NextGen Ministries - Free Methodist Church USA

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God calls us to “be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:9), but that can feel difficult in an increasingly pluralistic society. Christians bring a unique vision to the public square — not based on political parties but on God — that needs to be shared with clarity and compassion.

The 2025 Christian Student Leadership Conference, “Courageous Convictions,” is for Christian college students who want to be stretched as they bring God’s light and the good news to our nation and our world. Not for the faint-hearted, living out our convictions requires “work produced by faith, labor prompted by love, and endurance inspired by hope” (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

At the 2025 Christian Student Leadership Conference, you will learn more about issues dominating our culture’s conversations and how to effectively advocate for much-needed reforms. This includes not only what issues we advocate for, but how we advocate for them.

This week-long conference will equip you to join a new generation of faithful advocates who are guided by their principles, motivated by love for others and sustained by the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Register today and invite your friends, so you can stop seeing a church with a weakened witness and instead see the light of the gospel transform our country and world.

Brian Kono

Interim NextGen Director, FMCUSA

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A Few Words from Brian

Have you heard the story of Peter Parker? No, not the Amazing Spiderman Peter Parker, the Yale University med student who, in 1831, felt called by the Holy Spirit to disciple some of his peers. By the end of that school year, over one-fourth of the school had committed their life to faith in Jesus. After finishing a degree and completing ordination, Peter Parker became the first medical missionary to China and is credited by some with paving the way for the Gospel in the country.

I read about Parker in a book about evangelical awakenings in American colleges and universities.

His story is one among many where young people were longing for an authentic, life-changing experience with the Holy Spirit. They were longing for something different from what the culture around them described as a satisfying life and something more than what they saw in their parents’ faith.

Fast-forward nearly 200 years and take a look at the Asbury Outpouring, and we see the same sense of longing. As the Outpouring continues to affect young people, it is clear that God’s Spirit continues to move in this emerging generation.

So these questions haunt me: Why is it that Barna Research has found only ten percent of Gen Z to be followers of Jesus? Why are so many churches unable to connect with this population? Why are we seeing fewer young people interested in pursuing ministry leadership?

Clearly, something is missing in the way the Church—all churches, not just the Free Methodist Church—thinks about being the church for, among, and with the Next Generation.

This is why we are re-imagining the FM Tribe’s Next Generation approach. As the Interim Director, my goal is to gather together those most passionate about this people group, establish a common language, and create pathways of encounter and experience with the Holy Spirit, a means of engaging with and living in obedience to the Living Word, and inspiring young people to lead themselves and their peers.

You are invited to join this movement. If you are willing, please complete the survey above so we can determine where and with whom we are joining God’s movement in our midst.

Praying for another Great Awakening. In the words of the Apostle Paul and my morning mentor, J.D. Walt, “Wake up sleeper, Rise for the dead, and CHRIST will SHINE ON YOU!”