Upcoming X-Fuge Weekends Designed for Youth Ministers

Four X-Fuge weekends are set for early 2005, combining a driving force of worship, Bible study and personal interest tracks.

By Kenneth Chan, Thursday, January 27, 2005

Four X-Fuge weekends are set for early 2005, combining a driving force of worship, Bible study and personal interest tracks. These events, designed with youth ministers in mind, will be held at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center, Feb. 11-13 and March 11-13; Shocco Springs, Ala., Feb. 25-27; and Jonathan Creek, Ky., April 8-10.

X-Fuge, one of several “Fuges” that LifeWay Christian Resources established since 1979, was originally designed as a one-week pilot for perhaps 1,000 teens but later grew to two weeks for up to 3,000 youth, because of an unprecedented number of pre-registrations.

"X-Fuge takes the best of what we have to offer at Centrifuge and combines it with the best quality of sound, light and location," said Jason Ellerbrook, X-Fuge and student events coordinator with LifeWay.

"The X-Fuge program is different from Centrifuge," Ellerbrook said. "Instead of focusing on hiring small group Bible study leaders, we are basically investing our resources in hiring praise and worship bands and well-known recording artists. We're just investing more of our resources in the platform—sound, lights, worship music—plus speakers, drama and creative ministries."

Although X-Fuge will take place in one-week segments during the summer (July 6-10 and July 11-15), the upcoming X-Fuge weekends “combine the best of Winter Weekend, Freedom Tour and Centri-Break, giving people a three-day sample of what they will experience with us in the summer,” according to Ellerbrook. "These weekends combine the best of Winter Weekend, Freedom Tour and Centri-Break.”

"We have a real heart for youth ministers," he said. "Our number one thing is providing youth ministers with experiences for their youth that will help meet their goals for their ministry."

According to LifeWay, over a million people throughout the years have had “the Fuge experience.” Fuge campers through the years have raised over three million dollars in missions giving and thousands of lives have been changed.

Ellerbrook said in 2006, X-Fuge is expected to grow to five weeks of camp at Edgewater Beach Resort, with an additional week added at a resort in San Diego.

"That's how rapid we project our growth," Ellerbrook said. "Over the 25 years of Centrifuge, the beauty is that churches that came with 15, the next year brought 30, then 45 and now, some are growing beyond 100. And just as these youth groups grow and mature, we grow and mature alongside them."

To find out more about X-Fuge, visit http://www.lifeway.com/fuge/youth/x-fuge.asp