The second Pursuit Conference in Oshawa, Ont., on Oct. 26 started with the vision of one young man and his concern for young adults trying to navigate their way in a post-Christian culture.
Adam Hoogsteen, 35, an elder and worship leader at Discovery Christian Reformed Church in Bowmanville, Ont., developed a love for organizing events and connecting people during his years growing up with the church’s active group of young people. Now married and the father of young children, Hoogsteen is part of the leadership in the Discovery congregation, which now also has a building in Hampton, Ont. Hoogsteen discerned that there was very little focus on young adults who might be questioning their faith and their relationship with God. He shared his concerns with Discovery pastor Martin Spoelstra, and the two men prayed for a way forward in ministering to young adults. Together they developed a plan for a conference to address the spiritual needs of young adults and shared their ideas in order to work with neighboring CRC congregations ministering to young adults in the west end of Classis Quinte.
Pursuit Conference’s six-person organizing team includes members from four different congregations, who met weekly by Zoom conferencing for months ahead of the event. Hoogsteen said they began every meeting with a prayer for God’s guidance, wisdom, and blessing. Each team member has a distinct responsibility to contribute. They chose the large Zion CRC facility in Oshawa as the site for the 2023 and 2024 conferences. In 2023 the agenda included a time of worship; a plenary session led by Rev. Steve Kooy who serves as campus chaplain at Queens University in Kingston, Ont.; five workshops; and lunch.
The 2024 lineup has Tony Postumus, executive director of Northumberland Youth Unlimited and team chaplain/director of player wellness for a local hockey team, as main speaker and workshop leaders include Spoelstra on spiritual gifts and Zion’s pastor, Brad Close, on practicing prayer.
About a week before the 2024 date Hoogsteen said “early registration is well above what it was at this time last year.” From that indicator he predicted strong attendance based on the experience from 2023, which had the organizing team questioning the event’s viability until registration picked up in the last week and days before the all-day Saturday event. In the end, about 50 young adults and an additional 30 people as workshop leaders, worship band members, lunch providers and other volunteer workers attended the 2023 conference.
Hoogsteen said young adult attendees gave the inaugural event excellent reviews, so organizers chose to have the 2024 conference follow a similar format. Churches and community venues across the Quinte region have promoted the event.