There a four general sessions over three days, each with a music worship time and a keynote speaker. Two of the sessions also had additional speakers who spoke for about fifteen minutes (one was a former NY mobster and the other a former sex worker), One evening we saw the movie “Fireproof” (excellent), and one evening was “Comedy Night”. Over two days there are also five seminar sessions. At each session, you choose which of nine or ten seminars to attend.

I attended four excellent seminars and one I would rate as very good. I avoided the “how to attract more people to your attractional church” ones, which I agree can be somewhat shallow. Instead, I focused mostly on seminars concerning serving people who are not Christians, especially the poor.

The seminars I attended and their topics were as follows:
1) “Who’s You Daddy Now?: Pre-Conversion Discipleship for a Fatherless Generation”
2) “Servolution – How You can Start a Movement of Serving” – Led by a pastor whose group serves the poorest county in the nation
3) “Agents of Grace: Day of Service” – A Group that is helping churches move into serving their communities
4) “Understanding Poverty in the Pursuit of Souls: Outreach to the Poor” – Led by a couple who work among the inner-city poor in Ohio.
5) “Ancient Faith for Modern Times: Why Postmoderns Hunger For The Holy” – Helping Christians discover the ancient ways of faith, worship and community care.

NOC is a great opportunity for those of us who live in San Diego. People come from all over the country, and some even come from other countries. The convention is held in San Diego because Outreach has its national headquarters in Vista.