Youth Congress 2009: A Super Bowl of Worship

By Kent d Curry and Sarah k. Holland
Dateline: August 5-7, 2009, Nashville, TN

This was a North American Youth Congress that depended very much on your age and experience with past Congresses. Some aspects were the same (the great, gushing moves of God in the night services), some new (the launching of a national 20something ministry entitled Hyphen), some site specific (almost no one could pronounce the Sommet in Sommet Center; the humidity in Nashville starts inside your bones and oozes out of your skin in a way that makes you yearn for the traditional “wet blanket” humidity) and some not (where Youth Congress abounds, fashion statements doth much more abound).

With registration over 11,000 people, while Thursday and Friday’s night’s attendance around 18,000, this event was a significant sampling of today’s Apostolic youth; by almost every measure, we have every reason to be optimistic about our Apostolic future:

The North American Bible Quiz Tournament was remarkably competitive, especially among the top tier of teams in both intermediate and experienced levels.
With few exceptions, the casual and fancy dress was modest, the girl’s hair uncut—indeed, “long” was flaunted everywhere—the guy’s attitude respectful. (There were those who disagreed with this assessment to some degree, so it might be a case of where you sat.)
During services and sessions, the arena hallways were remarkably vacant. The teens were there to draw closer to God.
Nashville was a superb location, with a line of restaurants and hotels within walking distance, friendly servers, and easy access to interstates. It doesn’t take a veteran to predict Youth Congress will return.
Initial reports on Project 22:30, the community outreach activity on Friday afternoon, were positive, with over 450 people participating. (We will be reporting in more depth later this week.)
The Hyphen event Thursday night, featuring music by Johnathan Dean, Ryan Johns, and Kyle Elkins and the Experience, sold nearly 800 tickets to 20somethings. It was a great kickoff for the new ministry.
Late Friday night, the Media Missions booth was overwhelmed by people wanting to buy CDs and DVDs of the services.

Continuing on the standard set in 2007, the music team was superb, with Justin Conway and Chantry Dean proving to be a powerful duo. This event continue to feature extremely talented musicians and singers. There seemed fewer new songs than last time, but you can never win with music in a Pentecostal venue: offer new music and people complain that they don’t know the lyrics or the music is too “rocky,” offer the familiar Hillsong-Israel-Chris Tomlin triad and it’s considered predictable. Every Apostolic thinks they’re an expert, whether they can actually sing or play.

There was definitely an increase in dramatized songs, with different songs (even preaching) being featured in nearly every service. The response to most was dynamic, as different groups used mime faces, costumes, and church dress attire. Drama is certainly a key ingredient of our times so expect to see more of it in the future.

It was our impression that there was a significant percentage (30-35%?) of rookies this year, which created a more tepid response at the start. The palpable energy that crackled throughout early registration on Wednesday was replaced that evening by a more cautious attitude clothed in some outrageous outfits and jaw-dropping shoes. You got the impression that the newbies were being careful not to do the wrong thing and be branded as such. By Thursday that attitude was a distant memory. Still, whether it was the little girls wobbling down the hallways in heels that swelled them into an altitude they weren’t capable of navigating or the messages on the boy’s T-shirts during the day, we couldn’t help but feel like this was the entry point for thousands of Apostolic teens.

What they experienced is different from that of the veterans of three or more Youth Congresses. Yes the Lord rained velvet glory upon everyone with open hearts, yes there were many well-known speakers mixed with those unknown on a national level, yet a 20something youth pastor from Indiana seemed to capture it for many when he called Youth Congress 2009 noticeably “tamer.” The activities were fun but safe, there was less media featured during services, and numerous sessions focused on the importance of the (announced) theme of maintaining our Apostolic identity. Many attendees even felt there was an undercurrent of rebuttals made against the Emerging Church movement. None of this is bad, but too many veterans mentioned it to us for it to be coincidence.

Whether or not this was the “greatest Youth Congress ever” will always be a matter of individual choice. What is beyond dispute, by rookies and veterans alike, is that God chooses to move differently from one Congress to the next, yet his kindness is everlasting, his goodness lasts from generation to generation. What is one person’s disappointment is another’s highlight. Whatever your previous experience, no one can deny that every Youth Congress is an exceptional time of visitation with the Almighty. Youth Congress 2009 just kept that winning streak alive.

Tell us what you think! We weren’t the only ones there and you’re welcome to agree or disagree!

ninetyandnine.com

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Kent d Curry and Sarah k. Holland are still exhausted from blogging non-stop at North American Youth Congress 2009. Sleep was not an option, but blogging in 2011 certainly is.