MercyMe Headlines FCA This Weekend At VBC

HUNTSVILLE- The Northeast Alabama chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes will be the center point for hundreds of student-athletes and thousands more this weekend at the Von Braun Center as the organization’s special Friday-Saturday PLT Party (Power-Leadership-Training) will be held and will feature athletics, faith and music.

“This event is the largest in our history and our 50-member staff will be busy making sure everyone who attends will have their lives enriched through a ministry of their choice and share their passion with others,” said Ken Burnett, Multi-Area Director of the Northeast Alabama FCA. “We want to excite the kids and their families through the connection of spiritual togetherness.”

Student-athletes from North Alabama area schools will attend the two-day conference in a team huddle type atmosphere at numerous designated spiritual gatherings. On Saturday, inspirational speaker Neal Jeffrey will be on hand to share his knowledge and experiences of overcoming life’s severe obstacles.

Jeffrey, a former All-American quarterback at Baylor University and signal caller for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers, was a stutterer since childhood and found a way to overcome his disadvantage to achieve his lifelong dreams. He now acts as a motivational speaker across the country and is a minister at the 28-thousand member Preston Church of Dallas, Tex. where he has served for over a quarter of a century. He is an author of the book “If I Can, Y-Y-You Can!”

On Friday evening, the conference will open to the general public for a concert in the VBC Arena headlined by the award-winning, multi-million selling Christian music group MercyMe along with current music artist Andy Mineo.

The concert begins at 7:00 p.m. with tickets ranging $35-$150.

The musical extravaganza is being held in honor of Madison Wood formerly of Sardis High School who died in 2017 from a rare bone cancer she battled for two years. The former basketball player was in college when her life ended, but not before she asked her mother to lay in bed next to her and listen to the MercyMe song “Even If.”

“The song was powerful to the family and helped them deal with their grieving they experienced,” said Burnett. “Upon the family’s request, MercyMe was booked for this event. The group members heard of Wood’s story of faith and decided to help. The group members felt they needed to be here.”

MercyMe is best known for its No. 1 multi-million selling single “I Can Only Imagine” and being labeled as the No. 1 Artist of the Decade in Christian music. The five-man group from Greenville, Tex. and now based in nearby Nashville debuted on the national scene in 2001.

A representative of the group passed along a message from the group members, “They are certainly looking forward to the concert and assisting the FCA.”

The PTL Party is open to those registered with FCA, while the Friday night concert is open to the public. Details on tickets are available at www.northalabamafca.org or by contacting the VBC box office. The concert is expected to be a near sellout.