Christian Festivals - Am I Missing Something?

This is my first blog for a while, prompted by all the Tweets and Facebook statuses from people I know who are currently at Greenbelt and, a couple of weeks ago, from those attending the New Wine camp.  Thinking back, there were also a flurry of them around Easter, from Spring Harvest and ECG.

What promoted me to write entails something of a confession: with the exception of attending Greenbelt once, over 20 years ago, I have never been to a Christian festival, camp or other large event.

I sometimes wonder if I am impoverished as a Christian disciple and Probationer Presbyter in the Methodist Church because I don’t go along to these things.  Are they something I need to experience in order to give my best to the congregations I serve or can I serve just as well without going to them?

As I said, I did go to Greenbelt once, in the mid-1980s.  My main memories are that Cliff Richard was headlining and was far, far better than I thought he’d be; that the toilets (wooden benches with holes in them suspended over a deep pit) were probably the most disgusting thing I had ever encountered and that I was awfully glad to be sleeping in a caravan when the rain came down.  I came away from Greenbelt, despite my high expectations, feeling no different than when I’d arrived.  I certainly didn’t encounter God in any new or profound way.

And yet I keep on hearing about how great these festivals and big Christian gatherings are.  I hear from friends who have been to New Wine saying that their lives and ministries are transformed, friends who go back year after year.  I am told that I must go to the Keswick Convention to hear the solid evangelical preaching and be inspired.  I have friends who rave about Greenbelt and go back year after year after year.  Am I missing out on something?

Other friends tell me that I really don’t need to waste time and money attending the festivals and that there are much more cost effective ways of hearing some of the top Christian speakers and musicians they attract.  And it doesn’t involve sleeping in a tent, queuing for showers and questionable toilet facilities.

There is something spiritually uplifting about getting together with large numbers of brothers and sisters in Christ to celebrate our faith; there is the chance to be spiritually fed and uplifted in these big events that the smaller ones cannot provide: but will they make significant positive differences to my Christian walk and ministry?

I honestly don’t know.

What do you think?