When Ministry Meets Sports: The Story Behind Central Gameday
When I began my role at Central Church in early 2022, I was stepping into a world that felt entirely new. I had never worked in a large evangelical church with a full team of support staff and an army of dedicated volunteers. As a part-time college pastor and cash-strapped church planter in previous seasons, “thinking big” was usually synonymous with “thinking cheaply.” Even so, I always loved dreaming up creative ways to do outreach.
As my first semester back in Collierville came to a close, I realized that Central did not have a post-summer, back-to-school event to launch the new ministry season. Most churches slow down during the summer months as families scatter for vacations, but ministry energy returns in August when children step back into classrooms and families settle into rhythms. As the adult ministry pastor, I envisioned a fun, family-centered gathering that would mark the beginning of discipleship classes, small groups, and fall programming for both adults and youth.
During those first few months, I began forming relationships across the church. One of the first people I connected with was Janet Crate. We met one afternoon in late spring at the Crosswalk—Central’s coffee shop—to brainstorm ideas for a back-to-school kickoff. Janet, who has a background in event planning, tossed out the idea of a Friday Night Lights-themed celebration.
If you’re unfamiliar with Collierville, TN, sports are woven into the fabric of the community. Nearly every child plays a sport, and nearly every family cheers passionately for a college team. You see evidence of this everywhere: team flags waving from porches, youth sports complexes packed with families tumbling out of three-row SUVs and minivans to watch another practice or game. When Janet and I talked about how central sports are to Collierville life, the idea clicked—we should celebrate that passion through a fall kickoff event.
Before long, the name “Central Gameday” emerged, and we started planning the very first one. My friend Joe Hearne designed a logo a few weeks later, giving this quirky idea a visual identity, and suddenly the whole concept began to feel real.
I would be remiss not to mention the deeper inspiration behind Gameday. While studying at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY, one of the highlights of the fall calendar was the annual Fall Festival each September. Every year featured a unique theme—Narnia, The Wizard of Oz, Baseball, World’s Fairs, Space, and more. Everything revolved around that theme, down to the smallest details. At my very first festival, the theme was Narnia, and guests literally walked through a handcrafted wardrobe to enter the event grounds. The evening’s main attraction varied each year—sometimes fireworks, other times a dramatic finish. That Narnia year, the finale was a Renaissance-style horseback jousting performance by a local knights cohort. It was unforgettable.
Those Louisville experiences planted the seeds for what eventually became Central Gameday. As the idea took shape, a few other creative and wonderfully talented individuals joined me and Janet—Angela Brunson and Heather Ebbs—to bring the concept to life. We had only two months to plan, and our list of ideas was… ambitious, to say the least. But the team’s enthusiasm made the impossible feel doable.
And that’s how the origin story of Central Gameday began—not with a committee meeting or a strategic plan, but with a simple conversation in a coffee shop, a shared love for creativity, and a desire to bless families as they enter a new ministry season.
