LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Baptist State Convention’s (ABSC) College and Young Leaders (CYL) team has announced that 1,190 people have pre-registered for the annual Lead>Defend conference. The conference will be held Saturday, Feb. 29, at Immanuel Baptist Church, Little Rock.
“Lead>Defend is a one-day conference designed to help high school and college students, as well as young professionals, transition effectively from one phase of their journey with Christ to another,” said Bruce Venable, team leader for CYL. “This is accomplished through three main sessions and a variety of breakout sessions offered during the course of the day.”
The primary topics covered in the sessions are leadership, engaging culture in defense of the gospel and being missional in life transitions.
“Last year, our total attendance was 855,” said Venable.
According to Venable, “registration has still climbed” even after the headline speaker, Ravi Zacharias, had to cancel due to unexpected health issues. Watch Zacharias here.
“I believe this indicates that the conference has reached a level of value that exceeds the name recognition of speakers,” said Venable.
The goal of the CYL team is to serve Arkansas churches by reaching the next generation of leaders with the gospel.
“We are rejoicing that we are providing a much needed conference as it relates to preparing others for a biblical worldview when understanding how the Bible responds to tough topics,” said Venable. “We bring in top speakers that address the tough questions in an environment that embraces a biblical worldview. It is important to see culture through the lens of the gospel instead of interpreting the gospel through the lens of culture.
“Culture changes, but the teachings of the Scripture remains consistent,” added Venable.
For more information about the Lead>Defend conference, visit www.leaddefend.org.