Culture is ever evolving and each generation moves with it, but it is the younger generation who always drive it. There has been a big digital revolution over the last few centuries and a transition to a network economy – the internet, mobiles, platforms and much more. What if we saw this growth in the church? What if this generation was pushing forward a revolution of The Kingdom, God’s Kingdom?
The team at Fusion Movement have seen a deeper hunger spring up across the country amongst students, to worship and be in the presence of God. There is a stirring amongst Gen Z to worship God and seek His face which many of us who have been in ministry for years (myself included) have never witnessed before. It is for this reason we started running Ignition Nights. Partnering with the local church, the Fusion team have traversed the country to visit student groups in their cities. Each night has been unique, as each group of students has come with the culture of their campus, but one thing has united them - a fiery and faith-filled depth to the way they are coming before God in complete surrender. Imagine if all of these students came together in one location.
Last week in Loughborough, at a gathering named Wide Awake, 100 students and student workers met to come before God for two days of worship, prayer, holiness, freedom, shaking up, waking up, calling out and calling to more. I can honestly say that in all my time in ministry I have never witnessed a room so electric as the one I stood in last week. At one point over the two days, Aaon Nayagam led a moment of prayer and the room started to form a scrum. Young student workers, student leaders and new freshers stood shoulder to shoulder in a mix between the war-cry-like Haka and a group of drunk, energised university friends on a night out. As if this moment wasn’t enough, the room then exploded with the students running around the church as we broke out in worship. A mosh pit broke out in the middle of the room, students jumping and partying as they praised, while leaders stood around, many of us weeping as we witnessed what we and others had been praying for for years - an awakening in this generation.
The two days continued with much the same energy and vigour. There were many inspiring talks and prophetic words from the young people themselves about waking up. One young leader bravely stood up and shared a prophetic word. As she did, you could feel the Holy Spirit move across the room and awaken us to more. In order for change to occur, we must first recognise how we’ve got to where we are now. She spoke into what she believed has happened in the church and how we move forwards for the Kingdom. This word was indeed a wake up call from our slumber and an invitation to be wide awake to God.
These two days will be hard to forget and left me asking: Was this it? Could this be their moment? The moment in which the church must pay attention to this generation - the ones leading the way. Maybe this is the moment where this generation (18-24s) are awoken and waking up the rest of the church. If so, how do we respond? As I pondered this question, I remembered asking a similar question around 12 years ago when I first started in ministry and the response from my mentor was simple: “Get out of the way and let them lead.” Yes this will be messy, yes it will take time, yes it will take energy and resources from the church, but we must respond. This generation is waking up and they have a part to play in waking up the bride of Christ, the Church.
