Ignite kicked off the new school year Monday night with a packed house inside the University Recreation Center.
According to the Ignite website, “Ignite is a weekly gathering of individuals who desire to unite in the worship of one God under the same roof.”
The student-led ministry meets Monday nights at 9 p.m. at different locations on campus.
Ignite President Riley Kiltz said the “goals are to really reach out to our community and emphasize a family oriented atmosphere where students are connected to other believers on campus.”
Ignite started with a group of 11 students a year-and-a-half ago that felt the TCU community needed a place to come together to worship Christ, according to the Ignite website.
TCU alumnus Andy Dalton was one of the 11 students who helped found Ignite, Kiltz said. He also came up with the name “Ignite.”.
“[Dalton] is a really great guy and an awesome person to have on our team,” Kiltz said. Dalton has continued his interest and involvement with Ignite as an alumnus.
Kiltz has also been with Ignite since day one and has watched it grow. Kiltz said last year was very successful for the first full year and attendance varied anywhere from 300 to 700 people.
Ignite Director of Community Relations Ciara O’Modhrain said it is important for students to know that as exciting as it is to have 700 students attend, numbers do not matter.
“It is the quality of the service that we strive for,” O’Modhrain said.
Ignite is open to all students regardless of their faith. “‘Come as you are’ is our slogan, and we mean it,” O’Modhrain said.
There are many different branches of campus, and Ignite tries to be a force for unity among different groups and organizations, O’Modhrain said.
Ignite has several ways to get involved from a leadership team of 14 students to a team of greeters who make sure that everyone attending Ignite feels welcome, Kiltz said.
Junior strategic communication major Dru McIlhenny is a regular Ignite attendee. She said it is “cool to see everybody come together from all of these different places and that there are so many believers here, and to have an outlet to come together and worship together.”
Ignite started out strong from the beginning, which is something so neat about it, McIlhenny said.
Ignite services begin and end with worship songs from The Matt Wheeler Band, and the weekly scriptural readings are from Dallas Pastor Matt Larsen, O’Modhrain said.
Ignite will be hosting an event Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. on the sand volleyball courts next to the Rec Center. The event is called WOW, which stands for watermelon, Otter Pops and water, all of which will be free to students, O’Modhrain said.
There will be no Ignite service on Monday, Sept. 5 due to the Labor Day holiday. The next service will be on Monday, Sept. 12 at 9 p.m. in the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
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