WE ARE THE NEXT GENERATION.

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THE PROBLEM

Young people are often undervalued, underestimated, and under-utilized for the building up of the church and the advancing of its mission. Sometimes the problem is the church, but oftentimes it's low expectations of young people for themselves. You were made for more! Young people must be equipped to “set the example for the believers in word, conduct, love, faith and purity” (1 Tim. 4:12).


OUR PURPOSE

Equip is a collective created to unify, equip, and encourage the next generation of the local church. We believe that true human flourishing can only come from faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, so our mission is to equip 18-30 year-olds with resources to live radical lives for Jesus Christ.


OUR GOAL

Our ambition is to gather the local church together to cultivate a community that engages the good of each other for the glory of God.

 

Equip exists for the flourishing of the church by encouraging, equipping, and connecting the next generation to God, one another, and their purpose so that the church might be built up in love.

 

CORE VALUES

1. Gospel Above All. We are for the primacy of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4). The gospel is the life-giving news of Jesus Christ and all that God accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection. We believe that through the gospel God is making all things new. The gospel is at the center of everything we do, and we believe that in and through the gospel--which is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes--individuals, churches, and the whole world can flourish. 

2. Local Church. We are for the local church. We believe God’s primary means of accomplishing His mission is in and through the local church. That is why this conference is a collective of local churches that have come together to help advance the mission of God in the “triangle (NJ, Philly, NYC).” This conference in no way replaces the work of the local church, but upholds God’s design while seeking to encourage, equip, and empower young adults to contribute to the flourishing of their local churches. 

3. Next Generation Discipleship. We are for the passing of the faith to the next generation. We don’t want to repeat the failure of Israel where “there arose another generation that did not know the works of the Lord.” We want to invest in the next generation by equipping and encouraging disciples to make disciples. We believe that this next generation is not just the future of the church, but is integral to the flourishing of the church now. We want to mobilize them for God’s mission showing that each is called, equipped, and sent by God. 

4. Kingdom Community. We are for the unity of believers around the gospel believing that it is expressed most beautifully in a diverse community. We want to create “kingdom connections,” among college students and young adults across cultural, racial, and denominational differences. Our beliefs are uncompromisingly centered around the authority of the Word of God which reveals to us a glorious God and a glorious gospel. And so, in “lifting up Jesus” we want to see the picture of Revelation 7 be true, that there are people from every tribe, nation, language and tongue gathered around the throne of King Jesus. While each local church will have distinctive beliefs and cultural expressions we want to embody a gospel culture that is consistent with our gospel beliefs.

5. Beautiful Worship. We are for beauty. God is beautiful and the gospel is beautiful and so we want this conference to represent the beauty of God and his gospel. We want to “worship the Lord in the beauty of his holiness.” We believe God’s people, the church, and the world will most flourish as we seek to embrace and embody the beautiful design of God in every aspect of the conference and life. That looks like a commitment to excellence, a culture of grace and welcome, and the exalting of God’s name and Word.

SUMMARY

Who are we?
We are an annual Christian conference equipping 18-30 year-olds to flourish as active members in their local. Our region of reach is the tristate area of the Jersey Shore, NYC, and Philadelphia.

What do we do?
Every spring, once a year, we gather together as a community to be equipped and encouraged with the wisdom and relational connections to live on mission for God in our local church context.

Why does it matter?
The local church needs the next generation. We are better together than divided. Future leaders need to be cultivated.

 
 

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