More Than A Catchphrase, More Than A Cliché

Article By: Stephen Jones

Director of Discipleship Ministries

Cornerstone Conference IPHC

Raising up this generation of leaders sounds so overused right now.. you’ll likely hear that phrase or something like it from every book, leadership blog and even from our own Conference communications..

But it’s super important!

If we want to see the Kingdom of God advanced in this world,

If we want to see the legacy of our faith passed on to our children,

If we want to see our church continue to influence our communities and nation,

If we genuinely believe that children and students have specific callings and giftings on their lives,

Then YES, raising up this generation of leaders matters!

Cornerstone Discipleship Ministries is so excited about the students and leaders who attended our annual IMPACT Student Leadership Weekend. This annual fall event has become a significant event on our calendar—not because it’s fun and gives our teens a chance to reconnect from Camp DaySpring (although it does do that), but it also is a chance to help them discover their giftings, develop their skills, and it encourages them to deploy those gifts in their local church and community.

The event began on Friday night with a student-led worship service—and with no agenda other than to seek the Face of God and encourage students to pursue His call on their lives. This year, we were thrilled to have the student worship team from Trinity Worship Center in Burlington to lead us in worship, and their Student Ministries Pastor, Christian Barrington, brought a powerful word about “Excellence in Creative Ministry.” He pointed to men and women from Scripture like Bezalel who demonstrated how art reflects the beauty and wonder of God and challenged all of us to explore how we can present our gifts to God. Later that night, after our service ended, we just hung out together over homemade tacos (thanks David and Michelle Pedigo!) and even had some fun at BibleQuiz with Heather and Jonathan Hall.

On Saturday, we split up into different labs and breakouts designed to teach techniques and whet students’ appetites for different ways to glorify God.. We had seven different leaders and mentors from Cornerstone (and one from the NC Conference, IPHC demonstrate skills like painting, dance, photography, drama, vocals, instrumentals and even preaching and communication skills. What’s more, those sessions were hands-on, designed to give the students real practical experience within those disciplines; photography students learned with actual cameras, art students painted with brushes on canvas, musicians and vocalists learned how to play and sing new songs, dancers learned tips and tricks in choreography, and a whole room of students learned how to write a Bible study from start to finish.. It was a weekend packed-full of training and developing and we’re so excited to see how God uses these wonderful gifts He’s given the churches in Cornerstone!

We hope you’ll consider sending your teens to be a part of IMPACT weekend next year.. it’s just one way we’re raising up leaders from this generation for the glory of God!

For more information, contact Stephen Jones at sjones@ccrdc.org.