Under the theme 'Shine Called to Influence’, the meeting “does not seek to be massive, but strategic”, says president of Assemblies of God in Spain, Juan Carlos Escobar.
Poster of the congress. / [link]Assemblies of God[/link]
The Assemblies of God is preparing its World Congress to be held in Madrid from 12-14 October.
With the theme “Shine: Called to Influence”, the meeting will gather thousands of leaders of this denomination from all over the world in a program that will outline strategies to continue with the mission.
“The fundamentalist threat of religious radicalism and the advance of ideological fundamentalism makes it necessary for the church to rethink its strategies, to understand well what God demands of us”, Juan Carlos Escobar, president of Assemblies of God in Spain (FADE) and one of the members of the organising committee, told Spanish news website Protestante Digital.
The MM33 vision will be launched at this Congress, pointing to 2033, when the church will celebrate 2,000 years since Pentecost. “We believe that this is a time that calls us to be more relevant, influential, and to ask ourselves how we are going to project our future in the scenario that lies ahead”, added Escobar.
The world congress already has 3,500 registered participants from 110 countries. This is the 9th World Congress held by the Assemblies of God, one of the fastest growing evangelical denominations in recent decades.
“The meeting does not seek to be massive, but strategic, concentrating the greatest number of global leaders”, said Escobar, who believes that “if we impact the leaders, following the biblical principle, the blessing goes down to the whole body”.
This will be the first world congress to be held entirely in Spanish. “It has been a very demanding job, because there will be a live platform in Spanish and English, as well as translation into other languages for those who attend”, explained Escobar, happy to have "over 300 volunteers who are already working for the congress”.
In the evenings, the congress will have some spaces open for anyone interested in attending “until all the seats are filled”. Registration is still open on the Shine Congress website, where more detailed information is available.
Assemblies of God had organised a similar event for March 2020. The 'Unlimited' congress had to be cancelled at the last minute due to the Covid pandemic, which was beginning to hit hard at the time.
“It was the first event that the Spanish government suspended, although there were other that did take place. That sparked great controversy. Flights were missed, money was lost... It was a debacle but we had peace because we did what we had to do”, recalled Escobar.
The decision at the time was “difficult”, but “Assemblies of God leaders worldwide recognised that we did the right thing, we were always supported, and the vast majority of participants decided to donate their inscriptions to sow the seed for this new event. Some sponsors even decided to do so. That set an expectation that Spain could not miss out on this opportunity”.
“Knowing that we have people behind us who have that perspective is a great encouragement for us”, underlined Escobar.
The program includes twelve workshops, seven plenaries, four panels and six worship services for the three days. The general idea, Escobar pointed out, is that “we must not rest on one's laurels, the church must revitalise itself”.
In that context, they will address topics such as revival yesterday and today; ways to impact the world; global challenges; church planting; mission, and others, all under the general theme of shining and influencing.
There will also be time for networking and fellowship, and the presentation of entities and ministries through booths.
[photo_footer] Music will be an important part of the congress with the Be the light gospel fest./ FADE. [/photo_footer]
The congress will also have a space for young people and another for children “so that with their program we can sow the mission, the fullness of the Spirit, and a real and renewed encounter with Jesus”.
“We think it is very important not to leave out the new generations, so that they walk side by side with those who are now in leadership. You cannot wait for transitions, it must be done with everyone working together”, said Escobar.
Another highlight of the congress will be the worship through music, with a band and choir that has been created especially for the event, in which musicians from all over the country will participate.
Furthermore, there will be special guests (Marcos Vidal, Kike Pavón, Papel Maché among others) who will lead the music and worship times.
The last day, Saturday afternoon, “will be a purely evangelistic session. We will open the doors to invite people and hope that they will get to know the Lord. The congress will therefore end outside the doors. We are because of the mission and we live for the mission”, concluded Escobar.
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