EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of four releases about Antiphony, a collegiate conference sponsored by CBF Global Missions, Passport Inc., and Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.

Georgetown College students Tara Pilot, 19, and Suzie Ledford, 21, enjoy the opening session of Antiphony, a collegiate conference sponsored by CBF Global Missions, Passport Inc., and Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – College students focused on God’s call Dec. 30 during the first full day of the inaugural Antiphony conference at The Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham. More than 250 students and leaders gathered for the five-day event sponsored by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions, Passport Inc. and Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.

During a worship session based around God’s call, speaker Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, told students the call to Christ comes above any vocational or ministry calling they might feel. For students struggling to discern vocational calls, Pennington-Russell said the answer is often not quickly spoken. “The Holy Spirit sometimes takes a long time to say what’s worthwhile,” she said.

Additional conversation happened in small group discussion times called D-groups, where students further grappled with how to hear God’s call and overcome hurdles that prevent clarity in spiritual direction.

Students also had their choice of more than 25 different topic-based discussion sessions called Chat Rooms. Thursday’s topics ranged from biblical precedent of calling to technology’s effect on ministry. One chat room discussed how Christians can better respond to popular culture’s pervading meaninglessness. “When you listen [to pop culture], it feels like no one is listening.  It’s a challenge to Christian groups to say, ‘Here’s meaning,’” said Steve Parker, a University of Montevallo sociology professor.

Musical guest Ken Medema leads students in an opening activity at the Antiphony conference.

Professional actor and singer Christopher Corts told students that pop culture is best engaged relationally. “If we all started living Christianity instead of proclaiming it, what a testament that would be,” he said.

In a chat room about Christian mission and political policy, Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty, explained the tension that political involvement might present a Christian. “Kingdom concerns don’t lend themselves to compromise, but compromise is the name of the game in politics,” Walker said.

The conference attracted students for a variety of reasons. For some, it was not knowing what life after college graduation would bring. For others, it was a desire to ring in 2005 with friends.  Some students came to reunite with former summer missions teammates, and others came to meet like-minded people. The missions component of the conference was enough motivation for Brevard College freshman Jakob Giese. “I came to learn about missions, but there’s a lot more here than I was expecting,” he said.

During Wednesday’s opening session, Pennington-Russell and Colleen Burroughs of Passport Inc. introduced the idea of an antiphony-style sermon where ideas were shared through a conversation between the two. Though sharing their stories of God’s call, both claimed no expertise. “I’m no shining call story,” Burroughs said. 

Ministry was the last thing Burroughs, a former missionary kid in Africa, planned to do after returning to North America for college. “I really wanted to stick my head in the sand and be done with professional ministry,” she said.  However, meeting her future husband, David, eventually changed her path, leading her to seminary and later to her current position as executive vice president of Passport Inc.

Pennington-Russell stumbled into her calling while attending Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in San Francisco, Calif. Starting as a church’s music minister, she eventually became the church’s pastor. “Call has come to