Interview with Cam Huxford

By Brad Dupray

In the first 13 years of Cam Huxford”s ministry at Savannah (Georgia) Christian Church, the church grew from 150 to 500. In the past 10 years the church has mushroomed to more than 5,000 in weekend attendance””a testimony to the value of a long-term ministry. Savannah Christian is a missions-oriented church, with 320 people going on short-term missions in 2007and missions giving in excess of $1 million. Huxford is a graduate of Atlanta Christian College and has taken course work at Emmanuel School of Religion. He and his wife, Sarah, are the proud parents of three sons, Cam, Harrison, and Garrett, who are all involved in ministry.

What does it mean to you personally to be the president of the North American Christian Convention?

It is an opportunity to encourage leaders and members of our fellowship as they continue to do the most important work in the world.

What has the convention meant to you over the years?

Over the years the North American has been a place where I have been encouraged, inspired, and frankly, have created a broader network among the leaders in our movement that I don”t think would have been possible otherwise. It would be difficult to say how valuable the associations I have developed at the North American have been.

Have you had any particular convention experiences over the years that stand out?

As a young man the convention gave me an opportunity to meet and connect with some of the “samurais” in our movement””Bob Russell, Dick Alexander, Ben Merold, Cotton Jones””some of these great leaders who have had a remarkable influence. They have opened their hearts to me, spent time with me, and encouraged me.

That generational blessing has been important to me. I came out of a very small church background. When you”re in a small church you”re thinking everyone else is a genius. Everything went their way. But then you see that they”ve been to the battle. To rub shoulders with these guys and listen to their stories was a contextualizing opportunity for me””that everyone bleeds for the same things, everybody encounters difficulties, everybody struggles””and that is very encouraging.

The intergenerational connection is certainly unique in the conference world.

There are two reasons a person should come to the North American: seasoned leaders come so they can encourage younger leaders. Younger leaders come so they can carry on the brilliant nondenominational philosophy of our movement. We have a ton of young leaders who are prevailing because of ministry philosophy that was hammered out by those who went before them. There is a great need for us to honor the distinctiveness of our movement. Older, seasoned leaders come to “knight” the younger guys. The younger guys come to do the relationship building, networking, and synergy building required to take this thing forward. There is no place you can go to do that with the kind of focus you have at the North American

What does a Christian do to “Live Dangerously?”

Obey. <pause> They obey God”s Word. They obey the leading of the Spirit of God. They live a life of joyful submission to the kingdom agenda. And when it gets hard they don”t run, they don”t quit, they don”t start compromising things. They hang tough. They persevere.

Could “dangerous” have a negative connotation?

We use the idea of “dangerous” in the best sense of the word. If you”re going to live for a Lord who was willing to sacrifice everything for his Father”s will, that same passion should emerge in the people who lead our churches, teach in our colleges and seminaries, husbands, wives””everyone. It means you”re willing to go against the tide of culture, you”re willing to stay when people say “go.” You have churches that are struggling against passivity across the U.S.A. That struggle is a very dangerous thing. Yet you can have no kingdom gains unless you”re willing to struggle against passivity.

Is passivity synonymous with churches that aren”t operating “on the edge”?

I think that a church cannot be effective without being obedient to the Great Commission and the call of God to love God and to love their neighbor. There”s edginess to that. Whether that means cutting-edge technology, I don”t know. There certainly are great churches that are traditional in their approach, but if a church values comfort over the Great Commission, that is not what you would consider living dangerously.

What will set this year”s convention apart from others?

The 2008 North American will be unique in that we will have a women”s conference within the convention. We”re going to honor godly women who make a remarkable contribution to our churches and colleges. There will be people of color on the platform. There will be a diverse presence of ages and ethnicities in our speaking team. There will be an intergenerational dynamic. Ben Merold spoke for the North American for the first time 50 years ago and Jon Weece is a young buck doing a great job at Southland (Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky).

It’s Friday afternoon and the convention is over. What has to have happened for you to look back and say, “That was good”?

I”ll feel like we”ve accomplished our mission if people leave the North American believing that our work is so important that we”ll do whatever it takes to get it done. If people leave encouraged and inspired about the nobility of the ministry and ready for another strong run, I”ll feel good about this convention.

Why would a church leader use his budget dollars to attend the NACC rather than one of the many other conferences that are out there?

The North American is unique in that there is an opportunity to connect and strengthen our movement and our contribution to the kingdom as a whole. The North American has something that no other conference has””it is a touch point where more of our Christian church leaders will be in the same spot, at the same time, than any place in the world. If you could attend a gathering of the core leaders of the fastest-growing faith movement in the U.S. all in the same spot, at the same time, that”s a wise investment of continuing education dollars for any church leader in one of our churches.

What does the convention have to offer smaller churches?

From a missiological perspective, if you were to go to any country in the world for ministry, the question would be, “What is God blessing in this culture?” Then you would adjust your ministry strategy and apply your gifts in a strategic way. The North American offers an opportunity to learn what God is blessing and how those principles can be applied to your mission. It exposes every kind of church leader (no matter where they are in their leadership pilgrimage) to people who are ahead of them, in terms of building the church, and to people who are running in exactly the same place.

Why would a family use their vacation dollars to attend the NACC?

For families it is an encouraging, fun event. Cincinnati is a great place. There are great children”s and student ministry programs that are extraordinary””kids will love that. The parents will have a learning adventure while the kids are having fun. Those elements are all in place for families to have a very full, very fun, time and for each to be challenged on a level that will bless them.

What is the added value to being in the “heartland?”

One of the most inspiring things about the North American is the excitement of a big group of like-minded people. My little church in Rock Hill, South Carolina, had 30 people. To go to the North American and worship with 10,000 Christian church folks is encouraging. There”s a dynamism that comes when a large group of people worship together. There”s the synergy of being around a large group of leaders. Cincinnati Christian University is just up the street and there are Bible college alumni opportunities, too.

What would you say to someone who has become disenchanted with the convention for theological reasons?

The genius of the Christian church is that for hundreds of years we have said that if we can agree on the lordship of Jesus and the authority of the Word of God, we can have fellowship. I don”t think we can agree on every doctrinal element, but we can agree on the lordship of Jesus and that”s what we will be celebrating at the North American.

Every one of our main-session speakers is a preacher in a Christian church. At every one of our Bible colleges we are taught to analyze and learn from a wide variety of sources, to “hold fast to that which is good” and “abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, 22). At the North American we have brought in speakers from a variety of backgrounds, and we know whom may not agree with every element of their philosophy. They”re here to give us a learning opportunity. We”re assuming that people are coming to the North American like they would come anywhere else””to learn what they can learn and to reject what they would disagree with. I can”t imagine any leader who only reads books written by people with whom they agree 100 percent.

What about those who say it”s too “old school?”

I would say the value of the North American is the synergy between the generations that have made our fellowship strong and the generations that will make our fellowship strong as we move forward. If we”re not careful, the baton gets dropped. The North American has been infused by the vision and ideas of the younger generations. We certainly hope that we”ll be able to attract every generation. Hopefully we can model at the North American what we need to model at every church, which is intergenerational connectivity. The only way to address this “old-school” concern is for younger leaders to contribute. We need that contribution and we desire it. Jon Weece and Jud Wilhite are certainly not old-school leaders. Both are main-session speakers at the North American this year.

How does the convention appeal to those don”t have an historic connection to the North American?

It”s interesting. I had a conversation with a Baptist guy from Atlanta, and at the end of our conversation he asked about a number of different Christian church leaders. He couldn”t get enough information about these guys. It occurred to me that the evangelical world is looking to our Christian church leaders for wisdom and coaching. It amazes me that people in the denominational world are more fascinated about the Christian church than the Christian church is!

The North American is the single greatest gathering of Christian church leaders in the world. It”s a force multiplier. You can be around more Christian leaders at the North American than any other place. You can go to Willow Creek or North Point and you won”t get near Bill Hybels or Andy Stanley. At the North American Christian Convention you can meet and talk with leaders from some of the 100-fastest-growing churches in America. You can be face-to-face with some of the greatest leaders in our movement. There”s an opportunity for access to these great church leaders that you will not have at Catalyst or at any of those other conferences.

Give us your parting shot.

The North American Christian Convention is the property of the Christian churches and churches of Christ and it will never be greater than the interest and investment of those churches. My hope is that this extremely valuable resource will be supported and enjoyed by more church leaders than ever before and that everyone who comes will be encouraged to do the greatest work in the world with the greatest passion they can muster.