Generation Conference with Joyce Meyer, Ed Young, Stephen Baldwin, Benny Perez, and myself Mike Servello Jr.
Summer has been super busy for me with vacations, conferences, weddings, speaking engagements etc that I have not had a chance to blog as much as i’d like. Today i’d like to talk about what many have come to know affectionatly as GENCON. What a ride! Its hard to believe we have been doing it for 11 years now. What’s even more amazing is the strategic relationships that God has brought to the conference over those years. As the founder of the event there are some comments i’d like to make. So the first one is what i am blogging about today. Direction and obedience from God. I’ll never forget starting the conference. Honestly, if there was a confernce like we are doing now I would have brought my kids to it…but as i scanned the Christian youth happenings there was nothing that caught my eye, nothing that got my heart beating faster, nothing that said to me “yes! I’d like to partner with that.” First, Id look at all the charasmatic events and say, “oooh a little too out there for me.” Then i would look at the evangelical world and would say,…”a little to gimicky for me.” So we got the bright idea lets do something we wanted to see and we stated the Generation Conference in 1997. We partnered with speakers who were of like mind and spirit in pioneering a conference that would eventually touch youth ministries all over the northeast. The method was simple but the heart was anointed by the spirit. Our method…Radical Prayer. Radical Worship. Solid Teaching. And Alter ministry. A model that people would eventually take home to their youth ministries.When i say those things some people would be like, “yeah, duh.” but believe it or not back in 97 most youth groups were about pizza feeds, and babysitting, and games, more than about things that i mentioned. Over the last 11 years i’ve see church with “non-existant” youth ministries come to our conference ansd after being strnegthened and encouraged and catching vision now have youth ministries of 100’s. It has been a joy to partener with God through the whole process. To see young people from all over the northeast who we have helped connect with God, serve in their church, and catch a vision of what God wanted to do in this generation has been nothing short of amazing. As we moved into the 6500 seat Utica Aud from our 900 seat sanctuary where we did two weekends I couldnt help but here God say the best is yet to come. More later. Check out Generationconference.com for pictures and info.
