It’s now a month since our inaugural Revelation Music and Ministry conference, and what a great time it was. Almost 200 people, including around 40 volunteers and presenters, from around 35 churches gathered together on a cold, but sunny, weekend at Immanuel College.
I’m biased, but I think my father’s talks were fantastic. At some point, we’ll develop the resources section of the Revelation website and upload them. He challenged us from Ephesians, Hebrews and Psalm 116 about making our gatherings places of praise, prayer, proclamation and edification.
We ran about 25 workshops on a range of topics, with much positive feedback… thank you so much to those presenters. And not to mention the people who shared a song at the Open Mic sessions – wow… what talent.
And it was a wonderful privilege to share the platform with Nicky Chiswell and Geoff Bullock, both of whom had fantastic challenges about what’s important in our lives and ministries.
It was a conference with pastors, musicians and members of congregations present, and there was something for everyone.
So, was it a revelation?
What I discovered was how much the Christian community can encourage one another around a common ministry goal. I was so buoyed by the vibe of the people. Some come from smaller churches where they’re busting their guts week after week to do music; others came from larger churches with the pressures of lots of opinions to navigate. But we all became increasingly aware that our gatherings together are places in which music plays a role in planting gospel seeds deeply into our lives.
I thank God for a great first conference! Stay tuned for info about 2012.