Passion City Church changed my life four and a half years ago. After battling debilitating anxiety, I discovered Passion and began a lifelong journey with Jesus. Pastor Louie Giglio launched Passion Conferences in 1997. And, now, 25 years later, Passion continues to bring college students together to worship Jesus.
In January 2020, Passion hosted a conference at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Over 65,000 people showed up to the event, making it Passion's largest event in its history. But shortly after, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. So for Passion 2021, organizers had to improvise. They took the conference online, broadcasting to thousands of people in their homes.
With restrictions lifting, Passion hosted their 2022 conference in-person once again at the Mercedes Benz Stadium. That meant college students gathering together once again to worship Jesus. Over 60,000 people attended Passion 2022. Every year, the conference is incredible, but after two years of turmoil, Passion 2022 felt like a redemption story.
It's amazing how God continues to use the Passion conferences to change the lives of so many others (It changed my life a few years ago).
Passion's goal is simple: to bring people to Jesus. It's not about the speakers or performers. It's not a concert, and it's not even a conference. It's a group of young people gathering together to worship Jesus. It's about exalting Him and making His name known to every tribe, tongue, and nation.
Passion always feels like a glimpse of heaven on earth. There's something beautiful about thousands of people coming together to worship Jesus, and it can be felt even through a live stream online. Although I didn't attend this year's Passion event, I spoke with someone who did. Hillsong Worship artist Brooke Ligertwood not only attended the event but performed music from her solo project as well. Here are some highlights, courtesy of Brooke and myself.
Every Tribe, Tongue, and Language
Brooke and other well-known artists such as Cody Carnes and Brett Younker opened the event by singing Hillsong Worship's "King of Kings." In a beautiful and holy moment, 60,000 students sang every word together, praising Jesus with passion and love. It was an incredible way to start Passion 2022, and it kept getting better from there.
I always love listening to the speakers and hearing the amazing worship from artists like Sean Curran, Kari Jobe, and others. But one of the biggest highlights of the conference is always when Passion rallies around a specific organization. For example, in 2013, the students at Passion raised money for End It Movement, an organization dedicated to ending human trafficking. In 2017, Passion sponsored over 7,000 children through Compassion International.
This year, Passion teamed together with IllumiNations for the 12 Verse Challenge. More than a billion people on the planet don't have access to the Bible, and Passion is one group helping to change that. By donating $35 per month for the next 12 months, IllumiNations will translate 12 verses of scripture. Thousands of students took the challenge and raised over $1.3 million to help further the mission of Bible translation. After the announcement, Lambert, a translator of the Kenyan language, took the stage to translate a Bible verse.
"One of my favorite moments from the conference was when they had a translator write John 14:6 in the Kenyan dialect for the first time," Brooke Ligertwood shares. "It's so important to remember that the church isn't just our experience on a Sunday. The church is also all of these people and languages. Every tribe, tongue, and language. I think it's so powerful that Passion places an emphasis on that in such a tangible way."
That moment of the conference was beautiful, but it must've been pretty nerve-wracking for Lambert. "I was thinking, he must have spent a lot of time memorizing that verse," Brooke continues. "In a moment like that, you wouldn't want to misspell something. So hats off to him."
The Speakers and Artists
Passion draws quite a large audience to their conferences each year, so they have an equally impressive amount of speakers and worship leaders. At Passion 2022, there were about 18 speakers, artists, and bands. Each moment of the conference was intentional and unique, but a few moments stand out to me.
After the Hillsong Worship number, Passion Music led the crowd in worship with songs like "Build My Life," "1,000 Names," and their latest song, "Shine Like Stars." As a surprise, Passion dropped their new EP, Burn Bright, that night (It features "Shine Like Stars" and four other brand new songs).
Typically, Passion drops an album from the conference several months later. But they decided to drop new music early for everyone to enjoy during the conference. All that happened on the first night. But so much more happened on the next day.
On day two of the conference, the early morning session opened up with a thought-provoking message from writer and speaker Jackie Hill Perry. She spoke on God's holiness and the justice that He brings.
Later in the day, Christian author Ben Stuart spoke on anxiety, a current struggle for many young. One of the most powerful points in his talk was the idea that God isn't shaming us for our anxiety. Instead, He's inviting us to give our worries to Him. Of course, it's easier said than done. But when we allow the word of God to take root in our lives, we'll slowly begin to discover freedom.
During the evening session, Brooke took the stage and sang some new songs off her upcoming album, SEVEN. She sang "Honey in the Rock" with Bethel Church artist Brandon Lake. Once Brandon walked out on stage, the crowd went crazy (screaming, clapping, and all that).
"Brandon is a very large person in every way. His voice is very amazing and loud. And I love that because my voice is very quiet," Brooke shares. "We wrote 'Honey in The Rock' with our friend Mitch Wong. It was a joy bomb, and it was a pleasant surprise to see how that song can shift a room when we sing it. It's a fun one, and I hope a lot of people find encouragement from it."
I think the phrase "joy bomb" easily sums up the rest of the conference. Joy was everywhere. It was found both in the music and the freedom that came through messages from author Jennie Allen, Passion founder Louie Giglio, and other speakers. The upcoming worship band Maverick City Music ended the conference with energetic and worshipful music.
Closing Thoughts
Passion 2022 was one for the books. Between the speakers and worship, attendees will remember Passion 2022 for years to come. After all the trials of the past two years, it was so good to see students gather together again to exalt the name of Jesus.
The dates for Passion 2023 were announced at the end of the conference. It's going to be a bit different from previous years. One gathering will be held in the Dallas and Fort Worth area of Texas from December 28 to 30, 2022, and the second gathering will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from January 3 to 5, 2023. There's also a rumor that there's going to be the third gathering somewhere on the west coast. As a west coast resident, it would be such a joy to go to Passion in person, somewhere close to home.
Wherever Passion finds itself next year, we can expect another incredible worship experience with thousands of 18- to 25-year-old adults gathered under the banner of Jesus. The Passion movement is alive and well.
Grace Chaves has been a fan of all things Christian music since 2016. She is NRT's news editor, and one of NRT's youngest writers. Homeschooled, Grace is an author, loves Jesus, concerts, and road trips.
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