A cold January weekend wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of students who congregated on Birmingham’s Boutwell Auditorium for the Student Life conference. More than 2,400 students from across the state made the trek to Birmingham for the two-day event Jan. 21-22 that included music, drama and speaking.
This year’s conference was the third for Nathan Akres, 14, of Beechwood Baptist Church in Mount Olive, who said he has gained something from the event each time he has attended.
Nathan was joined by Laura Loggins and Wendy Byrd, both 13, who were attending their first Student Life conference.
“I think it’s going to be awesome,” Wendy said before the start of Friday’s session. “Every time I come to something like this, I just get real fired up. I think it’s going to be awesome.”
Jay Carr, Student Life camp director, said the conference was based on John 14:6, where Jesus said He was “the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
Carr said Friday’s session focused on “the way” knowing Christ, with subsequent sessions addressing the truth and living life with Christ and going out and making him part of your life.
Music got the audience excited early I the evening, with many students standing on their chairs as they clapped along. Band members performed in front of a stage depicting a high school hallway, with the drummer perched atop the set.
Following a performance by the drama team, the band performed again, with lead singer Jeff Scott telling students he hoped it would be their passion to be part of a generation that seeks God. The challenge to seek God was the cornerstone of the weekend’s worship, from the music and messages students heard to the drama presentations.
Throughout the weekend, students saw skits depicting the life of a student named Peter, who had realized during the previous summer what a relationship with Jesus is really about.
Davy Fisher, creative director of the drama team “All Things to All People,” said the presentations parallel the life of Simon Peter to represent how the Bible is as important today as when it was written.
“We think the Bible is just as relevant today as when it was first put together by God,” Fisher said. His comment brought a roar of approval from students.
In addition to the professional actors, students were used as extras.
It was that touch that Carr said he hoped would really impact students.
“The drama is incredible,” Carr said. “They’re seeing their peers on stage, and they’re going to be themselves in each situation.”
In the skit, “Peter” encountered skepticism from a student oucast he tried to share Christ with, who told him she had never known anything but rejection from him and his friends. Peter also found himself greeted with skepticism from his peers, with one telling him he sounded like a fanatic.
Addressing students later, speaker David Nasser told them that the story of the student Peter is no different from that of the fisherman Simon Peter. Nasser stressed that Jesus called both Simon Peter and the student Peter to follow him.
“Peter said to Jesus, ‘My life is in your hands,’” Nasser said.
He told students that the situation is no different in modern times, with them also called to put their lives in Jesus’ hands. But he warned they too would face skepticism and rejection.
“If he hasn’t got you in trouble, you’re not sharing the Gospel,” Nasser said. The speaker said students must remember also stand firm in proclaiming Jesus is the only way to God.
Nasser, who is a native of Iran, told of sharing Christ with his Muslim father. He said his father told how he believes Jesus was one branch on a tree with many branches leading to God.
“Through all of history, Jesus says, ‘I am the way,’” Nasser said. “Jesus doesn’t say ‘I am one of the ways,’ but ‘I am the way.’”
The conference kept students busy throughout the weekend. Friday’s session lasted until 9:45, with participants returning to Boutwell the next morning at 9 for more music, drama and speaking that lasted until 4 that afternoon.
Students living in Birmingham stayed in host homes, with groups from other cities staying in hotels. Both Birmingham students and those from out-of-town gathered in host homes on Saturday night for small group discussion.
Organizers said the conference was designed to be a “large group” experience.
The conference began in Birmingham four years ago at Green Valley Baptist Church with 500 students. Since then, it has grown into a nationwide ministry.
Birmingham was the first stop for the student conference tour this year, which includes 14 cities. Other locations in the tour, which runs through April 28-29, include Atlanta and Orlando.
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