SOAR 2019
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History of SOAR Conference
The dream of a student conference that would impact the lives of junior high and high school students across the Baptist Missionary Association of America was birthed in the heart of Bobby Tucker in the late 1980s. Bobby, the director of what was the National Youth Department of the BMA, could see the potential of gathering all the students of the BMA in one place for three days of worship, Bible study and fellowship. He shared his dream with a student pastor friend, Donny Parrish, and together they launched the first SOAR Conference for students. The acronym SOAR stands for Sold Out And Radical.
From its inception in 1991, Tucker and Parrish have used SOAR to zero in on the needs of students. They use music, drama, video and other creative arts to relate to a changing student culture, while centering the conference on the Word of God. The results have been amazing.
Thousands of students have attended SOAR through the years. Hundreds have given their lives to Christ in salvation. Many more have made life choices to follow Christ in full-time ministry. Others have made life-long commitments to honor Jesus with their lives.
SOAR is now a three-day celebration that continues to draw thousands of students and adults each year. The conference has birthed a SOAR discipleship resource called SOAR:lit. To continue the teaching done at SOAR, these year-long, small group and Sunday school studies focus on and emphasize SOAR’s theme. God is continuing to use SOAR as a platform to communicate the gospel to students as both a conference and now as a discipleship tool!
The dream of a student conference that would impact the lives of junior high and high school students across the Baptist Missionary Association of America was birthed in the heart of Bobby Tucker in the late 1980s. Bobby, the director of what was the National Youth Department of the BMA, could see the potential of gathering all the students of the BMA in one place for three days of worship, Bible study and fellowship. He shared his dream with a student pastor friend, Donny Parrish, and together they launched the first SOAR Conference for students. The acronym SOAR stands for Sold Out And Radical.
From its inception in 1991, Tucker and Parrish have used SOAR to zero in on the needs of students. They use music, drama, video and other creative arts to relate to a changing student culture, while centering the conference on the Word of God. The results have been amazing.
Thousands of students have attended SOAR through the years. Hundreds have given their lives to Christ in salvation. Many more have made life choices to follow Christ in full-time ministry. Others have made life-long commitments to honor Jesus with their lives.
SOAR is now a three-day celebration that continues to draw thousands of students and adults each year. The conference has birthed a SOAR discipleship resource called SOAR:lit. To continue the teaching done at SOAR, these year-long, small group and Sunday school studies focus on and emphasize SOAR’s theme. God is continuing to use SOAR as a platform to communicate the gospel to students as both a conference and now as a discipleship tool!