then will continue through Saturday morning into Saturday afternoon with main sessions and breakouts concluding with a night of worship that evening!
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We recommend flying into
Cedar Rapids - CID (1 hour away) - Most popular
Des Moines - DSM (2 hours away)
Waterloo - ALO (here in town)
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You can sign up for the Conference without signing up for the Songwriting Event.
However, this year, the Songwriting Event is an add-on option for the conference! We would love to have you join us for the whole event! Aaron will be speaking at both as well as a number of other guest speakers and breakout leaders!
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Conference registration includes all main sessions, breakouts, and lunch.
Conference Pass
$45 — All students (middle school, high school, college)
$55 — Early registration (until Dec. 31st)
Songwriting Add-On includes main sessions, writing groups, and lunch.
Songwriting Add-On (Friday Writing Event)
Early registration: Conference cost + $79
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This is a great question! The conference is open to anyone who wants to grow in leading or serving on a worship team, but we have chosen to make the Songwriting Event a bit more exclusive. It has limited spots (only 60 available), and will include a more intimate environment to learn from Aaron Williams. The price includes the teaching sessions, songwriting time, lunch, and some exclusive merch.