A One-Day Youth Conference Your Region Can Replicate
September 26th was a memorable day for the South Shore. Seventeen churches were gathered together in the middle of a nor'easter for a youth conference. A total of 120 people sang God's praises, heard from His Word, attended breakout sessions that they were curious about, and played games. All walked away with a glimpse of how they could live out their faith unashamed.
South Shore Gather is a multi-church network founded by me, Dominic Raffa. By the grace of God, I am a pastor at Brookville Bible Church in Holbrook, MA. I moved to New England in 2022 and saw the need for deeper pastoral community and church unity within my local area. As a result, I started to meet with pastors and form relationships in my region. We saw youth and young adults start to gather and do activities that fostered deeper church partnership. The BCNE got word of this and desired to partner together in equipping and sharing resources that I did not have on my own. Now for the past two years the BCNE and South Shore Gather have walked hand-in-hand in providing tools for the South Shore of MA.
One of the biggest things we partner together on is the one-day conference: Unashamed Youth Conference (or UNSHMD CON). This conference is a multi-church, cross-denominational conference for youth groups 6th-12th grade.
Leaders and students are welcome to come and participate all across the South Shore. We keep the cost low at $20 per person. Each student gets Chick-fil-A (generously provided by the BCNE), a T-shirt, resources for youth groups and students, and a full day of fun.
We as an organization seek to be intentional with a different church hosting every year. This year it was hosted at Church of Emmanuel in Foxborough. I want to give a special shoutout to them and their team for their heart for teens and their desire to serve through facilities and leading our music.
We also seek to be intentional by not bringing in outside speakers, but those that are intentionally serving teens in New England already. Every youth leader that is pouring into teens has a message that God has placed on their heart. I truly believe that we should elevate the local church, which means platforming local leaders.
This one-day conference is completely doable. All it takes is the heart of someone that is willing to put in a little bit more work, but the results are tangible. We have seen kids give their lives to Jesus, Bible studies start in schools, youth leaders be encouraged, and church unity soar within the South Shore. You can be used by God to make an impact like this. If you are wanting to know the practical steps, I will give you all my notes and walk with you through it. Feel free to message me at draffa@bcne.net.