Students Honored at the A/G Fine Arts Festival
The National Fine Arts Festival, where some 12,000 students, parents, friends, and relatives gathered to celebrate the use of arts for spreading the message, was broadcast on Prime Time Christian TV for the first time.
The Fine Arts Festival is among the top youth ministry outlets of the Assemblies of God church. It is also one of the fastest growing ministry in the denomination, with over 60,000 students participating each year.
Through the festivals, students are encouraged to discover and develop ministry gifts God has given to them, and sharpen their talents as they share their art with others.
In the last year, about 70,000 students participated in the fine arts contests nationwide, and more than 7,000 of them were present at the weeklong National Fine Arts Festival, which was held August 1-6, 2005 in Denver alongside the A/G General Council.
On the final day, the top three winners of each of the 52 categories were honored for thier gifts in a Celebration Service. Categories included: original instrumental composition, traditional photography, Christian band, spanish short sermon, small human video group, and graphic design.
Among the winners are two from New York. The Sign Language Group win went to Mercy Seat from Faith Assembly of God in Poughkeepsie, New York (Byron Behm, Cory Behm, Derrick Behm, and Steven Nugent) and Honorable Mention for Percussion Group went to Divine Soldiers from Assembly of God in Hempstead, New York.
In between recognizing the top three in each category, the service was peppered with presentations from the Merit Recipients in a broad selection of categories that included singing, dramas, a short sermon and instrumentalists. A 400-plus member choir and orchestra opened the Celebration Service with an upbeat rendition of "Blessed be the name of the Lord," and Rod Whitlock ended the service with a prayer asking for God's blessing as the attendees return to minister to their communities.
The Celebration Service is so special, according to Assemblies of God, because the students are using the talent and sacrificing to proclaim Jesus and the Cross, which “is not something every kid has heard yet.”
