Church At the Dome

by Danny · September 23, 2025

There are days I’ll never forget, and Sunday was one of them.

Our church gathered for two services at the Dean E. Smith Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, affectionately known as the Dean Dome. Over the course of the day we saw over 21,000 in attendance, more than a thousand volunteers, and – most importantly – 376 people who made their salvation public through the step of baptism.

Events like this don’t just magically happen. We had one of our shortest runways for our largest event ever. There were agreements to be made and details to iron out and volunteers to recruit and unfamiliar facilities to get familiarized with and transport plans to be made and what felt like 4,000 last-minute requests to either figure out the “yes” or how to break the “no.”

There’s a phrase that runs through my head every time a project like this is carried across the finish line: I love what I get to do, and I love who I get to do it with. I have the unique opportunity and blessing to serve alongside some of the most talented people who have ever shunned a spotlight. Most of them you’ll never see and you might never recognize their presence, but my goodness: you’d take immediate notice if they weren’t there. I’m convinced that with two weeks and a shared Google Doc, this little crew could successfully take over a small country (and provide tasty snacks while doing so).

Today, I’m reflecting on just how good God was to us on Sunday: not because of attendance numbers. Not because of an event where ~~all~~ most of the Asana tasks were checked off. But because we got to have a front-row seat to see people meet Jesus for the very first time.

One of my favorite moments of the day: a concession vendor (not one of our volunteers, but an employee of UNC who was working the event) yelled at one of our “orange shirt” volunteers across the concourse. “Hey! Hold up.” He then looked at he coworker and said, “If [manager’s name] comes by tell him I just listened to that entire sermon and I’m gonna go talk to someone about getting baptized. I’ll be back.”

That and dozens of other stories continue to pour in. God be praised.

Enjoy a few photos from the day, and if you’re so inclined, you can watch the service here.