Youthquake to shake up Cullman youth in October

Youthquake, an evangelistic conference that will be held at the Cullman County Fairgrounds Oct. 1, will be a night “jam-packed from start to finish” for Alabama youth.
   
It is the result of three years of prayer, said Shane Quick, promoter for the Alabama Baptist Youth Network of Cullman County.
   
“The vision has been there for a while, and God has definitely got His hand on this event,” Quick said. “It (will be) more like a festival, but we want to let God grow it and make it into an annual evangelistic conference unless He tells us differently.”
   
The night — a first for the Cullman network — will feature Christian bands SonicFlood, Everyone and Born Blind, as well as speakers Steve Gaines of Gardendale’s First Baptist Church and Rick Burgess of the Rick and Bubba Show.
   
Cullman County has 109 Baptist churches, and many times, its youth have to go to Huntsville or Birmingham to see a big-name concert, Quick said. Youthquake will bring the teenagers in by bringing the concerts to them.
   
“When you network all those churches and everyone pulls together, it’s easy to get the word out. It’s going to be a whole lot of fun, and we plan to keep it going,” Quick said. “Next year we’re already planning for MercyMe to come.”
   
Jud Henley, student minister at First Baptist Church of Cullman, said the beauty of the event is the way it unites the body of Christ across denominational lines to win Cullman County’s youth.
   
“Coaches will let players off for the events and schools will schedule around them, because it’s not a personal favor to a single church, it’s the entire Christian community organizing together to do something,” Henley said. “It shows them that our (denominations’) ministries aren’t really that different, and that as a Christian community we do an event that impacts our community.”
   
For more information about the event, visit www.youthquake2003.com.