Riding the shuttle bus from the Atlanta airport terminal to my parking spot, I started a conversation with another passenger. We shared about the heat as we both returned from Texas. She asked why I was in Houston and I enthusiastically shared, “The New Room Conference.” When she followed up with, “What’s the New Room Conference?” I clumsily tried to explain my previous three days in language that I had yet to process. So it was the perfect transition to ask questions of how and where she practiced and strengthened her faith.

The New Room Conference is a gathering of Christians and leaders who sow and practice the ancient holy habits for a great awakening. New Room is not so much about new things as it is about new discoveries of ancient things.

Our pastors had just returned from teaching Christian to the Core in the Czech Republic the week before, and they picked me up from the airport late Tuesday afternoon. My roommate from our amazing and gifted leadership team arrived early Wednesday morning. We headed to The Woodlands Methodist Church that afternoon, where I was warmly greeted by a fellow H.L. Bourgeois High School (down the bayou) graduate, who I recognized only because of the “-eaux” in her last name.

Throughout the conference, I kept bumping into familiar faces and meeting wonderful new friends in the Lord. I sat next to the niece of one of my church’s beloved members, which helped me stay calm instead of fan-girling over the lab speaker like a middle-schooler. I also shared a discussion table with the children’s ministry lead team from The Woodlands, who were in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, while I was the oldest in the group. We discussed the “Timothy mandate”—the importance of not only training young adults to implement Christian education programs with excellence but also spiritually parenting them, nurturing their Christ-like character. The session was led by a remarkable young woman I’ve known for years.

I reconnected with a fellow kidmin lead and preschool director from North Georgia, and we talked about how she answered her call to ministry at a previous New Room Conference. At the Houston airport on the return flight home, we prayed with a pastor, who later returned to chat more when he found out we knew his incredible kidmin lead when he sat by us on another shuttle. A divine appointment indeed.

“I can’t know the will of God unless I know the Word of God.” Rev. J. D. Walt, The Wake Up Call

Don’t let anyone tell you the church is struggling. She’s doing just fine and in the most amazing and unexpected places.

We were surrounded by…

  • Believers obsessed with the Word of God.
  • Believers fanning the flame of faith in the young in London, Ireland, Houston, Uganda, Chad, and universities around the world.
  • Believers with a humble heart who will at any moment step up or step aside.
  • Believers who pack flags, streamers, sign language, and tissue ready to worship with whatever is in their hands or bags unashamedly. 
  • Believers who journal not their own thoughts, but what they discover who our great God is.
  • Believers who step into the Gen Z & Gen Alpha hunger to know the real Jesus coming from a pre-Christian context.
  • Believers who find Wesleyan Bands the safest and bravest place to be each week.
  • Believers who mix travailing prayers with spiritual disciplines setting Holy Spirit spot-fires around the world. 
  • Believers who are hungry for maximum, fanatical Christianity.

The New Room Conference is different from any conference I’d been to before. And I want more of it! This worship festival will be in Montgomery, Alabama next year. Checkout early registration here.

And if you’d like to see how the gospel is reaching the creatives of Houston, check out Urban Hymnal on Instagram. This is a Monday night worship community seeking communion with Jesus. They gathered for a prayer walk through downtown Houston last weekend.

Holy Spirit bonfires are being set all around the world for a great awakening and I’m incredibly grateful to be invited to fan the flames and join my friends as we carry wood.

“The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” Psalms 118:16