Four years after canceling the annual Christian music festival that drew thousands to a field in Worthing, LifeLight organizers are turning their attention back to live worship music. The new concert is part of the evangelical ministry's youth initiative, and is scheduled for May 7th, 2022, in the Sioux Falls Arena. Organizers are touting it as the largest youth event in the region.
Josh Brewer, CEO of LifeLight, explains the concert is part of the ministry's Z8 initiative focused on Gen Z. "About a year ago I was approached by a young sixteen-year-old who said, 'God woke me up at five o'clock in the morning and said I'm supposed to help coordinate a youth worship service.' I thought, 'That's incredible! Let's do that!'"
That sixteen-year-old is Katana Thompson, the Z8 coordinator with LifeLight. "I just hope we make Jesus famous in this place," she said. "I can't wait to pack out the arena with 7,000 kids and youth—not just kids, but to the youth of Gen Z, anyone born after 1995."
The May 7th event will also include a morning of service opportunities with non-profits around Sioux Falls in partnership with Tre Ministries, another Sioux Falls-based Christian organization. Organizers say volunteers will soon be able to sign up on the event website.
The LifeLight Musical Festival began in 1998 and ran over Labor Day weekend until the organization announced it would take a new direction in 2017. Since that time it launched a teen center in the Pettigrew Heights neighborhood of Sioux Falls.