National Youth Conference | July 15-18, 2012—Memphis, TN

National Association

WNAC

No Other Name in Memphis

By Matthew Collum

The 2012 National Youth Conference blasted out of the Cannon Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Each service began with praise and worship led exclusively—for the first time—by the Youth Evangelistic Team. YET is a team of students chosen from among top scorers at the National Youth Conference. They use their talents to advance the gospel. YET alumni celebrated 25 years with a reunion choir during the Tuesday evening adult worship service.

NYC teen worship speakers challenged students to understand and embrace the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation. Josh Baer, David Outlaw, Darin Gibbs, and Sean McDowell captivated students as they delivered messages urging them to live for Christ. Tuesday night, Aaron Shust’s concert drew over 1,500 attendees who experienced an intimate time with the Lord.

Children enjoyed worship services targeted to their age levels but with the same emphasis on the NYC theme drawn from Acts 4:12—No Other Name. Steve and Katie Greenwood and Johnny and Gail Miller tailored high-energy programming with solid teaching to help young students follow Christ.

Nearly 4,200 students and adults attended this year’s conference, drawing information from dozens of seminars in tracks for all ages. FWB21, the young adult ministry of the conference, sponsored a groundbreaking panel discussion on racism and evangelism.

With 956 entries, NYC competition provided an excellent representation of the gifts and abilities of Free Will Baptist young people. The new Competition Guidelines, which takes effect in 2013, included several significant changes, including a June 1 event registration deadline.

During the week, nearly 400 students and adults dispersed across Memphis assisting ten different service partners by donating 1,418 hours of time through Reach That Guy.

Participants in the Truth and Peace Leadership Conference once again provided staffing, ensuring that the conference ran smoothly. This year, 103 students from 16 states participated in the program. Their time spent in training at Free Will Baptist Bible College allowed them to prepare and grow before they began work at the National Youth Conference where they served in every area of the convention.

During the Awards Ceremony, the National Youth Conference recognized Jim Lauthern for his many contributions. Truth and Peace Student Leadership Conference and YET were instituted under his visionary leadership, and today thousands of students enjoy the fruit of his labor.

NYC at a Glance

Registration: 4,174

Truth & Peace: 103

Competition Entries: 956

Reach That Guy
Total Participants: 381
Total Service Hours: 1,418
Service Partners: 10
Blood Drive: 58 Units

Youth of the Year: Kaylynn Wells (SC)

Youth Group of the Year:
First FWB Church, Chillicothe, OH

Youth Worker of the Year: Charlotte Thomas

Buck-A-Week offering: $2,864.02

2013 Projects: Home missionaries Tyler and Kellie Penn and the student ministry at University of Illinois and the 10th anniversary of Jcrois (France).

2013 National YET Team
Zachary Johnston (MO)
Danielle Pate (FL)
Kody Madden (AL)
Emma Jones (TN)
Joseph Summerlin (AL)
Eleanor Conley (MO)
Joshua Sloan (OK)
Hannah Gardner (TN)
Gregory Yacobian (TX)
Rachel Williams (FL)
Bradley Dunlap (OK)
Hope Walker (IL)
Bridget Coffee (KY)