Colliding as a Christian Community
February 2, 2023
Every year at the end of February, teenagers from all across Rome come together, usually at West Rome Baptist Church, for Collide. Collide is a gathering for middle school and high schoolers all over Rome from different churches and backgrounds to come together to worship Jesus, learn more about him, and grow closer together as a community.” For leaders to prepare for Collide, every month of the year they meet with each other to discuss plans from a financial standpoint to who is going to speak.
Around 60 students from Armuchee High School attend this event every year. AHS Sophomores Taylor Burns and Sophie Thacker, who are both Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Huddle Leaders, have attended for the past two years. Thacker and Burns both said that Collide has changed their lives so much and has allowed them to grow closer to the Lord throughout these past few years. Another person who is involved at the school and attends Collide is Ryan Matherly, youth pastor at PVN who is also the Chaplin for the AHS Competition Cheer team.
Collide is surrounded around bringing students from all different backgrounds to worship the Lord without any worries about being judged. Matherly said, “We believe that doing events together inevitably fosters community. We also believe that the ethics and teachings of Christianity automatically lead to more humility, patience, and mercy when interacting with other people.”
Collide is something that teens look forward to each year. Maggie Dillard, a student at Armuchee High School, said, “I look forward to the music/worship time! feel so connected and it almost feels like a concert.” Funny memories are another thing that students look forward to each year. At PVN the students have a “game night” where they play hide and seek and complete a scavenger hunt around the whole church as a way to connect with the new students and to connect as a youth group in general. The students who attend are separated by middle and high school and then gender for small groups. Those small groups stay at a host home for the entire weekend. Thacker said, “One of the funniest memories from Collide was when one of my friends jumped in the pool in the middle of February when it was freezing cold.”
Collide makes lasting impressions on the teens who attend. Dillard said, “Going to Collide at least once in your life is so important whether you go to church or not!” Matherly also said, “I think it is a good brief look into what church life is like. That way students who are not familiar with a church can at least start to see what their friends who do go to church experience on a weekly basis.” Collide 2023 is on February 24th- February 26th at West Rome Baptist and promises a weekend full of changing lives. Thacker said, “I loved being able to grow closer with not only the girls in my group but also the Lord.”
