From Moment to Momentum

God’s catalyzing a movement in Gen Z—and this Arizona church won’t be left out.

Details fought for real estate in Hunter Perry’s brain this past September as he and a team of 71 volunteers and staff took by storm Rock Point Church in Queen Creek. They were stuffing swag bags, transforming the lobby, checking sound, and checking off the endless remaining to-dos swirling around the hype of One Night—a conference hoping to empower local young adults to give God everything. One night might change your life, baited their social media outlets.

But as he maneuvered the hallways, Hunter felt as if God were whispering in his ear.

Don’t forget why you’re here.

Hunter passed the church patio, glimpsing a young man in shorts and a ragged tank top—not the type to which a large suburban church typically appeals.

Hunter, pastor of Rock Point’s young adult ministry, felt pulled to him and abandoned his post to strike up a conversation.

“I just kind of showed up,” the young man shrugged, oblivious to the flurry of preparation for One Night. As a middle schooler a decade ago, the young man, Daniel had attended Rock Point when it was still a church plant gathering in an area high school.  But recently, a friend mentioned young adults gather at Rock Point on Thursdays. Daniel was hoping they were open.

As Hunter gently probed with more questions, Daniel opened up about his struggle with addiction. It was the same fight that had claimed his father’s life.

“I realized I was about to become my dad. I didn’t want to be. I just want to be close to God. I want to get my life back together. I don’t want to disappoint Him.”

Hunter looked into Daniel’s eyes, and spoke to him of the unconditional love of his Heavenly Father.  But “maybe He knows you’re doing things He doesn’t want you to do, or that there’s a better way.” Daniel began blinking away tears.

Hunter invited him to go inside that night and listen to what the speakers had to say.

Late that evening, Hunter readied to go onstage following an altar call and looked to his left. Daniel stood with 30-40 other young adults, responding to God’s soul-awakening.

“It was crazy. I couldn’t have done anything to fabricate that moment,” Hunter reflects, head shaking.

Can One Night Change Your Life?

The heart of One Night emerged from Hunter’s personal time with God, marinating in John 3. The New Living Translation reads, “After dark one evening, [Nicodemus] came to speak with Jesus.”

One night, Hunter thought, can change your life.

He felt keenly aware of the lack of spiritual conferences in the vein of Passion or Urbana, where young adults in the wet-cement, formative years of their identity and careers could meet God individually and in a like-minded, fervent horde of peers.

He cites the efforts of speaker/author team Jonathan Pokluda and Jennie Allen in UniteUS, a movement sweeping college campuses like Texas A&M and Ole Miss, around the nation—thousands gathering in campus stadiums—for purposes of salvation, community, and freedom from sin and burden. Students are even being baptized in pickup trucks through this “movement of God.”

It reflects Gen Z’s thirst for spiritual connection, evidenced by the Asbury revival drawing 50,000 to a Kentucky town with a single stoplight. Or the 55,000 swarming to Passion in Atlanta this year.

Gen Z, Hunter explains, is considered the “prove it” generation. Growing up in the airbrushed, curated environment of social media, “They need authenticity. I come to them saying, ‘Here’s what I’ve come here to convince you of today.’

“They don’t care if you have a position. They care if you care. They’ll jump on a sword if they know you love them and want the best for them. That’s why some communities outside the church are growing like wildfire.” It’s another reason Rock Point young adults stand on the curb before Thursday night meetings, holding huge signs: “You are loved!” “You belong here!” “It’s great to see you!”

“Gen Z is not the future of the Church,” Hunter asserts. “They are the Church.”

So for One Night, Hunter and his team transformed the church with loads of sweat equity, bringing in speakers for Rock Point’s very own seminal conference event.  “We made our environment, lobby, and everything totally different. When I go to an event, I want to think, This was different. I was a part of something tonight.”

More than a Moment

Hunter knew the annual YTH Night event of Rock Point’s middle- and high school ministry (YTH=Youth) drew a whopping 1400 students annually to a group normally averaging 350. He had been searching to provide similar cornerstone events and teaching that deeply mattered. Yet he longed to move young adults from encountering God in a mere “moment”…to momentum.

The ministry had already experienced success with cornerstone events like their 5 v. 5 Give Back Bowl. Participants could only play in the flag football tournament by donating school supplies for kids via the group’s “adopted” ministry to Angel Tree, serving kids whose parents are incarcerated. The event snagged over 400 young adults—and raised over $3500 worth of school supplies. All were encouraged to volunteer for the Angel Tree camp in Prescott.

“If you can get someone to make a charitable donation, you can take steps to get them to be a champion,” Hunter reflects. “Those champion pieces are in all of us.”

The ministry’s “Comfort and Joy” event this December will collect hoodies for the same kids. “Come get hot cocoa, watch Home Alone in the yard, and provide a hoodie to a kid who wouldn’t have one. That’s, like, the cost of three Dutch Bros. coffees for a month,” Hunter laughs. Massive easels display lists of the recipient’s first names: “There’s a name behind every hoodie.”

In a society where social media influencers seek what they can get out of every situation, he encourages the group to do the work of transformation by renewing their minds: “When I give, I actually receive” (see Romans 12:1-2, Luke 6:38). Young adults will then be encouraged to act as a personal shopper for Christmas gifts for an Angel Tree child and their caregiver.

Hunter and team engineered One Night to also be far more than a moment, equipping the saints for the work of ministry as outlined in Ephesians 4.

Keynote speakers engaged 346 with the messages of John 3-4—like how to evangelize as the Samaritan woman did, to her own people. Students packed breakout sessions on topics like “holy hustle” in a culture where others want to settle, or on living a holistically healthy life.

At the end of the evening, everyone was asked to remove a flashlight included in their swag bag as the lights dimmed. The speaker posed the question: “How many of you will help those around you encounter Jesus? Raise your flashlights.”

As light after light pierced the auditorium—nearly every flashlight rising now—energy swelled; tears fell. The speaker cheered them on: “You’re called to be the light of the world.”

“I am coming back to God”

Hunter looked in vain for Daniel following the service. Weeks later, he lunched with one of the speakers, describing his encounter with the young man. The speaker leaned forward.  “Was his name Daniel?”

Daniel had run up to the speaker in the parking lot.

“I just want to let you know that what you said changed my life. I am coming back to God, coming back to church, and I’m changing my life.”

Since that night, Daniel had stepped into the young adult community, finding friends and attending. He voices openly, “This is saving my life.”

Hunter marvels: Daniel didn’t see the group’s Insta feed, e-newsletter, email, or even receive an invitation from a friend. God brought Daniel to Himself.

Daniel’s story rings in Hunter’s mind as the young pastor plans for next year’s One Night, hopefully collaborating with young adult ministries all around Queen Creek. “It will forever be for me the reason why we create an event like this,” Hunter reflects. “For some reason, God wanted his son, Daniel, to come back home. One Night casts a wider net, as many fish as possible.”

And they’re not only fishing, but teaching men to fish—for a lifetime.

Praise God with us for His passion to bring the next generation to Himself! And pray for the young adult ministry at Queen Creek—as well as ministries to Gen Z at large:

• That in and through Gen Z, God would “do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
• That Jesus would embed Himself in the hearts and minds of young adults, shaping fully devoted followers.