The SOAR 2023 Student Conference was held July 3-5 at the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas with over 1,300 registered attendees, but in the ballroom, where there were 1,500 chairs set up, every seat was filled, and people were standing during each session.
In 1991, God gave Bobby Tucker “a dream of a student conference that would impact the lives of junior high and high school students across the Baptist Missionary Association of America.” Bobby shared his dream with a student pastor friend, Donny Parrish, and together they launched the first SOAR Conference for students in 1991. This year’s meeting marked the 33rd annual SOAR Conference.
In all those years, I have been privileged to attend 31 of the 33 SOAR conferences. (I did not make it to the first one and missed SOAR 1996 because I was on my honeymoon.) I attended my first SOAR after graduating high school in 1992, then attended as a sponsor with my home church for a few years. From 1998-2018, I attended as a youth pastor, bringing my youth group to be a part of what has become the largest annual gathering of the BMA. For the last four years, I have been honored to be a sponsor for my church and continue being a part of what God is doing through the SOAR conference.
Many things have changed since the beginning, but the mission of SOAR which was born out of the vision of Bobby Tucker and Donny Parrish to reach a generation of students with the life-changing message of the gospel has never changed. I asked Donny Parrish about the mission of SOAR from the beginning to today and he shared, “The mission of SOAR hasn’t changed in 33 years. The goal is to provide a place where students can worship and celebrate following Jesus with their whole hearts. We want to challenge them to live the Christ life, to love their church family and find their place of serving him. Jesus and His great mission always take center stage at SOAR.”
The theme for this year’s conference was “Devoted,” and attendees heard messages in each of the five main sessions that revolved around this theme. While at the conference, I spoke with many people, both students and leaders, and the messages this year were a highlight for many. Donny’s biggest takeaway from this year’s conference was how great the worship and teaching sessions were. He said, “Every speaker was so prepared and in tune with the needs of the students. And we had a lot of fun!”
The Devoted theme was addressed by each speaker:
• Session 1: Devotion Derailed — Chris Vines, youth pastor at Garrett Memorial Baptist Church in Hope, preached from Luke 10:38-42 and challenged the audience to be devoted to three actions — Listen well (to the Word), Be distraction free (don’t miss being with Jesus) and Look up (be humble and recognize your position). He also reminded everyone that, according to Jesus, “one thing is necessary” and that is Him. He is the one thing you need. He doesn’t need you… He wants you.
• Session 2: Devoted to God’s Word — Stephen Castleberry, experience pastor at Antioch in Georgetown, Texas, preached from Luke 1:1-4 and focused on “What is Truth?” as Pilate asked Jesus in John 18:38. He focused on Luke’s gospel being based on eyewitness accounts and that the Word of God is trustworthy.
• Session 3: Devoted to God’s Church — Nathan Brewer, pastor of Grace Harbor Church in Oklahoma City, Okla., shared from I Tim. 3:14-16. He shared that believing in Christ always involves being part of His church. The church is the hope of the world because of the message it carries (the gospel) about the Savior of the world. This purpose brings clarity because the church is the household of the living God and a pillar/foundation of the Truth. Those who are deeply devoted to Jesus are deeply devoted to His church.
• Session 4: Devoted to God’s Mission — Jeremy Hambrice, BMA Global missionary to the Wantakia people in Papua New Guinea, shared how God’s mission is seen in the beginning (Gen. 12:1-3), the middle (Matt. 28:18) and in the end (Rev. 7:9) of the Bible. The challenge was to be devoted to the right thing — the mission of God, and the right person — Jesus. The mission of God is to make Jesus known to all the world. His mission is both global and eternal. God uses those who know Him to make Him known to those who don’t.
• Session 5: Devoted to Jesus — Drew Cline, pastor of South City Church in Little Rock, shared from Mark 10:17-22 about the three things we must understand to be devoted to Jesus. We must understand salvation (Do you have enteral life?), we must be willing to surrender (Are you fully surrendered to Him?) and we must be satisfied in Jesus (Do you find your complete satisfaction in Jesus?). What are you holding onto instead of Jesus?
The messages from each of the main sessions will be available at bmaamerica.org later this week. Over the three days of the conference, there were also three different opportunities for those in attendance to choose a breakout session to attend over a variety of topics from prayer to preparing to lead worship.
Jonathan Cofer, high school pastor at Antioch Baptist Church in Conway had this to say about SOAR 2023: “This year at SOAR was incredible. Our students came away with an understanding about how to be devoted in their faith. Many of our students at Antioch came away acknowledging that they got more out of SOAR this year than ever before. Students said they learned what it meant to be devoted to God in a relationship. Many were excited to learn that they are not the church of the future, but the church of today. That is huge!”
While there is no official count, many leaders told of students in their groups making professions of faith and surrendering to the ministry. There was also a great interest in being involved with missions across the street and around the world as evidenced by the hundreds of students and leaders who attended the “midnight meeting” to learn about Volunteer Student Missions (VSM).
The SOAR Collective — musicians and singers who are SOAR alumni — led worship again this year. Donny shared, “We are always looking for talented students to be part of SOAR Collective! Be looking for some information soon about opportunities!”
Donny also stated, “I’m grateful for everyone who served at SOAR this year. What a team! And I’m truly grateful to the churches of the BMA who bring their students to SOAR. It’s humbling to serve our churches and our students.”
Be sure to visit soarconference.com and follow all social media accounts for the latest information regarding the SOAR Conference:
• Facebook — facebook.com/SOARconference
• Twitter — twitter.com/SOARConference
• Instagram — instagram.com/soarconference
The mission of SOAR is still the same, and I am thankful for the people who have faithfully served over the past 33 years to help make it successful. Will you make plans to bring a group of students next year? SOAR 2024 will be held July 3-5 at the brand-new Live! By Loews Convention Center in Arlington, Texas! I look forward to seeing you there!
