In the summer of 2023, several of the young adults from Saint Michael’s Church traveled from San Clemente, CA to Italy for HOST Con. There they became inspired by the gathering of youth from across CEC Europe. As Christian McGrew, Jane House, Michelle Madison, Christian Harris and Emma Powers began to pray about what God might be calling them to, they felt distinctly called to create a gathering of young adults for the CEC NA. While HOST was focused on youth ministry, they felt called to reach their own generation of CEC young adults.
These young leaders asked me to help them achieve this vision and I quickly recommended former CEC4Life Staffer, Sarah Neeley, to join us. For years, Sarah and I and several other leaders had been trying to create a conference just like this and we couldn’t be more excited to help.
Listening to the 3SI team during those early meetings, a clear vision emerged:
- To connect and unite young adults across CEC-NA
- To inspire, equip and activate young leaders in CEC-NA
- To bring to light the reality of our wider communion among our young adults
Within a couple of months, I had the opportunity to present this vision to the House of Bishops during the week of Bp. Brett Crompton’s consecration. The plan for the first Three Streams Ignited conference was to hold it July 16th-18th, 2025 at Saint Michael’s Church. The HOB unanimously approved the conference and the3SI team launched into planning.
All throughout 2024, we planned and prayed for the conference. Each decision was made with humility and prayer; everyone was truly open to whatever God wanted to do. As the conference speakers and worship leaders became finalized, the excitement for God’s purposes grew. The worship band was such an incredible mix from around the country. Worship leaders from Nevada, Michigan, Maryland, New York, Alabama and California came together and began meeting to discuss God’s vision for the music of the conference. I write all this to show just how much prayer and gathering preceded the conference. Truly, God speaks through his people, for Jesus said, ”whenever two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 18:19
Finally, the first day of the conference came. We opened with worship. Opening with worship established the proper focus and made room for God to move. One of the key emphases that emerged from our meetings was that this conference would not be focused exclusively on teaching. Throughout the schedule, we built in times for worship and response that invited the Holy Spirit to act. There was truly a sense that the Holy Spirit would dictate the pace and flow of the conference. We built the schedule but remained open to the guidance of the Spirit throughout. Opening with worship established the proper focus and made room for God to move.
Bp. Jones had the first teaching session and invited us to a greater understanding of the reality of living “In Christ.” Thomas Batterton, of Saint Michael’s, followed with an amazing teaching on the Wedding at Cana. It became clear that being “in Christ” meant being vessels for filling and transformation by His Spirit. The response time with the worship band and prayer teams launched us into that place where the Holy Spirit moved through our leaders, young and old, impacting and imparting and imbuing young adults with His power.
We had lunch and moved into our breakout sessions. Each session dealt with practical and applicable callings and activations. The first two sessions embodied the vision for the conference: “Hearing God’s Call: Finding Your Purpose” &“Unlocking Your Spiritual Gifts”. All of the breakout sessions followed a theme of calling and activation in ministry, work and family life. 3SI brought kingdom calling and vision to a generation of young people who are bringing revival to their communities around the world.
That night, the attendees enjoyed a bonfire next to the iconic San Clemente pier, building bonds of fellowship that connect them to their fellows from across the globe.
The conference continued with Bp. Jason Epps teaching that called us all to repentance. We had a small chapel room set up with attending priests available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and this timely word led to dozens of confessions throughout the rest of the conference. I followed up Bp. Jason’s word with a teaching on the life of Joseph inspired by the claim of David in Psalm 105 that the Word of God “tested” Joseph. Everyone who attended this conference heard the Word of God and we explored exactly how Joseph was tested by that Word which resulted in him becoming the savior of the known world. Each and every one of us is called to bring the kingdom of God to our corner of the world in the same way. God has chosen to work through us to save the world.
During the response time following these words, we saw miracles of healing and personal ministry. Archbishop Jones shared that God had revealed to him that we were in a place of such expectancy that could only be likened to his experiences ministering in Africa. He had never seen such a spiritual atmosphere as that in the States. That afternoon featured more breakout sessions such as, “Faith in Action: Getting Involved in the Pro-Life Movement” & “Love Your Neighbor: Transforming Your Community for Christ.”
The expectation for God to move built throughout the afternoon as we headed into the Fire Night that evening. Opening with the Powell Trio from Michigan, accompanied by Auggie from Nevada, the room was thick with the presence of the Holy Spirit. In our pre-service prayer, our prayer teams shared prophetic words and images of what God wanted to do that night. Two separate people shared that there were dozens of angels around the room.
We have always opened our Fire Nights with the confession of sin and it always creates the atmosphere that allows God to break through into our hearts. Repentance is the narrow gate to the kingdom, and we understand that we are invited to enter in daily through that narrow gate. From the opening worship set, the roar of the singers in the room was supplemented by a heavenly reverb. It was incredible. Our prayer teams were primarily composed of our young adults. I have been prayed for by most of them throughout our Fire Nights, and there is a prophetic gift moving powerfully among them.
Throughout the night, we had the opportunity to hear prophetic words and testimonies from many people that raised the faith and resonated strongly throughout the room. One of our final words came from Selena Vargas of Church of the Intercessor in Malvern, NY. She reported seeing a vision of Jesus with His arms spread on the cross. As she looked, she saw the cross fade away and Jesus faced His Father in heaven with His arms now spread in worship. He turned and looked over His shoulder at Selena and said, “I am here worshiping my Father with you all.”
We ended the night with Fr. Powell, the rector of Saint Michael’s, declaring the benediction, “Remember the Gospel… God loves you, God is not mad at you, and God will never leave you nor forsake you…”
The final day of the conference started with Fr. John House sharing his testimony about being sent to Henderson, NV to serve our church there. Bp. Crompton then shared about the Holy Spirit in us spreading like wildfire and gave the conference its most memorable catch phrase, “Flame on!” After a lunch break, we moved into Bp. Jones’ “Message and Ministry” time. The prophetic words shared to transition from the teaching to the prayer and receiving primed the faith pump (for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God) and a line of people formed immediately to receive prayer. At least two more healings (a shoulder and a knee, separate people, similar stories of surgery without full recovery) came from this time of prayer as God continued to move. It was obvious that this conference was more about encounter than self-improvement and less about learning the truth than being changed by the Truth.
The closing Eucharist continued the pattern of incredible worship, powerful teaching, and anointed prayer time. Bp. Chris Moran preached on Isaiah 6, “Here I am. Send me.” And the response time was full of young adults who had heard the call of God in their work and ministry. Three of the young adults who came to receive prayer from Auggie and me asked for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and God activated the gifts in their lives. We closed out the Eucharist with a jubilant, dancing worship outpouring to the song, “The Blood.”
The fellowship following the closing Eucharist lasted into the small hours of the morning and no one went away from this conference without being changed.
The true significance of the conference came together for me around 4am on Friday morning following the Fire Night. I awoke to hear a sudden and violent downpour followed by thunder and lightning. Now this is not a common occurrence in Southern California, and I was instantly alert to God’s presence in the moment. This is not normal for me. I am usually the heaviest of sleepers and my wife has to wake me to anything happening in the night. I walked outside on my front porch, watched the storm, and asked God, “what are you saying?”
I was reminded of the story in 1 Kings 18 when Elijah told Ahab that he heard the sound of rushing rain. “43 And Elijah said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. 44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” 45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.”
The CEC has had many prophetic voices promise the rushing rain, and the servants of the Lord have gone out and looked over and over again. At times they have seen a cloud the size of a man’s hand and even some isolated showers. But the Lord said, “No more will there just be small clouds or isolated showers. It is time for a downpour.” And this conference was the beginning of a downpour. Just like the storm which had torrential rain the falling of the Holy Spirit bringing life to dry ground, we will also have manifestations of God’s power which was the lightning. After the lightning, the thunder would strike and reverberate off the mountains and hills of Saddleback Valley where we live and it felt like the sound was rushing to and fro throughout the whole earth. There is a voice, a clarion call, of the CEC that God gave us. It is again going to reverberate like that thunder to and fro throughout the whole earth.
This is not a prediction of the future, this is a declaration of what God did in the Three Streams Ignited conference and what He is doing in our churches, around the world, right now. The young adults, clergy, and leaders at this conference are coming back to their churches to bring with them their fresh anointing, activated and equipped by the Spirit to spread like wildfire. This is normal Christianity. Flame on!