Converge camp inspires hundreds of Australian young adults

More than 800 young adults from across Australia gathered for four days of worship from February 9 to 12 at Yarra Holiday Park (former Stuarts Point Convention Centre), NSW.

Converge is an annual 18+ youth camp organised by the Australian Union Conference (AUC), featuring workshops, worship and social activities.

Guest speakers Southern Californian Conference associate youth director Pastor Meshach Soli and AUC women’s, family and children’s ministry director Pastor Sylvia Mendez provided two themes emphasised throughout the weekend. Pastor Soli encouraged listeners to have a real relationship with Jesus, and on Saturday night, hundreds of young adults came to the front, requesting prayer for specific issues in their lives.

Pastor Mendez spoke about worship and challenged the young adults to think about what worship is, how to worship and why they worship. During the second workshop on Sunday morning, Pastor Mendez launched the Worship Box, an initiative of the Worship Project (TWP) by the AUC, which encourages individuals and families at all stages of life to make worship a priority. The Worship Box contains several resources and materials that can be used to facilitate worship, such as a Bible study guide, notebooks, sticky notes and more.

AUC youth director Pastor Jeffrey Parker said, “It is fantastic to see so many young adults from every conference of Australia at Converge.” The event has been run by the AUC youth ministries for eight years and according to Pastor Parker, “this year’s has been by far the largest”.

“It was great to see our young adults worshipping God together and allowing the Holy Spirit to impact their lives. There were many amazing stories of commitment and re-commitment. Our team of youth directors from each conference are heavily involved in making Converge the success that it is,” Pastor Parker said.

Next year’s event is scheduled for February 7-10, 2025.

Original version of this story published in The Record.