Ignite 09 Returns To Mars Hill College

A giant screen displays song lyrics while multi-colored lights whip around the auditorium.  Musicians dance and jump as they perform on electric guitars, drums and tambourines, while across the auditorium, young people dance and sway with the music while singing along at the tops of their voices.

It may not be the church you grew up with, but it is church, and with a serious message. 

Mars Hill College will be hosting the Ignite 09 event for the second year Feb. 27-28 at Moore Auditorium.  And as churches from around the region band together to plan and promote the event, organizers say that Ignite is a new way to reach a new generation with an old and unchanging story.

“It’s a Jesus thing, it’s not a denomination thing,” said Dr. Gordon Benton, who is the Director of Church and Community Relations for Mars Hill College, and one of the primary coordinators for Ignite.

According to Benton, churches cooperating to plan and coordinate the Ignite event at Mars Hill College cover four counties in western North Carolina, and include Baptist, Pentecostal, Methodist, Presbyterian and nondenominational churches, he said.  Mars Hill College is hosting the event free of charge. 

Benton said: “Ignite is a very exciting event, because it provides an opportunity to reach an area of four counties with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel never changes, but the methods that people respond to do change, and Ignite reaches out to young people in the language and music of their times.”

Ignite is a Christian revival service that is designed specifically for young people. 

Christian musical artists Carl Cartee and Leap of Faith are slated to perform this year, as they did last year.  Although their performances create a “rock concert” atmosphere, the lyrics of their songs emphasize biblical Christian faith.  Also part of the musical portion of the service will be performances by “3-D,” a quartet of dancers specializing in worship through creative movement.  At last year’s Ignite 08 event, 3-D was a hit with attendees, by creating amazingly moving performances to Christian music. Evangelist Clayton King, who specializes in a ministry to youth, usually preaches in a casual shirt and jeans.

Benton said: “People from a more traditional background may be uncomfortable at first with the Ignite approach.  But when you hear the lyrics of the music, when you feel the spirit of the worship and when you hear Clayton King preach, you know that this event is definitely about raising up the Christ of the Bible.  And He said if He were raised up, he would draw all men to Himself.”

Rev. Rusty Smart, a minister in the Church of God, agrees. “We have to reach people where they’re at,” said Smart. “We as Christians have to come together to win this generation.  These young people are at an age when they will be making decisions about what their lives will be, and we hope that Ignite will sow seeds of God’s love in those young lives.”

Planners of Ignite 09 at Mars Hill College plan to have a series of prayer services leading up to the event.  Also, Christian counselors are needed for both services.  Please contact Rev. Gordon Benton at 689-1276 for more information about being a counselor or about times and dates of prayer services.

Mars Hill College is a private, four-year liberal arts institution. Founded in 1856 by Baptist families of the region, the campus is located just 20 minutes north of Asheville in the mountains of western North Carolina. For more information visit http://www.mhc.edu  or call 866-MHC-4-YOU