“Is anybody ready to open the scriptures under these big old Montana skies and have a Bible study?” Kalispell pastor Levi Lusko asked the crowd of 1,300 middle and high school students assembled in an open field halfway between Whitefish and Columbia Falls. The students cheered in anticipation.

“God has sent his finest to lead us tonight,” Lusko continued, his own Bible in his outstretched hand. “We got Bryce Crawford in the house tonight!” 

Applause erupted as spotlights flashed and fog machines poured smoke onto the stage. The 22-year-old Crawford ran out to the sounds of upbeat music, with a lopsided grin and the energy of a golden retriever.  

Dressed in an oversized camo shirt and baggy jorts, with a backwards baseball cap covering his long shaggy blonde hair and a patchwork of tattoos on his arms, Crawford looked more like a Southern California surf bum than a preacher. But, to the young people who put away their phones and pulled out their Bibles, Crawford is something of a prophet for the generation that grew up online.  

And Crawford is certainly online. The social media influencer has amassed more than 7 million followers between Instagram and TikTok, where Gen Z and Gen Alpha watch his punchy street preaching videos or clips from interviews with prominent figures like Tucker Carlson. As Crawford spoke, many of the students looked on in amazement, as if they couldn’t quite believe that he was really in Montana. 

“Y’all know we’re talking about how Jesus feeds the 5,000,” Crawford drawled with a hint of the southern accent of his native Georgia. He was preaching a message from the sixth chapter of John, a passage that is standard fare at Sunday morning services across the country. "They're looking for some more food. I don't blame them. Like, I can't cook at all, right. So, I bet Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes was fire." 

The students nodded along, not batting an eye at Crawford’s slangy translation of the ancient scripture. If anything, it was evidence that Crawford is cool and relatable: he dresses like them, speaks their language, understands what it’s like to grow up in the digital era.  

“I’m really obsessed with this church father named Saint Augustine, which is fancy language for, like, a really old guy that’s super chill who loved Jesus back in the day,” Crawford continued, with a casual ease that made the dusty, centuries-old theologian sound like a fellow influencer.  

Even as Crawford quoted from a book written 2,000 years earlier, he peppered his message with references to the challenges facing young people today: depression, anxiety, suicide, doomscrolling, lust and ChatGPT were all regularly referenced. Crawford doesn't just look like and sound like the young people he's speaking to: they feel that he genuinely understands them because he's gone through many of the same things. 

“Like, guys, I’m Gen Z. I’m hip, all right,” Crawford told the students. “Like, I understand the things we face. We face new problems. We feel isolated." 

This was Movement Conference, a four-day event for middle and high school students led by the Kalispell-based Fresh Life Church that oscillates between church camp and music festival. More than 1,300 students from 18 states and two Canadian provinces traveled to Northwest Montana to hear from popular Christian speakers like Sadie Robertson Huff, who rose to fame on the popular “Duck Dynasty” TV show, or listen to well-known worship artists like Josiah Queen, whose music has blown up on TikTok. At night, after the sessions concluded, many of the attendees congregated in the campground, where they slept under the stars. 

The 2026 Movement Conference, which took place from July 30 to Aug. 2, was the fifth iteration of the event and, by the numbers, the most successful. The 1,300 students in attendance represented a 70% increase from last year’s turnout. 

“After the gospel, fighting for young people is the most important thing we can do,” said John Mark Creamer, the operations pastor for Fresh Life Church who oversees Movement Conference, between sessions. “This really was started because of our heart to provide something that was of a quality and a level for young people that you would find in Alabama or Georgia or Texas because there’s not much of that our here, and we wanted it to be available.” 

In the Bible Belt states of the American South, conferences and camps like this for young Christians take place throughout the year. Passion, a multi-day conference for college students during the New Year, regularly sells out Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Arlington, Texas's Globe Life Field, both of which hold more than 50,000 people. Passion Camp, the equivalent for middle and high school students, is smaller but still draws upwards of 6,000 students to Daytona Beach, Florida, each year.  

Montana is well off the path trodden by prominent speakers and worship artists on tour. The big city routes along the coast and in the South skip rural and remote Montana altogether, contributing to a sense of isolation in the northwest reaches of the Mountain West.  

Sensing a need, Lusko and Fresh Life Church decided to pioneer a Christian conference for the young people of Montana.  

"Even if only 50 people showed up, we wanted to build it as if 5,000 people were going to show up, and we didn't want to compromise on the level of quality of the event itself, the level of service that we were going to provide, the level of speakers and musicians and artists,” Creamer said.  

To do so, Lusko leaned on many of his own connections. The pastor, who moved to Kalispell from California in 2007 to found what would become Fresh Life Church, operates in many of the same circles as the speakers he invites to headline the conference each year. Lusko has authored 10 books, including multiple bestsellers, and hosts a podcast. Fresh Life Church, which broadcasts its services each week, reaches people all over the country and has locations in Montana, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. Lusko himself has spoken at conferences like Passion in the past.  

But even with the bright lights and celebrity names, the heart behind the conference is much more humble, Creamer said. The aim is to impact the young students, especially those in Montana, who increasingly feel alone, anxious and adrift.  

“This one means so much to me because I was in this position,” Crawford told the audience. He had just asked those who struggled with suicidal thoughts to stand up. Dozens of middle and high schoolers rose to their feet as he described his own struggles.  

“Sometimes we hide ourselves in the dark because we think that nobody else is struggling, that no one is going to understand what I feel... but when we surrender to Jesus, we find life, and we're going to pray for you." 

Fresh Life’s worship team filtered back on to the stage and began to play as the atmosphere shifted. Gone were Crawford’s lighthearted quips. A heaviness instead saturated the air. “I’m lifting both of my hands because you give me chance after chance,” the band sang. One young girl who stood was embraced by her friends, her body trembling as she sobbed. 

The religiosity of Gen Z and Gen Alpha has often perplexed onlookers. While headlines in national papers have hinted at youth revivals and another Great Awakening, church attendance among young adults has remained low — only 25% of young people report attending a religious service weekly, according to a poll conducted by Gallup. And yet this doesn’t seem to square with the millions of followers amassed by Christian influencers or the tens of thousands of students who flock to conferences like Passion and Movement.

What’s more clear is that young people are struggling. As a cohort, Gen Z is 80% likely to report dealing with anxiety or depression compared to older generations, and 84% believe there is a mental health crisis in the United States, according to research by the Casey Foundation, a youth-focused nonprofit.  

At the end of the night, when Crawford had finished speaking and the last notes from the indie rock band Strings and Heart had faded from the loudspeakers, a group of high school girls from Northwest Montana gathered around a picnic table as the first stars peeked through the deepening twilight.

Nearby, a handful of attendees waited in line at the “Outfitter” to buy conference merch like the camo shirt worn by Crawford: “GO FOR GLORY MONTANA USA.” The sweatshirts were maximalist in the way Gen Z loves, with bold fonts and bright colors and a slight grunge aesthetic suggesting the clothing went through a few rounds in the woods of Montana. 

Their conversation centered mostly on the speakers and the musicians. They were a little star struck to have seen giants whom they had come to know through their screens and earbuds. That these speakers would come to rural Montana didn’t feel entirely real. 

They also delved into deeper topics, like what it is to be young and Christian in Montana.  

“There’s not, like, a lot of opportunities anywhere for us because it’s just so much empty space,” said Kendall Dolan, a 17-year-old from Kalispell. “But in an area with high depression rates and all the things that go on here, I think it’s a really great opportunity for everyone to be brought together and to come together in Christ.” 

“Everyone feels really connected online, and we talk about social media, I guess a lot at this point, and, like, how it's not great for us,” Annie Patterson, another 17-year-old high school student from Kalispell said. “Actually, being able to meet people in person is so great. I’ve met so many girls from all over, which I think is just really cool.” 

“Yeah, you meet like people that like you're like, oh my gosh, I'm not alone.  There's nothing more real and raw than Bryce Crawford being like, if you've dealt with depression or suicidal thoughts, then stand up, and then you look around and see people who have experienced the same thing as you,” Dolan said.  

“It makes it so much more accessible for people in Montana,” Amy Snyder, an 18-year-old from Ronan, added. “I’ve never done anything like this because it’s always been too far. I don’t have the resources to make it out there, and so knowing that I can just drive to this and be part of it — it’s heartwarming for me.” 

As the conversation wound down and the girls started to make their way back to their tents to camp for the night, their leader, 29-year-old Janda Chase from Polson, said, quietly and offhandedly and a little wistfully, "This really is the last best place before heaven." 

Reporter Elsa Ericksen can be reached at 406-758-4459 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support. 

    Social media influencer and evangelist Bryce Crawford preaches to the students gathered at Movement Conference on July 30. (Courtesy of Brenden Buls)
  

    Students at Fresh Life Church's Movement Conference on July 31. (Courtesy of Brenden Buls)
  

    Pastor Levi Lusko prays during Fresh Life Church's Movement Conference. Lusko's Fresh Life Church founded the conference, now in its fifth year. (Courtesy Brenden Buls)
  

    Sadie Robertson Huff, who rose to fame on the TV show "Duck Dynasty," speaks at the first day of Fresh Life Church's Movement Conference on July 30. (Courtesy of Chase Reed)

    Josiah Queen, the musician known for his hit song "Dusty Bibles," performs at Movement Conference on Aug. 1. (Courtesy of Brooklyn Spradlin)
  

  

   Students link arms during Fresh Life Church's Movement Conference on July 31. (Courtesy of Brenden Buls)
  

    Josiah Queen, the fast-rising indie Christian artist, jumps into the crowd during his performance on the third day of Fresh Life Church's Movement Conference on Aug. 1. (Courtesy of Chase Reed) 

    Students cheer at the first day of Fresh Life Church's Movement Conference on July 30. (Courtesy of Chase Reed)
  

    Fresh Life Worship leads worship at Movement Conference on Aug. 1. (Courtesy of Brooklyn Spradlin)
  

  

    Indie Christian rock band Strings and Heart perform at Movement Conference on July 31. (Courtesy of Brooklyn Spradlin)