This past weekend over one thousand teenagers converged in Panama City Fl. for what proved to be an exciting event for young people of faith. Awaken is a yearly event held at High Praise Worship center and continues to grow in both popularity and recognition each year of its young existence. Pastor Robert Gay began with a vision of impacting this generation of young people with a message of truth and love as well as give opportunity for young people to express their talents. Pastor Gay starts by saying “it is important that teenagers view church as not just a boring meeting place for their parents but a refuge for trouble times and an avenue of fellowship and fun.” This year featured the popular youth ministry team led by renowned singer Karen Wheaton which goes by the name of “Chosen”. Karen Wheaton brings both credibility to the event but is a major draw for churches to attend even as far off as Northern Alabama, Georgia and South Florida.
Youth Ministry can prove to be a challenge for many churches, with a media driven society the leaders of many local fellowships have turned their attention and focus on offering a vibrant and relevant message, and events such as Awaken allows the local church to present the message of Jesus Christ in a pertinent, hip fashion. Tony Buzcyk the associate pastor of New Hope Worship Assembly in Donalsonville Ga, related it this way, “young people have every tangible form of entertainment available, church tradition in the past would have encouraged us to be separate from any forms of entertainment and focus merely on discipline. However times have changed and in order for the church to be relevant we must plan events such as awaken and support them to the best of our ability.”
Conferences such as Awaken will host on average one thousand young people for a three day event. The services typically include high tempo worship music (and if you do not like loud music you may want to attend something else), entertaining dance routines and skits, musical groups such as SALT a Christian hip-hop act, and timely messages from gifted speakers from around the world. Casey Doss this year’s evangelist delivers a message that relates to the audience in such a way as to make them feel like they are the only person in the room. Karen Wheaton’s ministry team speeds up the tempo and intensity with human videos that stir and evoke emotions concerning each young person’s faith. In a world of indecisiveness and lack of commitment each portion of the Awaken conference is designed to challenge the teens in attendance to join in on a worthwhile cause.
After attending my first Awaken conference I think that it is safe to say that I left challenged and refreshed and I am far from being a teenager, so it goes to prove that if you have the opportunity to experience such a conference then make it a priority. Erin Lancaster a youth leader from Georgia expressed the importance of this conference by saying “many times as a local leader we allow ourselves to be put into a rut, a conference like this allows for fresh ideas and actually aids local churches in its mission to promote the gospel,” she finished by stating that she plans to bring her young people back for years to come.
The church has been placed into a position of reevaluating itself and its relevance in today’s culture. Without affecting the younger generation how can it ever expect to survive the ever changing scenery of culture? Events such as awaken aids and equips as well as entertains but with a purpose and a passion.
