Story of God at Work at Resonate Conference
Resonate Conference is coming – earlier than ever! Rescon 2025 is almost here—and you’re invited to be part of an unforgettable weekend where 1000 college students gather to worship, hear from God, and be sent out on mission together. If you’ve never experienced Rescon, this is your year. Don’t miss it! To get a feel for what Rescon is all about, check out this story from Craig Lovelace.
The very first Resonate Conference was in 2017 in Bellevue, WA. In years prior we’d had events like Rescon but we just called it, “Winter retreat” or “All Church Retreat.” At that time we were all close enough to each other geographically and knew each other so well that we were much more “one church.” It felt like a big family reunion with everybody who had all come out of Pullman and Moscow. Our family is much bigger now and comes from many more places – but it still holds that family reunion vibe.
The first Resonate Conference felt different from every “all church retreat” prior. It wasn’t just a family reunion moment. This was a turning point. It was a time for our broader Resonate family to worship together, celebrate, and recommit to our shared mission to multiply disciples and plant collegiate churches. The vision was bigger than ever and you could feel it in the room. We were reuniting after being sent out to plant churches and for many, it felt like coming home from the mission field to be welcomed and encouraged by dear brothers and sisters.
I’ll never forget the feeling when Chris Routen came out on stage to welcome everyone. He said something like, “The first annual Resonate Conference… What took ‘em so long?!”
It was the perfect way to capture the feeling that it had been a long time coming. A gathering that felt fresh, new, and exciting – and at the same time like it had always been. About 600 people gathered for the first Rescon.
Since then it’s grown to nearly 1000 and we believe that we’re going to see many more in the years to come.
The theme of the first conference focused on what it would take for us to become a multiplying church. This was one of the first times we boldly and publicly cast a vision for us to become a disciple-making, multiplying people as we saw in scripture. We would no longer be OK simply gathering for worship and community – we are a missionary people following a missionary God.
This truth has been a hallmark of Rescon ever since.
Over the years, Rescon has changed venues five times, been organized by many different teams, and we’ve had thousands of people experience it with us. But some things have never changed.
It’s always been about being together, remembering God’s work, and receiving kingdom assignments from Him.
Every year it feels like a family reunion and the sense of love and excitement to see one another is tangible. I mean it; you can feel it when you walk into the room.
Remembering all that God has done in our lives has always been an integral piece of Rescon. A significant portion of our time at Rescon is devoted to creating space for people to hear from God because we expect and believe that God will uniquely speak to them. Jesus is always waiting for us to come to a place where we are ready to receive the way, truth, and life He’s offering. For many, Rescon is that moment every year.
Rescon is an annual opportunity to recommit to our shared mission to make disciples and plant churches. The natural flow of culture and life is away from sacrifice. Everything is screaming at you to consume, seek comfort, and avoid pain. We follow a savior who bids us to take up our cross and follow Him. His mission is not one free of sacrifice. And yet, He promises that His yoke is easy and His burden is always light – He calls the weary to Himself. Rescon is the time and place every year that we get to remind one another that following His way is always easier for our souls than going our own way.
Perhaps these lyrics from one of my favorite songs, “Follow,” from Rescon 2024 communicate it best:
”What a joy it is to follow Jesus
What a gift it is to bear His name
What an honor to choose surrender
And make Him my everything
Yes to surrender
Yes to the altar
Yes to Your plans for me
Yes to correction
Yes to confession
Yes to refining me
Yes to Your blessing
Yes to anointing
Your Spirit alive in me
Yes to salvation,
And resurrection
Yes to eternity”
There’s something special about Rescon that is hard to articulate if you haven’t been there to experience it for yourself.
It’s that moment when you hear someone’s story and know that they understand your story even though you’ve never met.
It’s when you hear the word taught and God applies it to your soul in a whole new way. That moment when you are never the same because God brought you to this one moment.
I’ve had many of those experiences at Rescon over the years. I’ve been challenged, encouraged, humbled, and overjoyed.
One of my favorite things we do is commission church plant teams. Those sessions are the clearest expression of our shared mission to plant churches on college campuses and to see lost people meet Jesus. We choose to go despite the sacrifice. We get to be like Jesus and leave the 99 and go after the one. Since the first Rescon, we’ve commissioned 15 church plant teams and over 100 core team members.
I hope we never miss a moment to fan into flame a passion for God’s mission. I’ve had the joy of standing on stage with many church plant teams. But as much as I love those moments there’s something I love even more.
It’s the moment when people are moved to confess and repent and pray with a brother or sister. The moments where friends meet in the lobby after spending a year in different cities because they said yes to the mission. The tears that are shed and the hugs that are shared as members of our Resonate family reunite. They get to harvest the fruit of their gospel goodbyes and tell stories of what God has taught them and how He’s worked through their lives to bless others. It’s the moment someone shares that they heard from God in the last session and they realize that they have to take action and obey.
These are the moments that make Rescon what it is. The power of Rescon isn’t on the stage. It isn’t in the music. It’s the cumulative effect of a thousand little moments where we love one another like Jesus and align ourselves to God and His Kingdom.
This year, I’m praying that God would allow me to experience the joy of Jesus that our theme is aimed at. We live in such serious times. It seems like the world is only getting more chaotic and in times like these we need to be reminded that God’s got it all rigged. As Hebrews 12 says, Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. That joy isn’t something waiting for us in Heaven – it’s promised to us right now.
Many times we’ll find that joy on the other side of sacrifice as we die to self and are renewed in the image of Christ. But I’m convinced that there’s far more joy to be squeezed out of every moment if only we have eyes to see it. I think Jesus lived in this joy all the time. Maybe we can experience it together in a fresh new way this year at Rescon.
I can’t wait to see you there.
It’s not too late to register for Rescon! Get your ticket HERE!
