'Re-orientation on Jesus was a key theme of the conference' 

I left Fresh Streams 2026 feeling empowered to centre my life and ministry more on Jesus’ love, direction, and example, writes Callum Caldwell

Awaken. 

That was the theme of this year’s Fresh Streams conference and, although I may have left Staffordshire feeling tired and fatigued in my body, my spirit has been given a jolt. I have been awakened, encouraged, and, to my shame, found pride which needed to be challenged.

Around 300 church leaders from across the country came together at Yarnfield Conference Centre at the beginning of January to worship Jesus together, to grow in our faiths, and to explore how God is moving in 2026.

I was struck by the sheer range of church leaders there, spanning from pioneers to planters to ministers to others, like me, taking our first steps into Christian leadership. All of these people were in one place, joining together, in Spirit-filled worship and teaching.

‘Can these bones live?’ asked Kate Colman in our first session together. 'Sovereign LORD, you alone know' (Ez. 37:3). Only God can breathe new life on His church. This is the God whom we gathered to worship: a Holy God who, despite the valleys of dry bones in which church leaders regularly find ourselves, can breathe new life, His Spirit, into those dead and parched bones, bringing a vast army to life so that He may be glorified (Ez. 37:10). 

Where in our lives do we need God to awaken us? Are we like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, unable to see the Risen King in front of us? This was the challenge in Lisa Holmes’ message to us. Kate Colman continued it: are we serving The Messiah, or are we creating our own messiahs to serve us? Are we throwing off the messiahs our culture and our politics wants us to serve? Christ, and Christ alone, is our Messiah. It is this Messiah, and this Messiah alone, we are to breathe in. 

I found this a particularly challenging message in my own journey. I recognised, listening to Kate and Lisa speak, how I had allowed certain areas in my life to be ‘fenced off’ from the true God and how I had permitted messiahs I had created, or which I had allowed to be created for me, to take hold of me. My worldview, politics, understanding of the narrative of history, must be laid at the foot of the cross. Jesus, let there be nothing else in me but You and You alone.

If we are not walking with Jesus, how, asked Mark Melluish, can we see the people in front of us whom God is placing so that He can reach them? Where are our ‘burning bush’ moments – those moments Jesus wants to meet with us and with others through us? If we are not breathing Him in, how can we possibly claim to be breathing Him out?

Pete Everitt rounded off the main sessions by inviting us to seek fearless life in the Spirit. How do we 'fan into flame the gifts of God' whose Spirit 'does not make us timid, but gives u power, love, and self-discipline' (2 Tim. 1:6-7)? In our ministries, where can we become aware again of God’s presence which supersedes fear? Where can we encounter God’s Power, His Love, and His Truth? How do we awaken those gifts in those around us with whose care we are charged?

Re-orientation on Jesus was, for me at least, a key theme of the conference. I have left it feeling empowered to centre my life and ministry more on Jesus’ love, direction, and example. He alone is Holy and He alone is the Messiah; there is no one else in whom fear can be overcome and no one else who can breathe the very spirit of life into these dry, lifeless bones. 



Attending the different seminars (including leading one myself with my London Baptists  partners which centred on exploring the Quiet Revival among young adults) revealed a God who is undeniably on the move. He is doing a new thing in the land, and, with 300 of us together in Staffordshire, we could perceive it. There is much reason to hope and many stories of encouragement, of baptisms, of lost sheep wandering into churches, directed there by the Good Shepherd, and finding the King of All. 

There is instability in our nation and our planet, and, if we look hard enough, reasons abound to be discouraged about where we find ourselves, but I am heartened and encouraged to see and hear of a God who is nevertheless active and working. 'The righteous will live by faith' (Hab. 2:4b).

Can these bones live? O Sovereign LORD, you alone know. O Sovereign LORD, you alone can do it.

 

Callum Caldwell is an intern with London Baptists

Bookings for The Fresh Streams 2027 National Leadership Conference are already open with a an Early Bird Option - more information on the website 

Do you have a view? Share your thoughts via our contact form