The house lights came back on, Hindurwa left the stage, and yet students had yet to leave.
Mainly because they didn’t want to.
As the first ever Momentum Conference would down to a close Saturday afternoon, hundreds of students from around the Gresham/Portland region lingered around, chatting about the different classes they took, and rushing to open computers to post questions on the online forum.
“It was really good timing for everything, since everyone is starting to get the spring apathy, with school coming to an end and stuff,” Jacob Kopra, a junior from Barlow High School said. “It was really needed for all of us.”
Around 400 students from local area churches piled into the auditorium of Good Shepherd Community Church this past Friday and Saturday. They came to ask the tough questions, to learn more about their faith, and to experience discipleship with one another.
“I saw a bunch of people I thought wouldn’t get involved in the mini-sessions, that ended up really enjoying them and asking questions and discussing with their friends,” Kopra added.
The conference consisted of three main sessions, led by Pastor Steve Keels, author and editor of the TruthQuest Bible series, world-renowned speaker and author of the best-selling book “Heaven,” Randy Alcorn, and Pastor Dan Keels.
There were also several mini-sessions including “The Ugliness of Art” led by Jake Dokter, a former Tooth and Nail Record employee, as sessions hitting topics such as: theology of Worship, Theology of Biblical Doctrine, and classes on Mormonism and Islam.
“It was everything they said it’d be. It was really inspiring and honest,” junior Taylor Canoso said. “Everything was really straight up and real.”
However the conference was not limited to the typical Christian youth. Many other students of different religions came to discover more about the Christian faith.
“It made people think more, and ask those tough questions. It helped people realize Christianity is less of a religion and more of a lifestyle,” Canoso added.
Many churches were represented from as far as Sisters and Salem, Oregon. Friday night, students were able to enjoy Outlaw BBQ catering, and catch up with one another as they ate dinner. They than shuffled together for worship, led by musicians from multiple churches.
Keels than spoke on the reliability of Biblical Doctrine, and explained the reasons why it is correct. The night concluded with more worship, and students lingered for as long as an hour before the doors finally closed around 10 PM.
Saturday morning, doors than reopened at 7:00 AM for breakfast, and even more were in attendance. The morning sessions followed the same suit as the previous night, with the exception they were separated by mini-sessions, where students were able to choose two topics that they wanted to learn more about.
Randy Alcorn spoke on Heaven, and his open Q & A was a popular mini-session with over 50 students attending between both sessions.
Dan Keels than concluded with the final session, and Hindurwa took the stage. Hindurwa is a musical group from Rwanda, and they than led students in worship to original African drum beats, as well as guitar playing.
As the Luis Palau video ended, promoting this summer’s Portland Cityfest festival, which hasn’t been in Portland since 1999.
Since than, the Momentum Conference website (momentumconference. wordpress. com) as been swarming with blog hits and questions from students who are still yearning to learn more about God.
Momentum is looking at having another major conference next fall, on the Westside of Portland, with many other events held at Division Christian Supply.
Matt Fier is an independent student writer from Good Shepherd Community Church, and Sam Barlow High School. You can reach him at hnfier@sterling.net, or myspace. com/kimjngsu
