Gen-X Promise Keepers Young Adults Will Gather At Bsu Nov. 1 For Project Reformation Conference
Two weeks ago, Dennis Mansfield stood with his father, two brothers and teenage son at the Mall in Washington, D.C. - three generations of Promise Keepers.
“I looked around and said this heartbeat of serving one another needs to be passed on to generations still to come,” said Mansfield, executive director of the Idaho Family Forum in Boise.
Come Nov. 1, that’s exactly what Mansfield is hoping for.
Sponsored by Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., the Idaho Family Forum and many Idaho Promise Keepers, Project Reformation is coming to Boise State University’s Pavilion.
What’s being called the Promise Keepers for Generation X, Project Reformation will bring young adults ages 16 to 26 together for a daylong conference with speakers, worship, videos and contemporary Christian music.
Danny Byram, the producer of the Washington, D.C., event is producing the $200,000 Project Reformation.
“We will have a display of solidarity and forgiveness far stronger than what we saw Oct. 4 with Promise Keepers,” Mansfield said. “I genuinely and completely see this as the next Promise Keepers. They are coming from all over the U.S. to Idaho.”
Since 1994, Mansfield said the IFF has sponsored an event called Gatekeepers in Boise, designed as a career- and vision-setting conference. It has drawn about 3,500 young people over the years.
But in 1996, Mansfield said the questions were not career-related.
“The questions were about dealing with pain - about the pain they went through in their own lives,” he said. “Suddenly it was clear to us that if there was ever going to be a Promise Keepers for young men and women, we needed to deal with pain.”
He said young people are dealing with issues including molestation, incest, abandonment and parents on drugs.
“Men across America have basically realized they have broken their own families, and now the kids are forced into asking, will they forgive their moms and dads,” Mansfield said.
Through Project Reformation, Mansfield hopes some of the healing and forgiveness will start.
“We’ve got everybody putting together one of the best outreaches for Generation X than anything I’ve ever seen,” he said.
“We are making history, but the thing that most matters is the history of just that one person who comes.”
In 1996, Ryan Dobson was the master of ceremonies for the Gatekeepers event, and this year he is in charge of Project Reformation. Dobson is the son of James Dobson, founder of the Focus on the Family ministry.
In addition to program topics such as community, culture and worldview, there will also be a concert from 7 p.m. to midnight with music provided by the Maranatha Reformation Band and Accidental Superhero.
“I will be 42 shortly, and I can’t wait,” said Mansfield, whose 16-year-old son Nate and 13-year-old daughter Megan are going.
“The bands are just going to crank.”
Mansfield said the purpose of the event, in addition to fostering a sense of healing, is to instill a respect for authority and for parents.
“If you want a son or a daughter who returns back home with a heartbeat of respect, of brokenness and of servanthood to be a better part of that family, that’s what you’ll get,” Mansfield said. “If you think you’ll get some young Republican sent back to you, forget about it. Our job is not to send some Republican or Democrat back to you; it is to send a whole person - your tender child with a vision for the future.”
Next year, in addition to offering the Boise event, organizers hope to have Project Reformation events in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Detroit.
The Nov. 1 conference is being advertised for young adults 16 to 26, but Mansfield said teenagers younger than 16 who are mature are welcome.
xxxx DETAILS Cost: $25, which includes a tape, dinner and concert. Scholarships are available. Time: Doors open at 10 a.m. The program begins at 12:30 p.m. The concert begins at 7. Tickets: Call the Idaho Family Forum at (208) 376-9009.