It’s been a full week. Two conferences in one week.
The first one was Illuminate in Austin Texas. Kenny Conely and his team put together an amazing conference for Volunteers. What an amazing opportunity for people in the Austin area to be able to go to a conference that was not expensive yet they got to hear from Craig Jutila, Michael Chanley, and Jonathan Cliff. Had an amazing time ate lots of southern stuff, my fave had to be Amy’s Icecream that place is un-stinking believable.
I really think Kenny is on to something. I really believe that conferences are going to start to be more regional. I also think that church investing in their volunteers makes way more sense than sending one or two staff to a national conference. I believe conferences like Illuminate have a much more powerful opportunity to shape the culture of your staff and volunteers in your church.
Here is a video of the open of Illuminate.
The next conference is called Generation Conference. I had the honour (for my Aussie friends) of speaking at our churches youth conference. This is my 14th conference I’ve attended and it is such a privilege to be part of a church that values the next generation. Planetshakers came this year and “tore the roof of the place” It was amazing. There is something so amazing about seeing that many young people worshiping with all that they are, even after all these years it never gets old. I love the local church and I love my local church. Someone once said “The Local Church is the Hope of the World” I couldn’t have said it better.
Here is a quick video of the kids singing Hope of all Hearts with Planetshakers.