Although the Urbana Student Missions Conference is no longer held in Urbana IL, the nuts and bolts of the conference still come together in Madison WI, as they have for the past four decades. The Urbana conference moved from the University of Illinois campus to the Edward Jones dome and the Americas Center in St. Louis in 2006. It will be held again at the same location later this month, December 27-31.
Today there are Christian conferences held almost every week of the year. But few have been around as long as the Urbana Student Missions Conference, and have impacted as many lives.
It Began after World War II
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship hosted its first missions conference in 1946 in Toronto, after thousands of Christians returned from military service in World War II with a new sensitivity to global missions. Two years later InterVarsity moved the conference to the University of Illinois campus where it was held every three years, through 2003, becoming the world’s most well-known missions mobilization event.
While the name is associated with the University of Illinois, the Urbana conference office is closer to the University of Wisconsin. InterVarsity’s national office moved to Madison 40 years ago, in 1969. It was located on fraternity row on Langdon Street for many years, later moving to the current west-side location at 6400 Schroeder Road.
Urbana Changes Lives
Tens of thousands of missionaries on the mission field, and others who are in fulltime Christian vocations, credit Urbana for their call or confirmation of their call to Christian service. Exact numbers are unavailable, for some it takes years to follow through on decisions made at Urbana. But the urbana.org website contains the stories of several hundred men and women who answered the call at Urbana.
Each Urbana has a slightly different focus. Urbana 09’s unique features include a partnership with International Justice Mission, World Vision and Sojourners on a track aimed at combatting injustice and dealing with issues such as hunger and child slavery.
Seminars will cover a wide range of issues from evangelism and global issues in missions to environmental stewardship and impacting the world through arts and media.
"Attendees will hear speakers from a variety of cultural contexts discuss how God is at work and will also learn about the needs that still remain," said Urbana director Jim Tebbe. "They will also experience worship with thousands of others in one of the most diverse worship gatherings in North America."
More information on Urbana 09 can be found at http://www.urbana09.org. InterVarsity has declared Thursday, December 10, 2009, a day of prayer and fasting for Urbana 09.