Out of the ashes … evangelical Presbyterians gathered at the Montreat Conference Center in late June to renew their faith by rebooting a long-time fixture in their summer calendars.
Due to shrinking attendance through recent decades, Presbyterians for Renewal pulled the plug on the Christian Life Conference after the 2013 gathering. But a few diehard attendees would have none of that. They organized the “Hope Conference,” which gathered 100-plus attendees for three days of worship, prayer, fellowship and Bible study featuring Andrew Purves.
While many present were feeling discouraged over reports from the just-adjourned General Assembly meeting, Purves intervened. “On the cross, everything we are, everything we feel, everything we experience, good and bad, has been taken into the life of God.” Further, he proclaimed, “Only in the resurrection of the God-forsaken Lord is there hope for us in our abandonments and deaths. Thus it is so.”
An ad hoc committee organized the conference and announced plans to hold another to cast more hope early next summer in Montreat.
