Source: The Denver Rocky Mountain News

On December 25, 1999, the Denver Rocky Mountain News published an article on conversions to Christianity as the year 2000 approaches. At Trinity United Methodist Church in downtown Denver, more than 30 baptisms were performed on one Sunday this month. St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Englewood, Colorado has welcomed 630 new members since January 1999. The Next Level Church of Wheat Ridge, which is geared to young adults, has grown from a congregation of 700 to 1800 in two years. The First Spanish Assemblies of God drew 2600 teens and young adults to their recent annual convention, five times more than last year. Denver has seen a population growth in the past year, and the pastors see an unprecedented enthusiasm in these new believers. Rev. Leon Emerson, whose Now Faith Christian Center in Montbello is drawing approximately 200 more people now than in the summer, stated: "I see a greater hunger for reality, a relationship. People are seeing they can't depend on themselves." Millennial concerns are fueling many of the new converts. Rev. Drew Stephens, associate pastor at Riverside Baptist Church in Denver, recalled one recent convert: "We had one guy give his life to Christ who said, 'Hey, Y2K's coming and I need to get this taken care of.' Hopefully, if Y2K comes to nothing, he won't change his mind." Robert Rowe, a 26-year-old recent convert to Christianity, had a religious experience while reading the Book of Revelation: "We were reading to find out what was going to happen to the world...We were reading about the plagues and discussing how bad the world is." All of a sudden, Rowe stated, "God reached out and touched my heart and said, 'Follow me.'"