Life Community Church will host the 2024 Night to Shine on February 9th at the Owensboro Convention Center. The Tim Tebow Foundation sponsors the unforgettable prom night experience, celebrating individuals with special needs.
Churches from all over the world host the event simultaneously. Local organizer, Kerri Booker said Life Community is excited to participate in the movement “that God is using to change how cultures embrace people with disabilities and to rally the church worldwide to honor their local community of people with special needs, ensuring they know they are valued and loved.”
The event is complimentary and features a red carpet entrance with a friendly crowd and paparazzi, hair and makeup stations, limousine rides, corsages and boutonnieres, catered dinners, dancing, karaoke, gifts, a respite room for parents and caregivers, a sensory room, and a crowning ceremony.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the event globally and 7 years locally. The effort spans 56 countries, hundreds of churches, and over half a million guest experiences.
“I’m so excited that we will celebrate 10 years of Night to Shine this coming year,” said Tim Tebow. “ All around the world, people with special needs are going to be cheered for on the red carpet, dance the night away with their friends, be crowned a king or a queen of the prom… but most importantly, they’re going to hear that the God of this universe loves them.
“We continue to be in awe of all God has done over the past nine years, but we believe He has even more in store. Every town, every village, every nation needs Night to Shine because we want every person with special needs to know that they are one of one, created in love, by love, and for love.”
Guest registration is currently at capacity with a waiting list. Life Community is seeking additional volunteers and community funds to allow more honored guests an opportunity to attend the 2024 Night to Shine.
In partnership with the Daviess-McLean Baptist Association and the Kentucky Baptist Convention, Buck Creek Baptist Church planted the seeds for Life Community Church in the 2010s. It became an autonomous Southern Baptist Church in 2014 and relocated to the historical Hall Street Baptist Church on Hall Street in 2016.
“We are thrilled to be hosting Night to Shine again this year,” lead pastor Michael Edwards said. “Night to Shine is a great opportunity for us to serve so many people some regard as insignificant in our world. But this event speaks to the heart of who we are as a church: everyone matters. Night to Shine is an outstanding way to put our hands and feet on that belief. Everyone matters to God, and everyone matters to us.”
With only 5-10% of the funds for the event coming from the foundation, Booker said their most significant need is additional business sponsorships.
“To accommodate more guests, we must have the funding to expand the event size and have enough volunteers to serve at the event,” Booker said. “We have been blessed with many people willing to volunteer this year, but we definitely won’t turn anyone away.”
Volunteer registration remains open, with training sessions beginning this week. To register to volunteer, visit the Night to Shine Facebook page here. To contribute financially, email Booker at [email protected].
