You can count on Pastor Keion, founder and senior pastor of The Lighthouse Church and Ministries (TLHC), and his wife, Lady Shaunie Henderson, to get honest about the importance of fostering connection through faith. With intentions of serving their community and beyond, they’ve announced the return of the third annual Cry Out Conference, commonly known as Cry Out Con, May 1-3 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.
This year’s conference theme, “A.I. All In,” continues the transformative work at the root of Cry Out Con, as it emphasizes the mastery of innovation as a tool for personal, spiritual, and financial progress. The multi-day event features life-changing keynote addresses, dynamic breakout sessions for men and women, fellowship, and can’t-miss musical performances. But more importantly, the conference attendees can expect thought-provoking conversations and teachings, spiritual renewal, and groundbreaking insights on emotional, spiritual, and financial growth.
The event provides opportunities for personal reflection, growth, and connection with like-minded individuals, blending culture and faith to create a healing and transformative experience, which is needed given the state of the world today. Another critical aspect of the conference is holding space for people to become more tuned in to their emotions, as the Cry Out Conference is dedicated to fostering a practice of surrender and submission, which will guide attendees on a revolutionary journey of healing and restoration, through three pillars that fortify The Lighthouse Church and Ministries: faith, courage, and wisdom, and the desire to help others establish inner strength and discover their God-given gifts, purpose, and talents.
We spoke to Pastor Keion and Lady Shaunie Henderson about what guests can expect from the Cry Out Conference, how we can all heal collectively, and the importance of addressing and resolving church hurt.
ESSENCE: What gave you all the idea to create the Cry Out Con?
Pastor Keion Henderson: I wish that story were exciting, but it’s a little traumatic. Several years ago, I had just gone through a divorce, and my first time speaking anywhere would be in Chicago, Illinois, for a pastor. I had to preach. No one knew that I was going through a divorce. So, I thought my life would be over if anyone figured it out. As a pastor, you don’t want to get a divorce, and people don’t like it for you. So I thought this was the beginning of the end, and I was sitting in the audience, afraid that if the pastor knew that I had gone through it, he would disinvite me, or this was my last time preaching in the public arena. He had gone on the stage, and with tears in my eyes, I was sitting next to the musician who was with me at the time, and he said, “I don’t care what you’re going through. God loves you. Your only responsibility is to cry out.”
And when he said it, tears jumped out of my eyes, and I took my cell phone out and said, “That’s it. That’s the idea.” At that very moment, I knew that God had shifted the conference in a different direction. So, I switched the name to “Cry Out.” And so it was birthed out of pain. That’s why folks going through similar things in their lives are drawn to the movement, especially with all of the things that are going on in America. People are drawn to this conference because it’s built for people trying to get from them now to their next.
Sometimes, in our community, we are not encouraged to express our feelings outwardly. How can this gathering help with that?
It’s a place where you can come and be vulnerable. That’s the essence, the genesis of the movement, that you can come as you are, but you don’t have to leave like you came.
What can attendees expect to experience at Cry Out Con?
You can expect vulnerability in the atmosphere, so you won’t have to feel like you’re the only one. I can guarantee you that you can expect victory because we’re coming in together, but we’re also going to attempt to come out together as best we can. There are fires in all of these folks’ lives that will be in attendance. If you’re coming from the East Coast, they’re escaping a blizzard. If you’re coming from the West Coast, they’re escaping a fire. If you’re coming from down here, the South, you may see snow. So, physically and spiritually, folks feel like they’re under attack. Currently, there’s a disagreement with politics, religion, and the ecosystem.
If you’re emotional, we’ve got something for that. If you’re struggling with your finances, we’ve got something for that. If you’re struggling in your mental health, we’ve got something for that. If you’re struggling to understand political leaders’ decisions, we’ve got something for that. If you want to cry, we’ve got moments for that. If you need a word from God, we’ve got something for that. If you want to have fun and get away and escape from the ups and downs of everyday life, we’ve got something for that. So, my wife and I have tried our best to curate a holistic conference where you can bring your whole self. You don’t have to fake; you don’t have to leave any part of you at home. You can bring it all down, lay it at the conference, and get what you need so that you can continue to live your life at an exceptional level.
Lately, I’ve been praying to God for renewal. It seems as if the entire world needs healing and connection. Could you please give tips on how we can participate in collective healing at home?
Pastor Henderson: The key to life is living within the balance and ensuring that you have different benchmarks for treating your fellow man. What do you do when people are in need? How do you respond to crises? You got you’ve got to be balanced, and you’ve got to pray, and you got to read the Word, and if you don’t have all of that, you’ve at least got to be around people who do so that way you can ascertain energy from them until you find out what you can do. You must surround yourself with the right people to have the right thoughts.
Lady Shaunie Henderson: I also think that a piece of that is self-awareness, right? Because you have to remain aware of your actions and your responsibility to society, to work for the world, and how you respond to situations matters. My husband touched on this, but if I can do my part of being a better person and contributing my best self every day, then I am a part of healing collectively.
Many younger people are dealing with church hurt and have a hard time trusting the church with their feelings, shortcomings, and intimate secrets. How are you all fostering a trusted community?
So we’re aware of that, and that’s something that we build towards every day. We have leadership training with all of our staff and some of our volunteers called “How to lead at Lighthouse,” it is a lesson on being emotionally stable as a leader so that you can be a place of stability for folks who feel disenfranchised. The other thing we teach our leaders is you can’t take it personally, right? If somebody has a bad experience with a police officer, they will think something about an entire unit. If somebody has a bad experience at a restaurant, they’re not thinking about the particular chef or the particular waitress; it’s the entire restaurant. So we understand that there are some battles that we have to fight that we didn’t cause. So we start internally, ensuring that the folks we deploy out understand that you can’t take this personally and that you are a shoulder for somebody to lean on. That you are you are that person designated to wipe those tears away, to speak well, even in dire circumstances.
What are you hoping attendees gain from attending Cry Out Con?
We hope they gain trust in the institution of religion and the church. My wife always talks about the tools you put in your toolbox. We want to give them enough tools to adjust and work on their life outside of the three days of the conference. That’s the goal: to empower you to fix things on your own past three days and not necessarily need to be in a high-octane environment to feel good about yourself. We want to inspire people to create their joy and happiness through tools, whether it’s meditation, prayer, fasting, or whether it’s changing the folks you hang around with and changing what you listen to, what you watch, what you read, you know you’re in charge of your ear, gate, eye, gate, mouth gate, your soul. You’re in charge of what you let in. We plan to give people enough tools to help them build intentional relationships.