The Evangelical Free Church (EFC) held its national youth conference, which takes place every two years, from July 4-8, in Salt Lake City, Utah, drawing nearly 6000 junior high and high school students across the U.S. With the theme “Just Real,” Challenge 2004 youth conference was designed to provide an opportunity of spiritual growth for many young Christians. Throughout the five-day event, the participants were engaged in various activities focusing mainly on ministry outreach and evangelism. The conference also helped students to grow in biblical knowledge as they were exposed to topics such as evangelism, apologetics, and purity during the Bible studies.

According to Sharon Tucker, assistant director of Student Ministry of EFC, the conference was a “growth level event for many young Christians, who are already a believer,” which helped them to experience “another level” of spiritual growth. As she was explaining of the main theme of the conference – Just Real – she told the Christian Post that the conference “encouraged students to form real relationship with the Lord and with each other that we don’t live phony lives but remain authentic.”