Morinville – Five speakers will take to the Morinville Community Cultural Centre this weekend for the Father’s House CARE conference 2014, a two day event that includes the faith community’s third Youth Rally. The latter event takes place Saturday night from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Father’s House youth Pastor Peter Vischer said the Impact Youth Rally will focus on young people having a relationship with Jesus. “In a generation longing for meaning and fulfillment, Jesus brings hope and satisfaction,” Vischer said. “He’s a the real deal! I’m excited for Morinville’s youth to feel the presence of God at our rally. There’s a tangible sense of wonder we experience when we get together to worship.”
Vischer said the youth speaker this year is Anthony Greco, someone Vischer sees as an incredibly dynamic motivator who he is confident youth will thoroughly enjoy learning from.
Vischer said the Youth Rally is designed for young people between the ages of 10 and 18. The evening will include a few crowd games, a live worship band, a drama performance by Impact Youth Ministries members, and the keynote speaker Anthony Greco. There is no cost for youth to attend the event.
Pastor Greg Fraser of the Father’s House is also excited about the annual youth rally and keynote speaker Anthony Greco. “He’s just a real firecracker. Very humourous and kind of hitting people where they live in terms of connecting with the culture,” Fraser said. “The intent will be engaging them [the youth] in the area of is God really for you, and what does that mean in your life for what you are going to become and what you’re gong to do. He’ll be very humourour but also very profound and purpose driven in his message.”
Though the youth rally will carry an unapologetic faith message, Fraser said it will carry on Impact Youth Ministry’s longstanding tradition of welcoming everyone just as they are, a philosophy that forms part of their Friday night youth gatherings and Soul Cafe talent shows.
“The heart of our church is to help people find their way home to the father,” Fraser said. “I don’t really care, to be bluntly honest, if a kid goes to the Catholic church, the Alliance church, the Baptist church. That is irelevant to me. I just want them to have a relationship with God.If we can help facilitate that, that’s our heart.”
Plenty of other sessions
The gathering of local youth to hear the message is part of a weekend-long event that Pastor Greg Fraser and his team believe will give the church’s 300 plus members the tools they need.
“Like any other area of life, whether it be in education or politics, there is always training, there’s always teaching involved to help equip them to do their job,” said Pastor Greg Fraser. “From a church perspective, what we determined was that what the church’s job is is to make deciples and followers of Jesus, followers of his message and his methods. The heart and intent of our conference is to equip our church and anyone else who wants to attend in the area of decipleship.”
The conference will cover a wide-variety of topics that would be of interest to those inside and outside the church; however, Fraser is quick to point out the topics will be presented from a faith perspective.
Speakers include Ian Whitfield, who will speak about Engaging businesses and business integrity. Fraser said Whitfield will tell the story of his family and their business, a tale he believes will resonate with attendees. “His story is about the history of his family; his father was a very successful businessman,” Fraser said. “He goes into the story on the collapse of that business, the lack of integrity that created that collapse, and really the need for people in business to have integrity. That is the story he is going to be sharing with out business people.”
Other presenters include Lorraine Demers, who will present a sesion titled Knowing yourself to Serve the World; Matty Copin, who will present a seminar titled God’s Not Dead; and Bonnie Tejada, who will present a session called Listening: Creating a Space To Be Heard. Fraser is looking forward to the sessions and the impact he believes they will have.
Cost to attend the conference is $25 per person or $40 per couple. There is no cost to attend the Impact Youth Rally. Fraser said the church is largely underwriting the cost of the event to keep it affordable for those interested in attending. Anyone wishing to book a spot can call The Father’s House at 780-939-2992.
