ATLANTA (ABP) — Students who gathered in Atlanta over the New Year's holiday may well remember it as a time for conversations about “things that matter.”
Event organizers said the second annual Antiphony conference was intended to help Christian young adults look inward and discern where God is calling them to serve. The name is taken from a unique call-and-response style of singing, usually done for religious services in Gregorian chant.
“This event is about listening and talking and being present,” said Amy Derrick, chair of the Antiphony steering committee.
The committee incorporated worship and small-group interaction to encourage the university and seminary students to leave their personal comfort zones and “be active in the life of the church now.”
“All too often, there are those who tell you that you are the church of tomorrow,” said Reggie Blount, one of the speakers for the Dec. 29-Jan. 1 event. “But I wonder how well our churches acknowledge that God has already gifted each and every one of you to be the church of today.”
Participants heard a similar message from several Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missionaries, who spoke through live video broadcasts from around the world. And the entreaties to get active in ministry didn't fall on deaf ears.
“The students who are here really care about change, and they are concerned about the world,” said participant Erik Smith, who lived overseas as a child while his parents served as CBF missionaries.
Participants also met with representatives from Global Women, Bread for the World and Habitat for Humanity.
The event was hosted by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond and Passport, a nonprofit youth-camp ministry.
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