Editor’s Note: On Friday, February 7, five BRN churches (in each of our regions) hosted Night to Shine, an unforgettable prom night experience, centered on God’s love, for people with special needs ages 14 and older. Each of the stories from Calvary Church in Boalsburg, Pa.; Catalyst Church Altoona; Riverbend Community Church in Allentown, Pa.; Ridgeline Community Church in Telford, Pa., and The Church of The Good Shepherd- Cherry Hill, N.J., are featured in a series of articles.
TELFORD, Pa. — Each year, the Tim Tebow Foundation partners with local churches to throw a prom night for people with special needs ages fourteen and older. Now in its sixth year, over 700 hundred churches across the country hosted Night to Shine on February 7 impacting 115,000 individuals with special needs. One of the hosting churches for the last four years was Ridgeline Community Church in Souderton. Gibson Largent, the pastor of Ridgeline, took some time to talk to me about his church’s involvement in Night to Shine and the opportunity for more churches to get involved.
Gibson explained that the first year they had signed up to host a Night to Shine event, but had not heard anything until twenty days before the event, when they were contacted and told that another church in their area had agreed to do it, but had been forced to back out at the last minute. They had twenty days to gets things ready for 120 special guests and hundreds of volunteers!
I asked Gibson what attracted him to Night to Shine, and he explained it was a result of really exploring and learning his community. He discovered when he founded Ridgeline as a church plant that there was a dense pocket of special needs people with little or no attention being given to them. Gibson and his core team saw Night to Shine as a way to serve and reach this neglected people group and their families.
This year Ridgeline worked together with five other local Bible believing churches to put on the event, hosted at a local church called Emmanuel Leidy’s Church.
“When we cooperate, it strengthens all of us,” Gibson shared. The event takes a ton of manpower and resources and can wipe out a small church emotionally.
Easter is right around the corner, Gibson confided, and taking this on can mean giving up the idea of a big Easter outreach. That is why he thinks sharing the burden between several churches is the best way to go.
He also feels Night to Shine creates a powerful opportunity for the gospel. Each year, he has taken a few minutes to share the gospel with the hundreds of volunteers who attend and make the event possible.
“People get to see the gospel on display, before I share the gospel,” he explained. One of his favorite stories is from last year, a teenager who had gotten in trouble with the law was sentenced by a local judge to volunteer at the event. His church loved her so well, and she was so moved by the event that she still attends Ridgeline and continues to journey toward a life-changing encounter with Jesus, and she is back again to volunteer of her own accord this year!
Gibson also loves seeing the community come around the idea of Night to Shine. Dozens of businesses donate free services, and many corporations plan to have their employees use their volunteer hours during Night to Shine each year. “The special needs community is hungry for people who value them,” he shared. “A massive need like that rallies a community!”
Gibson explains that the community is forever changed by seeing an 85-year-old special needs man who has never been to the prom dancing his heart out. He says he encounters people all the time who say they literally cannot stop smiling months after the event, because it is so beautiful and so full of joy. He feels like this kind of event builds gospel influence in a community for a church.
As I arrived at Emmanuel Leidy’s Church just as volunteers were checking in, I was struck by just the sheer number of volunteers and the variety of them as well. People from all walks of life were gathering together for a shared mission to make people often overlooked feel special. The other thing that struck me, is how complicated it must be to keep all this organized.
As overwhelming as it might be to imagine hosting a Night to Shine, Gibson says it is easily worth the cost and the challenges. The Tim Tebow foundation provides a comprehensive guide to running the event and provides grants to help financially underwrite the cost until your community buys into the vision and can help support the event financially. After years of hosting the event, community partners are happy to donate shoeshines, makeup, and photography to Ridgeline and their fellow churches.
Gibson agrees that we need more churches getting involved. Registration was maxed out within three days of opening the event this year, showing the demand for this far exceeds the supply. Gibson again stressed the incredible gospel opportunities that an event like this provides. People are open to hear the message of the church, when they see the church loving in a powerful manner like they do at Night to Shine!
