Made For More: Western ON Youth Rally 2025
One large group photo of the attendees from across Western Ontario at the end of the concert.
By the time you walked into the North London Seventh-day Adventist Church on November 29, it was obvious this wasn’t going to be a polite, sit-still kind of youth rally. There was an energy in the room—eclectic, unfiltered, contagious. The kind that makes it impossible to stand still, impossible not to smile, impossible not to pray or sing or feel like something bigger than yourself is happening.
More than 100 young people showed up. Every single one of the region’s 13 churches was represented, alongside students from Crossroads ACF and Beacon ACF. For a region often described as “too spread out,” the gathering felt like a direct rebuttal. As regional president Angella Gregory put it, “People often say that we are too far apart to achieve anything or to work together. But today proves that when young people come together in the name of Jesus, we are actually closer than ever before to accomplishing great things for Him.”
The day opened with Sabbath School in a format that ditched the lecture and leaned into honesty: a panel discussion where young people cracked open Scripture and wrestled with how biblical principles collide with modern life—relationships, pressure, purpose, doubt. No sugarcoating. No spiritual clichés. Just real questions and real conversations.
By divine worship, the atmosphere had only intensified. Kirmane Allen Jr., a young member of the North London church, stepped into the pulpit and delivered a sermon that felt less like a performance and more like a declaration. His message landed with the weight of lived experience, reminding everyone present that faith isn’t inherited—it’s chosen, daily.
Lunchtime became its own kind of ministry. Over a surprisingly good meal, young people from different churches—some meeting for the first time—bonded over shared hobbies, similar struggles, and the quiet realization that no one was navigating life alone. You could see it happening in real time: networks forming, walls coming down, friendships taking root.
A group of outreach volunteers after the activity concluded at McCormick Home.
Then came the pivot outward. Around 60 youth headed off to two local nursing homes, singing, smiling, and spreading early holiday cheer. One resident was so moved she asked if they could come back next Sabbath—and every Sabbath after that. It was a moment that perfectly captured the rally’s heartbeat: joy that doesn’t stay inside church walls.
The evening closed with two parallel scenes. On one side, an all-out games night—volleyball and basketball courts alive with competition and laughter. On the other, quieter corners filled with board games and deep conversations between people who had been strangers just hours earlier.
Pastor Sean Folkes brought the final charge of the day, reminding the crowd that the God of heaven didn’t create them to blend in or settle. He created them—deliberately—for more.
Eventually, people did leave. But they left changed, carrying with them the undeniable realization that this generation isn’t drifting. They’re rising—fully convinced they were made for more.
Check out the photo album from the youth rally on our Flickr!