Unleash was Awesome
We got back late last night from the Unleash Conference. It was absolutely amazing. What I love about Perry’s preaching is that he is not afraid of speaking truth, even if it steps on your toes. I felt like he was speaking directly to me in both of the main sessions. We must continue to lift up the name of Jesus. If we preach Jesus, then people will be changed!
Check out outlines of Session 1 and Session 2 from Tony Morgan. I also got to talk with Tony at the conference. He’s a great guy who has really inspired me as to what a Christian blog should be. The comments are really flying in on Tony’s blog about the main sessions. When you don’t hold back, not everyone will like it. I loved what Perry had to say and I appreciate his courage to say it.
The Breakout Q&A sessions were good as well. I’m sure the NewSpring staff was tired of being asked, “how do you get volunteers?” and “how do you get the money?”, but they kept on communicating the importance of vision. People don’t give of their time or their money to a need, they give to a vision. My only problem is that I wanted to be at all of the breakouts. I think they will put the transcripts of the breakouts and the messages on their website soon. I hope so, to see what I missed in the other breakouts. When they do get them up, I will definitely link to them. I attended the breakouts on “The Volunteer Experience” and “The Creative Process”. Jenni attended “Creating Excellent Experiences for Kids” and “Creating Community in Church”. We learned a lot that is transferable to where we are as a church.
The music was off the hook! I think my insides are still shaking from all the subs on the stage. If you measure the Worship time by the amount of chill bumps, then this one was near the top. I truly felt in the presence of God. The singing really opened my heart to what I needed to hear. I like how they have worked some contemporary songs into their set list. It reminds me of a statement that I heard someone make a long time ago. “What is Christian Music? When did the music get saved?” If the lyrics support the point we are making and are Biblical, and if the song connects with people, then why not use it in church? Makes sense to me.
I also spent some time talking with Pastor Ken Nienke from Fellowship Community Church in Salem, Virginia. I look forward to taking a visit to his church and spending some time with them in the near future. Ken’s a great guy and their church had a very similar start to ours. They are also part of the SBCV, which I think is a great organization. I’ll have to share some of my background with them in a future post. It’s great seeing how Fellowship is growing and reaching their community. I have met and been inspired by their youth pastor James Tippins several times in the past. Check out his blog if you haven’t already.
And finally, Perry made the comment that the sermon begins in the parking lot. From the time we registered on Wed. night to the time we left Thursday afternoon, we were constantly engaged by NewSpring’s incredible volunteer staff. They were there to help us find where we were going and they were great at letting us know how excited they were to be there. And most of them had to take a vacation day from work to help with the conference. They definitely have set the bar high, and it gives me something to really think about as we move forward as a church. They definitely made us feel welcome and I want to thank them for the giving of their time to make the conference successful. Well done!
