Thomas Road Baptist Church To Take Students to Passion Conference

Scores of Thomas Road Baptist Church’s young adults will head to Atlanta, Georgia on Jan. 2, 2022, for the Passion Conference at the Mercedes Benz Stadium. Over 50,000 college-aged students will fill the Atlanta Falcons’ football stadium, not to see touchdowns scored, but to exalt the name of Christ.

Starting in 2020, Thomas Road Young Adults’ (TRYA) pastor Quincy Thompson sought to involve his ministry and provide an opportunity for students in Lynchburg to be a part of the Passion Conference. Seeing the immense value of the conference, TRYA offered up the ‘TRYA Package”, supplying a ticket to the event, lodging and transportation all at a steep discount. 

Thompson’s personal experience with Passion led him to want students to have the same growth he had when he went to the conference. 

“I look at my own personal life, and I started going to Passion in 2014, and I can just point to so many times where it was good to be with 50,000 other people worshipping Jesus,” said Thompson. “There were just so many moments where God met me in a really incredible way at Passion and spoke to my heart through the teaching of His Word. Thinking about that I want every student … to be able to go there and have their faith strengthened in that way.”

TRYA purchased 100 tickets in July 2021 and they sold out at the beginning of November. The conference begins on Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. and finishes on January 3 around 11 p.m. Those going with Thomas Road will bus or drive down on the morning of Jan. 2 to enjoy reserved group seating at the stadium and hotel accommodations surrounded by church community before returning home Jan. 4. 

“It’s not just the conference, it’s the trip there, the talks you have on the bus, sharing a room with people that you might not know,” said Thompson. “I think all of that plays into building a stronger community. (It’s) just like you would take a missions trip and people from that trip come back and know each other better. Relationships and friendships are formed.”

The Passion movement began in 1997 with a mission to encourage and equip the younger generation to live on mission for the gospel. Passion Conference 2022 will kick off the new year with a two-day, six-session event featuring some of the biggest names in the evangelical realm. Louie Giglio, David Platt and Tim Tebow headline the speakers while groups like Maverick City Music, Cody Carnes and KB lead the way for vocalists.

Liberty University has historically promoted students to be active in their faith and provide countless opportunities, just like the Passion Conference.

“Of course, you have powerful moments at Convocation and Campus Community, but there’s something about tens of thousands of people, … It’s just really remarkable,” said Thompson. “Passion is a huge conference for any young adult.”

The ‘TRYA Package” is sold out but students interested in going by themselves can still purchase tickets for Passion 2022 at www.passion2022.com/.

Quigg is a news reporter.