October 2, 2026
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (KT) — The 30th anniversary of Godstock — a weekend evangelistic event of Hillvue Heights Church — gives evidence to the truth of Ephesians 3 that God is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”
Lead Pastor Steve Ayers said Hillvue has been praying for the past 20 years to have 100 baptisms at Godstock. This year that prayer was met and exceeded when 120 baptisms were recorded.
“I’m overwhelmed — I never doubted God could do it, but I just never had seen it. This is what happens when the people of God invite people to hear the gospel. We saw a lot of deep movement in teenagers. All ages were baptized — from seniors to children, and whole families.”
Ayers said Godstock exemplifies “how hungry the world is, and shame on us if we will not feed them.”
The messages preached during the weekend focused on the fields being white unto harvest, but the laborers being few. Church members were encouraged to bring friends and acquaintances and “just let them hear the gospel. This is what happens when the people of God invite people to hear the gospel — there were enough saints awakened to that at Godstock.
Ayers said there were three major takeaways from the weekend event at Barren River State Park …
• Enough people were convinced that Jesus wants to save people that they wanted to do something about it.
• They prayed that Jesus would save people.
• Those prayers led them to participate in presenting the gospel.
“I had a young lawyer ask me if I could explain this,” recalled Ayers. His answer: “Seriously, do you think my education level can explain this? We were in a moment where you cannot explain God.”
Godstock activities began Friday night when Hillvue’s youth praise and worship team, dubbed by Ayers as the “generation that is coming,” led the service and Jamie Ward, co-lead pastor, preached from Exodus 4 when God told Moses to throw down his staff and it turned into a snake.
On Saturday night, the “previous generation” of worship leaders led in music, and Ayers preached a sermon referencing James and John mending their nets. “The nets will be mended when you follow Jesus. We want the nets to be mended and then follow Him.”
On Sunday, Ayers preached from Philippians 3 that “we need to look heavenward and press on toward the goal.”
Ayers said he is “realizing that God has just begun a work in our church. I believe the things that are coming are greater than the things we have seen.”
Ward said one man told him, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” Ward replied, “Neither have we.” Ward added that “God is really moving, especially among our teenagers.”
Ayers voiced his excitement by the work of God in young people at Hillview. “God is really impressing things on children. We have a group of 6-year-olds who went around (at Godstock) hugging people, telling them they were glad they got saved.” A teacher of young children at Hillvue told Ayers, “Pastor, I believe we are going to be all right. Those are going to be some real men in that group. I haven’t seen fire in people’s eyes like that in a long time, and it makes this old soul smile.”
Ayers said the weekend scene found multiple activities going on — from boats and golf scrambles, to a 5K run and children’s games. “There was something for everybody to be involved in. We had several thousand people show up during the weekend experience. There was a diversity of people — all different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and people from different countries. We had a couple drive from Florida to be baptized — they say Hillvue Heights is their church in Florida. They watch us online.”
“We had two hours of baptisms — and to see the body of Christ ministering is a beautiful thing as people bring their friends to Jesus,” Ayers observed.
After the first Godstock in 1993, when 12 baptisms were recorded, the church started doing t-shirts each year. During the weekend, Ayers and his wife, Elizabeth, were presented a quilt that consisted of 29 t-shirts from those years. It was made by the church’s prayer shawl ministry.
Ayers said he is looking for the Godstock impact to spread to other churches. “There seems to be an uptick of people responding to the gospel, and it seems to be across the board in Kentucky.” He voiced his appreciation for Todd Gray, KBC executive director-treasurer, who “has a heart for people and wants to speak into Kentucky Baptist churches. The heart for soul winners catches fire.”
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