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Youth Congress Craziness -
Nashville-style Youth Congress is a blitz. A mad, all-out, nothing-to-lose blitz. You arrive, you go to services, then it’s over—just like that. General Conference can’t compare. Youth conventions can’t compete. Bible Quiz tournaments can’t contend. There is only the craziness of Congress. Seeing as it’s madness to give you a detailed minute-by-minute account of the services, sessions, and scheduled events, since there were too many simultaneous events, allow ninetyandnine.com to guide you through the range of the color, sights, and sounds seen over August 6-8, 2003 at the United Pentecostal Church’s North American Youth Congress. For instance… It Rained People for 40 Days and 40 Nights… Youth Congress 2001 (Atlanta) had about 7,400 registrants. So the General Youth Division (GYD) printed about 9,500 books this year. They had 12,000+ people register. That’s a 62 percent jump! The unfortunate registration desk personnel ran out of every possible supply to the point they were writing names down on any scrap of paper available. Do you smell that? Although it received woefully little publicity, on August 4-6, 2003 a record 60 teams competed in the Intermediate North American Bible Quiz Tournament at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Congratulations to South Texas 4, who won it all. The church is pastored by Bro. Ken Gurley, who was seen outside the doors, insisting he wouldn’t enter because he would jinx his team. Still, the tournament’s highlight came when an unnamed quizzer from an unnamed team (okay, it was Groveport, Ohio) was asked, from Psalm 63:8, “What followeth hard after thee, O God?” Said quizzer replied, “My soul farteth after thee.” Yep, farteth (as King James himself used to say). To his credit, the quizzer caught his mistake and immediately stopped. Too late. Snickers, giggles, and laughter followed. Worse than being counted wrong, laughed at, and decreed as one of the all-time funniest answers in Bible Quizzing history (remind me to share some others some time), it was all caught on video! So the poor guy can be wrong and laughed at for the rest of his life. Elvis Has Left the Building There was nothing worse than seeing a trophy-winning Bible Quiz team get cheered to the heavens, leave the trophy ceremony and walk straight to their van and drive home Wednesday night. It appeared a couple other teams were driving out as well, but…with a trophy? Talk about anti-climatic! Welcome to the 21st Century Kudos to the GYD and Indiana Bible College (IBC) for marketing with the times. Like Atlanta, the official registration card was a phone card with 10 minutes of time on it. At the Renaissance Hotel (the headquarters hotel), IBC had the back of all of the room key cards proclaiming, “Unlock your future” with their web address on it, so every time you entered your room, there was IBC. The Arrangements It was Worship-in-the-Round this year. The Gaylord Conference Center is a hockey arena, so they dropped the stage in the middle of the (iceless) rink, beneath the four-sided scoreboard/screens, then plopped a pulpit in the middle. Ahhh, but this wasn’t just any pulpit. This pulpit had a rotating top, so that each minister continually adjusted himself to face a different section of the crowd. I didn’t realize this at first, as the minister would ask us to worship, I would worship, and he would mysteriously be facing a different direction. Finally, when he asked us to worship, I tricked him and didn’t worship and saw him move the top. Kudos to contributor Ron Ayers for this tres cool creation. Night Services As expected, Bros. Bobby McCool, Jr, Calvin Jean, and Scott Graham rocked the house each night. What wasn’t expected was the attendance. The Gaylord Conference Center configuration held about 17,900. It’s no exaggeration to place both Thursday and Friday nights at 16,500+, with Thursday night holding just a few more (plus the hallways were stuffed on Thursday night and largely barren on Friday. (To put those numbers in perspective, that was more people than probably any previous UPC event except the Louisville General Conference, 2001.) All services were fast moving, inviting to worship, and not bogged down with announcements (or promotions!). Planning committee, take note at General Conference: everyone enjoyed these focused services. Friday night Graham addressed the article “The Other Pentecostals,” written by J. Lee Grady of Charisma magazine. In the article, Grady says it’s just a matter of time before the Oneness Pentecostals get rid of their doctrine and become just like the Trinitarians. From Grady’s article, “Many UPC leaders--even some at the denomination's headquarters in Hazelwood, Missouri--say they see reformation coming. But they expect a gradual changing of the guard as older, more hard-line leaders relinquish control.” Yet, Graham reiterated the Oneness doctrine in front of 17,000 plus screaming, jumping, excited (and young) Apostolics and specifically addressed Grady by name. According to Graham, there will be no change in our doctrine. Jean spoke about the importance of death and dying out to our own will and sacrificing our time/energy to the service of God. After the service Thursday night, 911 young people signed up for the Apostolic Youth Corps. Jean’s message was in perfect harmony with Graham’s message on Friday night, when he concluded in his message that Apostolics need to sacrifice more to the kingdom of God. In total, we heard about 1700 young people expressed interest. Thieves in the Temple Someone was so desperate to be part of Youth Congress they scammed their way in, lying that they were someone else. When the real group actually arrived, after a 4-hour bus ride, there was egg on the faces of several trusting Christians. Expect IDs to be required from now on. Speaking of Registration Cards… …why were they required for the Worth the Wait rally? The point is to get the message of abstinence to everyone interested, not just to those who can pay money to hear it, yes? Alert! Females in Male Attire! Without any dominant fashion in vogue, there was a little bit of everything this year. While it was hardly a dominant theme, there were a decent number of girls wearing ties. Some were formal, some were fun (Sponge Bob), and some were casual. Or is it Males in Female Attire? Either this is cutting edge or soured past its due date, but a decent number of guys were wearing thick ties that generally stopped at their 2nd shirt button (Or about the solar plexus). Are bare mid-riffs next? And Other Interesting Tidbits… ■ During the Friday night preaching, several Mormons were passing out tracts in the hallways. One man told them, “Well, good luck!” No conversions were reported. ■ Sessions are so large now that they must be held in separate hotel ballrooms. However, the walk wasn’t nearly as bad as Atlanta’s city-wide hike two years ago. ■ I’m the last person to be handing out fashion advice, but ladies, please don't wear hats at night. You’re highlighting your poor taste. Hats are supposed to block out the sun, not the moon. ■ Without fanfare, Apostolic rockers Plan:be sold over 100 CDs from a little table near the booths. (Expect an exclusive interview with those guys soon.) ■ For unknown reasons, the Gaylord Center’s down escalator was closed off Thursday night. (Perhaps to stem the tide of youth parading to and fro?) It was a bit claustrophobic to realize that there was no coming down, once up during the service. ■ Multi-talented Kristyn Leigh’s demo CD ended up in our hands after she sang at a pre-service Praise Extravaganza. Kristyn recently won the WHAS radio “Idol” contest in Kentucky. She was chosen for the Top 10, then listeners voted for their favorite song and artist over the next four weeks. She was the ultimate winner, singing a gospel song on a secular radio station. Is that cool or what? ■ One of the arena staff got the Holy Ghost right after the Thursday night sermon. ■ The Associates in Missions program (teenagers going overseas to help UPC missionaries for extended periods) snagged over 100 people. ■ 298 ninetyandnine.com flyers were distributed over the course of the Congress. Welcome to all our new readers. It was also a pleasure meeting several regular contributors. Thanks for dropping by to say hi! ■ Holiness standards carried the day as everyone seemed to understand who they represented with their clothing. It was no coincidence that many mentioned the good spirit felt throughout. ■ Friday night, about 11:30 p.m.—It was cool watching teenagers, still lost in the spirit, crying and speaking in tongues, being escorted out by friends. Alco-MALL-ics The Evangelists booth had a huge Mall gig going from 11 p.m. – 2 a.m. Friday/Saturday. The event featured about 30 stores with the food court staying open, rotating choirs and ensembles singing, and inflatable rides (the climbing and sliding apparatus that you often see at carnivals). For a small entrance fee that supported evangelists, depending on if you wanted to just attend ($5) or enjoy the rides ($15), you could be part of the fun. They sold over 5,000 tickets. (I weep thinking about how all those teens sacrificed their money to support evangelism.) A few highlights… ■ Aeropostale handed out 20 percent off coupons and made a killing. There was a line out the door the entire night. ■ Fredericks of Hollywood also stayed open, but evidently business wasn’t as successful. ■ Some shoplifting was reported. ■ At 2:15 a.m. Pentecostals were still lined up 5-10 deep at the food court. Snapshot Analysis! So why did so many people show up in Nashville? Several theories abound: 1. Location – Nashville is 9 hours (or less) away from everywhere east of Kansas City, with three major interstates intersecting there. 2. Location – Nashville is the buckle of the Bible belt. (That’s what they say, not me.) More Apostolics are in that general area. 3. Alternatives - General Conference is in Toronto. Personally, I can’t wait to stroll a world-class city, but for many Pentecostals it’s just too far away. (Not that we mind telling our Canadian brethren they should drive to Phoenix, but that’s another story…) Sacrificing a couple extra hours to make a national conference is easier if you’re not going to GC. Elvis Has Left the Building II So ye olde weary editor was stumbling back into the hotel Friday night at some moment before midnight only to find several van loads of teens heading home after the service. Those guys must’ve had a long drive ahead of them. (I wonder if they’ve made it yet…) Just in Case You Couldn’t Attend Youth Congress… Some brainiac scheduled a sectional youth rally in Murfreesboro, TN (about 20-30 minutes from Nashville) Saturday night, August 9. Hmmm. Isn’t that a bit like publicizing your little league football game the day after the Super Bowl?
ninetyandnine.com © 2003, Kent d Curry --------- Kent d Curry is an executive editor of ninetyandnine.com. |
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