Focus/Kidfest 2020 Spans “Wide & Deep”
Church of God Youth and Discipleship is proud to announce that registration for FOCUS 2020 and Kidfest 2020 is now open.
“As a new decade is just around the corner, the year 2020 is sure to bring exciting new events and opportunities for your local church ministries and leadership,” stated Tony P. Lane, International Coordinator of Children’s Ministry.
Lane went on to explain the theme for this upcoming Kids Ministry season.
“The theme ‘Wide & Deep’ pays tribute to the popular children’s church song that says, ‘There’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.’ However, ‘Wide & Deep’ also has a more significant purpose. The theme was selected for the 2020 season because the Great Commission mandates all Christ followers to [first] ‘Go’ and [second] ‘Make disciples.’ It is our desire to raise a generation of children who desire to share their faith and be involved in evangelism, taking the message beyond and further, going wide! We also want to do all we can to encourage kids to be disciples of Jesus, allowing their roots to go deep.”
Both the Focus Conference and Kidfest have been instrumental in developing leaders and impacting students for Christ across generations. Hillary May, Children’s Pastor at Mount Olive Church of God and current Children’s Leaders Association (CLA) board member is a testament to the ministries of Focus and Kidfest. Reflecting on her time as an attendee at Kidfest and now as a children’s leader, May stated, “Kidfest impacted my life personally growing up and allowed me to experience the move of the Holy Spirit in a way I never had before! Now, as a kid’s pastor, seeing my children be able to experience the same has been an amazing opportunity. The ministry team is always superb on and off the stage. Kidfest is not only something the kids look forward to but the chaperones as well!”
May also lauded the training and educational tracks offered for children’s leaders through the Focus Conferences, but there is one specific benefit that she profoundly appreciates. “What I didn’t realize, is that along with the educational aspect, one of the biggest things I would gain is a network. Not just a network, but lifelong friends and colleagues that are walking similar paths and callings that I am. I have learned so much from these individuals and have grown as a minister from my time at Focus,” explained May.
International Youth and Discipleship Director, Dr. David Blair, shared his burden for these children’s ministries. “Proverbs 22:6 cannot be understated, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he shall not depart from it.’ Discipling children and equipping our children’s leaders for that task is of the utmost importance,” Blair urged. “Kidfest and Focus both serve critical purposes in the church of today as well as in the church of tomorrow.”
Focus 2020 will be held at the Gatlinburg Convention Center March 5-7, 2020. The Kidfest tour kicks off a month later with Frontier Kidfest April 3-5, Midwest Kidfest April 17-19, Carolina Kidfest April 24-26, and Smoky Mountain Kidfest May 1-3.
For more information or to register for Focus 2020 visit https://www.cogyouth.org/childrens/focus-conference. Posters, line-up, and registration information for Kidfest 2020 may be accessed at www.mykidfest.com. Please direct any questions regarding these events to [email protected] or call 423-478-7229.
(Source: Church of God Youth and Discipleship. By Brittani Blair)
