Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano will host its 20th annual Biblical Worldview Conference starting this Sunday. The conference will feature high-profile Christian thinkers, including Lee Strobel, Allie Beth Stuckey and Alisa Childers.
Organizers say the event is the largest conference in the nation focused on apologetics, the branch of theology dedicated to defending and answering hard questions about Christianity.
The conference will run Sept. 22-24. Keynote speakers will give short, Ted Talk-style speeches and then lead breakout sessions where attendees are encouraged to ask their tough questions, according to Jeremiah Johnston, who is organizing the conference.
Johnston is Prestonwood’s pastor of apologetics and also serves as the dean of spiritual development at Prestonwood Christian Academy.
Over 4,000 people from 44 schools and 22 states have registered for the event so far, Johnston said in an interview.
Jack Graham, Prestonwood’s senior pastor, said the conference began as an event geared towards students at Prestonwood Christian Academy and has since expanded to attract students, parents and educators from other schools. He said the conference’s message for young people is particularly important today.
“There has never been a more critical time than now to instill a Christ-centered worldview in students. At any given moment, they face countless distractions with influencers from so many social media platforms competing for their attention and their mind and heart,” Graham wrote in a statement to The Dallas Morning News.
Graham also said the church invited their most impactful speakers from previous conferences to speak this year as they celebrate the event’s 20th anniversary.
One of those speakers is Strobel, who is known for books about Christianity including The Case For Christ, a New York Times bestseller that was adapted into a movie and has sold over 5 million copies. This year, Strobel said his talk at the conference focuses on how to deal with doubt.
“One of the main points I want to make is that it’s OK to have doubts; it’s OK to have questions,” Strobel said in an interview.
“When you have doubts or questions, the worst thing you can do is hold them in, because then they can erode your soul,” he said. “The best thing you can do is talk about them: Ask people questions, investigate, check things out.”
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.
