How many young people throughout the RPCNA have a winter youth conference they can attend? Many, if not all, presbyteries have opportunities outside of their summer conference for youth to fellowship and be challenged in their walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. A void was noticed in the Pacific Coast Presbytery, and that void needed to be filled.

The Pacific Coast Presbytery recently held its first annual Winter Youth Conference. The conference was held at the Los Angeles Reformed Presbyterian Church (LARPC) from Dec. 30 through Jan. 2. This was the first Pacific Coast Presbytery youth conference in over 20 years!

Due to the geography of the Pacific Coast Presbytery, planning a presbytery-wide youth conference presented significant challenges. The presbytery is composed of five congregations: Seattle, Wash.; Fresno, Calif.; Los Angeles, Calif.; San Diego, Calif.; and Phoenix, Ariz. The following table indicates the driving distance between each congregation:

Los Angeles and San Diego are closest at 130 miles (2.5 hours driving time on a good day). Phoenix and Seattle are the farthest apart at 1,433 miles (24 hours driving time). The average distance between Pacific Coast Pacific congregations is 678 miles. Imagine being 678 miles from your closest spiritual brothers and sisters!

Due to the tremendous distance between our congregations, the Pacific Coast Presbytery conference attendees can be faced with financial or logistical challenges. However, time and time again, the members of the Pacific Coast Presbytery have triumphed over these challenges and faithfully attended the presbytery family summer conferences. While our congregations are geographically distant from one another, there is also great unity between the congregations that continues to be fostered by the annual conferences. That unity needed to be fostered and developed amongst our young people. A number of our young people were longing for more fellowship with their peers.

Our first Pacific Coast Presbytery Winter Youth Conference fostered that unity and fellowship, and we hope such conferences will continue to do so for many years to come. Thirty-eight young people attended the conference. In addition, the Phoenix RP Missions team (accompanied by Matt Filbert, RP Missions director) joined the Pacific Coast Presbytery youth at the conference.

Pastor David Whitla (Associate Pastor of Southside [Indianapolis, Ind.] RPC) graciously agreed to be the conference speaker (though few would refuse the invitation to leave frigid Indiana for sunny southern California over New Year’s. Future conference speakers, keep this in mind). Pastor Whitla preached a series of messages on Psalm 130 under the theme, Back to the Basics. The messages included, “Up from the Depths” (Ps. 130:1-2), “Forgiveness & Fear” (vv. 3-4), “Hoping in His Word” (vv. 5-6), and “O Israel, Hope in the Lord” (vv. 7-8). These messages were clear, relevant, and called each person to examine his or her spiritual state and to consider where one stands in relationship to Christ and to His Church. The conferees listened diligently as Pastor Whitla preached to the hearts of the young people in a way that was both on their level and profound.

The conference included a time for breakout sessions, where conference attendees were given the option to attend one of four available workshops: RP Missions (led by Matt Filbert and Heather Huizing); Theological Foundations for Youth or “TFY” (led by David Whitla); Precenting (led by Mike Heft); or Personal Devotions (led by Nathan Eshelman). Each of these workshops provided the youth with specific opportunities to strengthen their personal relationship with Christ and to become more involved with the church, both at the congregational and denominational level.

Time was reserved after each of Pastor Whitla’s messages to allow the youth to discuss what they had just heard and how it could be applied to their lives. The young men and ladies broke off into two groups, and some profound discussions rose out of these group times. It was obvious that the Holy Spirit was at work in many hearts. Of course, this is what we expected since there were so many from around the world praying for each attendee by name. The youth were also given time to fellowship with one another and to initiate and deepen friendships with those from different congregations.

The young people also enjoyed a trip to the Rose Parade in Pasadena on Saturday morning. This was followed by an afternoon of games and recreation at the home of Elder Hector and Dottiann Pino (LARPC members). Each conference attendee was given a SWAG Bag (Stuff We All Get), which included books by Dr. Joel Beeke and Dr. John Piper, a Pacific Coast Presbytery t-shirt, magazines, Psalm CDs, and promotional items from various institutions of the RP Church and wider Reformed community. These SWAG bags provided the youth with additional resources to continue to grow in their spiritual life after the conference ended. The youth were very well fed for the whole conference. Sarah Ashleigh headed the kitchen along with a number of volunteers from the LARPC. The food was excellent and greatly surpassed expectations.

Challenging preaching and teaching, good discussions, loving fellowship, the Rose Parade, SWAG bags, and amazing food all contributed to a great conference. To give you an idea of what this conference meant to the Pacific Coast Presbytery youth, we asked several of the young people to share. Here are some of the responses we received.

“I think my relationship with other members of the RP Church has grown immensely….As vital as it is for me to grow in my relationship with others, it is most vital that the youth in our congregations recognize that they are part of the church, that they have a calling from God, that He has gifted them spiritually to be part of the church, and that they are useful and needed.”

“The best part of the conference was getting to know a lot of different people. The preaching and teaching was certainly great, and I assumed it would be. I am always continually amazed at the genuine Christian fellowship in the RP Church.”

“I feel like I’ve grown as a Christian….It made me think about how many things I do that don’t revolve around God. I had never done devotions before…and after listening to the sermons and studying devotions I realized how important it is. I also realized that I had actually been longing to see other Christians my age. The lectures were excellent and really made me think about what I believe. I already knew most of what was preached, hence Back to the Basics, but it seems like no matter how many times you hear it there is always something you missed the last time. There were times during the conference when I felt like I was on the right track as a Christian and also times I’ll admit when I was really ashamed of myself. Overall I think I have definitely grown in more ways than one and I would be excited to attend another conference next year.”

“This conference was valuable in so many ways and I surely won’t be alone in saying that it should continue. Because our congregations on the West Coast are so few and far between, our relationships with other youth in the churches can feel distant. We, as youth, must also see the importance of a solid biblical grounding, and this conference built me up in that very way. The teaching was clear, motivating, humbling, and most of all God-glorifying—exactly what was needed. This conference was so worthwhile and I hope to see it continue and to see people benefit from it.“

These testimonies show us the importance of investing in the spiritual lives of our young people. We should always be challenging and encouraging our youth to continually deepen their relationship with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to faithfully serve His Church. These young people are a part of the future of the Pacific Coast Presbytery.

While there are significant challenges to holding an annual youth conference in the Pacific Coast Presbytery, we are thankful to God that He has overcome these challenges. We are thankful that this conference has proven to benefit many of our young people’s lives. We look forward to seeing how future youth conferences will build on this.

Plans are already underway for another conference this New Year’s. We will soon be prayerfully planning what the next conference will hold. Of course there is much reflection as well as preparation to be done.

Please uphold the Pacific Coast Presbytery in your prayers as we seek to continue this conference on an annual basis. It is our prayer that this will become an annual youth conference that benefits the lives of youth in the RPCNA for years to come.

—Paul Hemphill and Nathan Eschelman

Paul Hemphill is a deacon in the Fresno, Calif., RPC. He and his wife, Megan, serve as Pacific Coast Presbytery Representatives on the Youth Ministries Committee of Synod. Nathan Eshelman has served as pastor of the Los Angeles RPC since January 2009. He also serves as clerk of the Pacific Coast Presbytery. He and his wife, Lydia, have four children.