PLAIN TWP. — Tim Tebow and Brian Dawkins are featured speakers at the Ignite Men’s Impact Weekend at First Christian Church.
The event will be held at the First Christian’s main campus at 6900 Market Ave. N., just east of North Canton in the Washington Square area. Sessions begin at 7 p.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
Tebow won a Heisman Trophy at Florida, which secured two national championships when he was a quarterback there. He was a first-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos in 2010, when former Canton McKinley quarterback Josh McDaniels was head coach.
Dawkins’ played safety for the Philadelphia Eagles and was a Denver teammate of Tebow in a career that that earned him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018.
Both are known for sharing Christian testimony, which will be a theme of the talks in the Ignite conference. Those wishing to attend can visit the event website. Advance registration is encouraged, but admission can be arranged beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday in the First Christian lobby.
Event host is Ignite president Zach Clinton, an officer with the American Association of Christian counselors. Outlining the purpose of the conference, he writes:
“At Ignite, we believe men weren’t designed to walk life alone. In a culture filled with distraction, pain, and pressure, men are longing for purpose, connection, courage, truth, and freedom. That’s why we created something different — not just another event, but a weekend that helps men align their everyday passions with God’s eternal purpose.”
Other scheduled speakers are Chad Robichaux, a former Force Recon Marine and MMA champion; Joshua Broome, who authored “Seven Lies That Will Ruin Your Life, What My Journey From Porn Star to Preacher Taught Me About the Truth That Sets Us Free;” Zach Browsher, a worship leader from Lynchburg, Virginia, where Ignite is based, and Matt Chewning, lead pastor at Netcast Church, which launched in 2011 with a mission of planting 100 churches in the Boston region.
Ignite has conducted conferences at Liberty University in Lynchburg, including a recent session featuring Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy and Ohio State/Washington Commanders receiving star Terry McLaurin.
This will be the first Ignite conference outside Lynchburg. First Christian Pastor Jimmy McCloud began a conversation with Ignite after one of the women’s conferences his church has hosted in recent years.
Ignite is handling most of the production work.
“Our hope is that we’ll see a lot of people inviting friends,” McLoud said. “We’re going to see fathers bringing their sons, guys bringing friends and co-workers. Hopefully we’ll pack the place out pretty well.
“I think they just thought, hey, this is a football town. Tim Tebow and Brian Dawkins are football guys. They went for it.
“Tim Tebow is very well known for using his platform for sharing his faith. We’re excited to have him here so that hopefully some of our guys can hear him and be challenged by his message, but also, hopefully, a bunch of people from our community can hear that as well.”
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton First Christian Church hosts conference featuring Tim Tebow
Reporting by Steve Doerschuk, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Steve Doerschuk, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
