3 lessons from a summer of Christian festivals

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: 

1. The sound of worship is changing

Gone are the days when you attend a conference and hope that the worship is going to be good. By “good”, I mean anointed and led by skilled people. The good news is that at all of the conferences, the worship was clearly anointed, led by teams of mainly “nobodies” pointing us all to the King of Kings. 

People are hungrier than ever for the presence of God; they are attending with expectancy and openness. Worship teams have scrapped trying to make everyone “happy” in the room with a set list that caters to everyone’s preference.

The sense that worship is changing is a relief; no longer preference-driven but presence-driven is a gift to the body.

I left deeply moved and encouraged by each conference, knowing that the days of bang-average worship are over! My prayer and hope are that this can spread from the mountaintop to our everyday gatherings. 

2. The wrestle of new leadership styles is paying off

Four years ago, Covid was tearing through the UK, and the Church was grappling with structures and systems that couldn’t cope with what they were facing. What followed was a radical shaking of the Church, specifically around leadership and a cleaning up of poor leadership practices.

Four of the five conferences had been through recent leadership changes, and that had also prompted multiple transitions. The fruit of this was evident to see in each conference. Softer language and shepherding hearts were very evident, with a clear and obvious focus on equipping the saints, not burdening them with denominational dogma.

Healthy stories abounded of leadership transitions, and excitement around church planting and revitalisation was not lip service but evident in stories shared. The corridor and breakout spaces were filled with people discussing developing young leaders and willing to take risks. Old legends of the faith were greeted by new, younger, faith-filled leaders who were leaning in for wisdom and to hear some faith-filled stories of years gone by.

Seeing leaders who had stuck the course of choppy waters still turning up with groups of leaders and congregational members was inspiring, knowing that many critics had written off their leadership or their churches. Instead, they seem to have hung onto the grace of Jesus and have raised up new leaders who have rallied around fresh vision and have started to strike out again. Inspired and encouraged would be an understatement. As per most things in the kingdom, a lot has happened quietly behind the scenes without anyone noticing. Young leaders are now emerging, having been shaped in the dark, ready to shine light in new, innovative, and creative ways.

The church may be in decline in the reports we all read, but all data ultimately reports on the past. What is evident in these five conferences is that fresh leaders are emerging, ready to provide new data sets for the analysts - the Church has very much shifted to healthy leadership, ready for new wine to be poured out.

3. The hurdle of ‘money’ is clear for everyone to see

The average delegate has little understanding of how much these mass gatherings cost. The daily rental fees of the Royal Albert Hall, for example, are huge. The mass infrastructure needed to meet at a showground should not be underestimated. The lighting, rigging, yearly admin staffing to make such events happen is eye-watering.

There is only so much people are currently prepared to pay to go to such events. Often our Christians conferences and festivals are not passing the full costs onto delegates. But they need finance in order to keep going. What’s the solution?

For many events, the answer has been to charge a ministry/charity a fee, and in return offer them a slot to promote their work from the mainstage, or a stand at the back where charities can sign people up and take donations. There’s nothing wrong with this. After all, the modern church leader should be helping their people to serve the poor, and many amazing charities and ministries have risen up to support and help the Church in outworking this mission. There’s synergy here. It allows the local church to play its role and the ministry to play theirs - and ultimately, the poor, needy, and forgotten are taken care of.

The problem is - how do you make these ‘plugs’ look elegant? Increasingly, people are aware of what’s coming; they are hardened to the ‘ask’ and so we sit in our chairs fighting cynicism and knowing the moment will pass. I believe this model is now clumsy and needing a major overhaul - the events have built their model based on charity sponsorship, and the charities have budgeted based on people donating at these events. Many charities no longer have deep pockets to go long-term with events and build relationships over many years; they need income now and are relying on them, so their asks are strong and with high emotion.

What’s the solution? I think there are conversations to be had to work out how to move forward. I think there is a maturing in the body that needs to happen. Ticket buyers need to be prepared for ticket costs to go up and to be happy with that so we can see events sustained. Event organisers and charities need to keep working at how to help each other, moving away from the “we have the power to give you the platform” model towards “we have people to steward; can you help us point them?” It’s not an easy path for either group, with many hurdles to overcome.

I recently heard of a conference that decided to pay the charity who were present that day for coming and being at their conference (they flipped the model on its head). This was a radical step, and maybe a foreshadow of the future. I also believe there is a bridge in the kingdom for such events; that bridge is people gifted in making money through business. 1 Timothy 6:17-18 is an encouragement to that community to be “rich in deeds,” and my prayer is many will outwork this by financing event organisers in creating mountaintop moments for the church.

Back to normal?

Every mountaintop experience requires us to come down and embrace our day-to-day lives.

Like the disciples who wanted to pitch a tent to extend the moment, we too can fall into the belief that these moments shouldn’t end - but they do, and that, in itself, is biblical.

Coming down from the mountain should bring deep refreshment and encouragement for what lies ahead. This was my experience this summer; I am more encouraged by the UK Church than ever before. She has regained her roar, with fresh leadership and the wisdom to navigate complex times.

I want to say thank you to all who make mountaintop moments possible. You have refreshed his bride and strengthened her for the year ahead.