Next Saturday's Megasurge will see one of Sydney's leading youth ministries achieve a new high in its tenth year.
What began as a "prayer surge" at Homebush in 1999 attended by just 500 people will return to the suburb for the first ever Megasurge on March 1.
Youthsurge director, the Rev Steve Jeffrey hopes to fill the State Sports Centre with 4000 teenagers and youth leaders for a day of relevant, conference-quality Bible teaching.
"Youthsurge has been planning to do a major event since 2005. The World Youth Day seemed to provide the right timing to do something of this scale," he says.
Mr Jeffrey hopes the inaugural event will equip teenagers to better understand the four key issues of biblical Christianity: Christ, faith, grace and scripture.
"We'll be running four engaging sessions throughout the afternoon and evening in the normal Youthsurge style: clear Bible talks, singing, prayer, meeting other Christians and a few other surprises thrown in too," he says.
"It will be a normal Youthsurge but hopefully with 4000 attending."
The purpose of Youthsurge
Surges are designed to demonstrate how a youth group can be enjoyable and thoroughly Christian at the same time.
Mr Jeffrey says Youthsurge "surges' could be described as youth group on a larger scale with a twofold aim.
"We want to get together to encourage each other through an event that is clearly Christian and we also want to provide creative Christian ideas that you can take back to your youth group," he says.
While Youthsurge is based out of Norwest Anglican Church, the organisation seeks to model and resource biblical church-based youth ministry around Australia.
"In 2008 we'll do approx 50 surges, 10 training conferences and two leader-in-training camps in Sydney and interstate," Mr Jeffrey says.
Megasurge 2008: The big four
The Megasurge will feature four keynote speakers: Multicultural Bible Ministry leader the Rev Ray Galea on grace, Morling College lecturer the Rev David Starling on faith, Christ Church, St Ives' youth minister Scott Petty on the Bible and Burwood Chinese Presbyterian Church senior minister the Rev Eugene Hor on Christ.
"The four sessions deal with the big four distinctives between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism," Mr Jeffrey says.
"Although we have many things in common we continue to disagree on these four key issues. It is helpful for teenagers to be aware of it and not be dragged into the hype that will surround the World Youth Day."
Mr Jeffrey hopes the Megasurge will become a fixture in the Youthsurge calendar.
"The plan at this stage is to make Megasurge an annual event," he says.
"Youthsurge is operating nationally at the moment so if there was an opportunity for us to do a similar event in other states then we'd certainly be open to that too."
To register visit the Megasurge website.
