FORT WORTH, TEXAS — It’s an intense, jam-packed weekend of religious progress.
It’s an opportunity for younger believers to introduce their mates to Christ.
And it’s a multigenerational occasion.
Trey Henry, far left, minister for the Hillcrest Church of Christ in Arlington, Texas, leads a prayer in the course of the Saturday evening session at Winterfest in Fort Value. To his proper are Olivia Newberry and Wesley LaRue, members of the Memorial Street Church of Christ in Oklahoma Metropolis who learn Scriptures, and David Skidmore, youth minister for the North Boulevard Church of Christ in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
These are a number of of the methods attendees at this 12 months’s Winterfest Texas described the youth rally, attended by almost 2,500 believers from Church buildings of Christ throughout Texas, Oklahoma and past.
Associated: Winterfest Means Out West begins small in Arizona
Launched in 1987 in a Tennessee state park, the annual occasion has grown to about 6,500 members at its Gatlinburg, Tenn., location. The Fort Value occasion adopted in 1999, and this 12 months organizers hosted the first-ever occasion Winterfest Means Out West in Flagstaff, Ariz.
In any respect three venues, audio system centered on the theme “Jesus Is …,” exploring Scripture-rooted truths in regards to the Messiah.
@christianchronicle FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Stephen Maxwell leads “Wondeful, Merciful Savior” in the course of the annual Winterfest youth convention. Almost 3,000 folks attended, representing Church buildings of Christ in Texas, Oklahoma and past. #winterfest #acappella #acappellaworship #churchofchrist #churchesofchrist ♬ authentic sound – The Christian Chronicle
On the Fort Value occasion, held on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Stephen Maxwell led worship and faith-based entertainers The Skit Guys carried out. Whereas a few of their skits had been comical, others had been emotional, together with a dramatization of the painful technique of life transformation known as “God’s Chisel.”
Members additionally did service tasks, packing almost 52,000 meals for distribution in Honduras.
Justin Taylor
About half of the youths who got here with the Grapevine Church of Christ in Texas weren’t formally a part of the congregation, stated youth minister Justin Taylor. The proximity of the occasion to the church’s assembly place makes it simple for members of the youth group to ask their mates, Taylor stated.
Jason Carpenter remembers bringing teams of youths to Winterfest when he labored as an intern for the Memorial Street Church of Christ in Oklahoma Metropolis. This 12 months he introduced his 13-year-old son, Gavin, a seventh grader within the youth group of the Northwest Church of Christ in Oklahoma Metropolis.
Gavin loved the audio system and the Christian comedy, his father stated.
In the meantime, “I had a good time seeing how a lot this occasion nonetheless conjures up me and the youth on this area,” Jason Carpenter added. “I liked catching up with outdated mates and seeing how timeless this occasion will be.”
Jason and Gavin Carpenter
The Saturday evening message had a multigenerational theme. Jason Darden, assistant professor of Bible and ministry at Harding College in Searcy, Ark., started his speak on “Jesus is the Phrase” by launching right into a rap in regards to the energy of Scripture. When he’s not instructing Bible or preaching, Darden has used hip-hop to minister to younger folks underneath the stage identify “Teech.”
@christianchronicle FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Military veteran and Harding College Bible professor Jason Darden speaks to a bunch of almost 3,000 at Winterfest, an annual youth convention. Darden talked about his father’s battle with PTSD after serving within the Gulf Battle and his personal deployment after 9/11. #winterfest #jasondarden #hardinguniversity #PTSD ♬ authentic sound – The Christian Chronicle
Darden advised the Winterfest viewers about his childhood, together with his father’s struggles with post-traumatic stress dysfunction after serving within the Gulf Battle. At one level, the youthful Darden appeared destined for a lifetime of crime, however he adopted in his father’s footsteps and joined the Military.
Associated: Preach it, Teech: Minister mixes God, hip-hop
He was a pupil at Harding on 9/11 and was deployed to the Center East. He spent eight hours per day on guard tower on the Sinai Peninsula, the place he learn his Bible by means of six instances in a 12 months. Darden continues to function a army chaplain, and his daughter not too long ago joined the service.
Jason Darden stokes controversy on the Fort Value Winterfest when he asks viewers members to vote for his or her favourite fries.
Phil Brookman has attended Winterfest as a youth group member and as a youth minister. Now pulpit minister for the Memorial Street church, he delivered the Sunday sermon, “Jesus is Alive,” because the Fort Value occasion concluded.
“Winterfest has been a religious anchor in my life,” Brookman stated. “As a teen, I bear in mind being blown away by the worship and audio system. As a youth minister, the convention led to so lots of our youngsters recommitting to the Lord or getting baptized. … And now I’ve the particular pleasure of watching my daughters proceed to be fashioned and formed by this outstanding gathering.”
ERIK TRYGGESTAD is President and CEO of The Christian Chronicle. Contact [email protected]. Observe him on X @eriktryggestad.
Josiah Maxwell, Maggie Tryggestad, Stephen Maxwell, Eva Engelke and Wes McKinzie sing throughout a night service at Winterfest in Fort Value.
Younger believers sing hymns in the course of the Saturday evening service at Winterfest in Fort Value, Texas.
The Skit Guys carry out “God’s Chisel” at Winterfest in Fort Value.
Jason Darden speaks on “Jesus is the Phrase” throughout Winterfest Fort Value.
