Sun, Sea and Sand – Not Here!

Every year, for the past 18 years, young people from across the nation have booked in for a week of camping in a Somerset field, to spend time with God. Due to typical British summers, it invariable involves getting wet and possibly muddy at some point in the week. So why do young people swap the possibility of a sun, sea and sand holiday for rain, dirty showers and mud at Soul Survivor?

Last autumn, Christianity Magazine ran an article by Martin Saunders (who is an author, screenwriter and the editor of Youthwork magazine) about his experience of taking a youth group to Soul Survivor. He says the festival was started by Mike Pilavachi ‘out of a passion to see young people engage in a living relationship with Jesus Christ.’ Saunders shares how ‘across the three, week-long festivals in 2010, 1,596 young people made a first-time commitment to follow Jesus.’ He adds that, for the week that he attended, he was ‘stunned by the scale’ as 12,000, mostly young people, cram in to a tent for ‘the central meetings, during which loud guitar worship is led by people who can’t legally buy alcohol, the Bible is taught – often via the medium of stand-up comedy, social justice is given right billing as a form of worship – and then…’

The “and then…” that Saunders refers to is one of the key values of ‘making space for the work of the Holy Spirit – an integral element of the festivals that has drawn both praise and criticism from different wings of the church.’ Saunders views this time as ‘a kind of holy chaos, as people begin to manifest the results of a dynamic encounter with the Holy Spirit.’ He also states that ‘it’s all a bit weird’, but, as you will read in the following two articles written by two of our own young people who attended for the first time last year, it is an important part of the whole experience. Saunders does include the lengths to which the hosts go to not hype-up this ministry time, quoting the recurring phrase from the front stage of ‘we don’t hype the Spirit up; He comes down.’

For the past ten years young people from St John’s Church have been going to Soul Survivor. In the last three or four years, we have been joined by young people from other churches bringing the number in our group to about 50 once leaders, cooks and a few young adults are added in. Recently there have also been a few of St John’s 18-30’s attending “Momentum”, ‘the self-proclaimed “older sibling” to Soul Survivor.’

Over the years, there has been some debate about festivals such as Soul Survivor and whether the “mountain top experiences” last or make a real difference to the young people, especially once they go back to school. I have considered this in the light of the Israelites going to Jerusalem a few times each year for their festivals - ones that God told them to keep and to celebrate. Were they “fired up” for God when they came together and were reminded that they were not on their own, that God had been with them in the past and was still with them and they were able to celebrate together as a large corporate body? Did they then struggle when they returned to their towns and villages, back to the mundane, back to where it wasn’t like it was in Jerusalem? I am sure we all realise that if we were always on the mountain tops, they wouldn't be mountain tops. In other words, we cannot expect spiritual highs all the time and there will be valley experiences. But should that mean that the spiritual highs are not important? Again, from the stories below, we can see that these spiritual highs are a significant marker in people's lives, if not life-changing. So as a church, what can we do to make sure that young people get the opportunity to encounter this? For some young people, Soul Survivor might not be for them, but are there any other “Festivals” that could help them in their growing deeper into God? For example, the Broads Cruise or other CPAS, Summer Madness at Sizewell Hall or Spring Harvest.

Another question we might ask ourselves is, "What can we do, as a Church, to maintain the experience and sustain the growth that the young people have made at Soul Survivor?" This is something that Saunders tries to tackle in his article. ‘How do we help our young people to make the transition from what youth ministry thinker Fuzz Kitto calls the “temple to the synagogue”?’ Part of the answer is by being comfortable of the different roles of Festival and weekly Church. But, as Saunders suggests, part of the answer is ‘by taking a look at some of Soul Survivor’s key, and apparently successful, values and asking whether they can inform our local expressions of church.’ ‘How patient are we in waiting on God?’ ‘How good are we at communicating in a relevant way to our younger members?’ Do we value the experiences and steps that our young people are taking? Do we give them any respect? How can we encourage them to continue in their walk and how can we encourage them to be part of the life of St John’s Church?

Enjoy the following articles
Andy Williams

Soul Survivor...not many words that can get across how awesome it is! I can honestly say that it was the best week of my life, and it changed me forever. There’s so many things that make it like that; the cafés where everyone’s so nice, the Revival community tent where everyone’s also so nice (so’s the food...) , the evenings where you can just walk around with other people who’re going through the same experience, and meet so many great people! Don’t get me started on Afro Alan...there’s loads of talks – the best talks you’ll ever hear, not ordinary talks but talks that never fail to get you inspired. There’s late-night gigs on in the Underground, a cinema, countless food stalls, a shed dedicated to prayer, skate sheds, loads of sport, and probably some other stuff I’ve missed out...
But above all, the worship. That changed me as a person, it changed my life and I know it changed thousands of others as well. So the first ‘main meeting’ (as they’re called) you kinda look around at 10,000 other people, and you’re overwhelmed. Not in a bad way, in an amazing sense of how many people have been brought there by God. And when the band starts, it’s the best band you’ve ever heard. But how good the band is isn’t the most important thing. The most important thing is what God does during the worship. And I can’t begin to explain the feeling...it’s like you’ve never known what living life to the full actually is like. I never wanted it to stop, I just wanted to carry on with that incredible feeling coursing through me. So for the first part of the main meeting, you can totally immerse yourself in the worship, it’s so easy to just forget about everyone else and let God show you his face. And then you wind down for the talk. The guy who leads the event is an amazing guy called Mike Pilavachi, and (as I’ve said) the talks there are always better than any talk you’ve been to before.
And then the bit which is more likely to change your life than anything else in the week – the times of prayer. And that might not sound amazing to you, but trust me, it’s impossible not to be moved. All around you, amazing things are happening. People get prayed for for healing, and unbelievable things have happened – someone with one leg shorter than the other saw their leg grow in front of them, countless people with disabilities were healed just like that...amazing stuff. Stuff you can’t ignore. I can say that I got prayed for a lot, I had a lot of personal issues, some pretty deep stuff. And after that session, I was changed forever. God literally renewed my life, and it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
David Nunn

Soul Survivor was one of the best things I have ever been to! Last year was my first year there, I had only heard about it from my sister Kate and all my older friends who have been before. They all said it was incredible! At first I just thought it was going to be muddy and wet but when I got there it was completely the opposite! Blazing hot sunshine the first day we arrived. We all set up and then headed for the 'big top'. I was definitely in for a surprise! A packed massive tent of about 10,000 people were there just worshipping God! The worship is the best I had ever heard, you could really get into it and you just felt like no-one was watching you as everyone was doing their own thing! Mike Pilavachi's talks were inspiring and really helped you look at the things that you needed to sort out in your life which was a big help for me. The prayer ministry was great, everyone was willing to pray for each other and you could really feel that God was with each individual person in the tent! My favourite seminar would have to be 'Soul Sista' which was a seminar just for girls that would help you tackle the things that girls really struggle with in their daily lives such as family issues and boys! ;) I just didn't want to leave. I had had such an incredible time, I recommend it so highly to anyone that hasn't been before. I will definitely be going next year! :D
(And also it was brilliantly organised by the best youth worker in he world...)
Sarah Lumley