3 lessons from a summer of Christian festivals
By 
Rich Martin2024-09-23T15:14:00
Rich Martin has attended more Christian events than most this summer. There’s much to be encouraged by, he says
Mountaintop moments in the Christian journey are a key part of growing in faith.
I have found that intentionally booking time to go up a mountain, be away from the usual, and allow God to be revealed in new ways is essential. For me, that has meant attending a leadership conference or a church camp.
Here in the UK, they tend to happen over the summer months - gatherings of thousands of Christians, all together to lift the name of Jesus in worship, to listen to his voice, and be directed by the Holy Spirit. The richness of the history of these and what has been birthed from them is incredible. From the likes of the Dales Bible weeks, Stoneleigh, Soul Survivor, and now more recently to the mountaintops of HTB Leadership Conference, Wildfires, Big Church Day Out, and many more, we have multiple opportunities to gather as the body and allow the Holy Spirit to refresh and renew his Church.
This summer I was able to attend five large gatherings: AOG National Conference (1,900 leaders from 575 UK churches), Elim National Conference (1,800 leaders from 466 UK churches), HTB Leadership Conference (5,000 delegates from all over Europe), Jesus Culture Pastors Conference (400 church leaders from the UK) and Awaken, Ground Level Conference (4,500 delegates from 80 ground level churches)
Being at these events gave me an insight into the UK Church. Here are three things I noticed:
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