A Week of Training, Fellowship, and Creativity

Alleluia Conference: Bringing together church musicians, music directors, and worship pastors

The Alleluia Conference is a meaningful space for ministry leaders to join together in conversation and training, allowing for important dialogue surrounding the joys and challenges of daily service to the local church. In July, some 173 churches were represented at Alleluia, bringing together more than 300 church musicians for the event. Alleluia offered more than 90 sessions on a range of topics to support the work of church musicians in service of their call. One of the highlights of summer 2024 was the cool weather that temporarily held over Waco for the duration of the conference. 

Notably, this summer's event brought in more than 100 first time attendees with an even split among age ranges including leaders in every stage of ministry careers. Tuesday evening's event was a "Service of Serenity" with Joseph Martin and a team of skilled musicians in the Armstrong Browning Library. On Wednesday Alleluia hosted the one of a kind live orchestra reading session. Thursday night ended with an evening concert with artist Ken Medema. And finally, on Friday students prayed over attendees during a closing service of commissioning. Overall, Alleluia was a week of meaningful engagement with leaders bringing years of experience and knowledge to Baylor's campus. 

The Worship Lab Initiative: engaging young people in worship leadership and musical training

Running concurrently with the Alleluia Conference is Worship Lab, a five-day music camp for high school students with an interest in music and ministry leadership. Supported by Lilly Endowment Inc., Worship Lab strives to bring together teenagers to equip and encourage excellence in music, while framing foundational leadership skills for work in the church. 

This past summer, Worship Lab saw its highest attendance numbers with 115 students at camp. These students represented churches from four states (Texas, Colorado, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania) with 47% of students attending camp at no cost to their families. Through the partnership program with Baylor's youth research project, churches across Texas have partnered with the Dunn Center to examine the structure of youth ministry worship ensembles and their leadership models. 

The event culminated with a worship service lead by students at camp with friends and families present!

Sic 'em, summer worship programs!