About Ignite
We're so glad you're here.
We are a ministry that brings people together by igniting their passions for their hobbies and faith. We would love to connect with you, hear your story, and share how we desire to make a difference in people’s lives.
Continue reading to learn more about Ignite’s mission and vision.
We believe in igniting the passion within every individual, pointing them to Christ, and helping them discover their purpose so that they can positively impact their communities.
Our Mission
External Mission Statement: Our mission is to ignite the fire within individuals, empower them to pursue their hobbies and faith, and foster belonging and purpose through Ignite community.
Internal Mission Statement:
Our mission is to point young and early adults to Jesus Christ through their hobbies and a community of people with similar interests.
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Our mission is accomplished through hosting recurring events centered around food, Bible discussions, and a specific hobby. Together, these three essentials create community, foster spiritual growth, and help people grow in their relationships with Jesus.
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With eternity in mind, we hope to help young adults develop a life-long relationship with Christ. We connect them to local churches, local small groups, community building events outside of Ignite, and a real-world support system. Ignite gatherings include small-group breakout sessions and conversations to encourage meaningful relationships.
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Our Vision
Our vision is a community where people are united through their passions, and individuals are inspired to live out their faith in a meaningful and impactful way.
Statement Of Faith
Article I
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the final and supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
Article II
In the Scriptures, God reveals Himself as the living and true God, Creator of all things. Perfect in love and righteous in all His ways, this one God exists eternally as a Trinity of persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Article III
God made man and woman in His image that He might have fellowship with us. Being estranged from God by our disobedience, we are, as sinful people, incapable of a right relationship to God apart from divine grace.
Article IV
The only Mediator between God and all human beings is Jesus Christ our Lord, God's eternal Son, who as man fully shared and fulfilled our humanity in a life of perfect obedience.
Article V
By His death in our place, Jesus revealed the divine love and upheld divine justice, removing our guilt and reconciling us to God. Having risen bodily from the dead and ascended into heaven, He rules as Lord over all and intercedes for us as our Great High Priest.
Article VI
The Holy Spirit, through the proclamation of the Gospel, renews our hearts, persuading us to repent of our sins and confess Jesus as Lord. By the same Spirit we are led to trust in divine mercy, whereby we are forgiven all our sins, justified by faith through the merit of Christ our Savior, adopted into God's family as His children and enabled so to live in the world that all people may see our good works and the Gospel of grace at work in our lives and glorify our Father who is in heaven.
Article VII
God, by His Word and Spirit, calls us as sinful people into the fellowship of Christ's body. Thus He creates the one holy, catholic and apostolic church, united in the bonds of love, endowed with the gifts of the Spirit and summoned by Christ to preach the Gospel and to administer the sacraments, to carry on the ministry of reconciliation, to relieve human need and to strive for social justice.
Article VIII
God's redemptive purpose will be consummated by the return of Christ to raise the dead, judge all people and establish His glorious kingdom. Those who are apart from Christ shall be eternally separated from God's presence, but the redeemed shall live and reign with Him forever.
History
Ignite began in the fall of 2023 as Aaron, Erin, Ben, and Jeff regularly met up with others in their local dance community for holiday-related gatherings.
During this time, two things became evident:
1. Our community was filled with many like-minded believers. Though we frequently broke bread together, we never broken opened the Bible together.
2. Many non-believers in our community needed to hear the Good News of the Gospel, and many believers and non-believers all carried deep hurts.
Further, we noticed that many people dance or participate in other hobbies to find healing and overcome trauma.
Over the next several months, we asked ourselves this question: how could we create a regular gathering place for both believers and non-believers that genuinely welcoming, 100% Biblical, and makes a real, positive change for the Kingdom of God in the world?
We reflected on the pros and cons of ALL types of gatherings we had been a part of as Christians to create something that included the best of small-group experiences while eliminating barriers for new or non-believers.
From there, Ignite was born!
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We launched the first Ignite in January of 2024 and it was such a hit that we soon switched to weekly gatherings. By fall of 2024, many wanted to know how to start Ignite in their own community or focus around other hobbies.
People are hungry for relationships and spaces to lean into their passions. We hope to meet this need through Ignite pointing people to Christ along the way.
Thanks for being here.
Meet the heart behind our heart
Aaron Slyvia
Director Of People Managment
Loving father of two girl, a teacher by day, an assistant principal, and a deacon of his church. Aaron has servied for many years prior as a yourth pastor.
Jeff Smith
Director Of Partnership Development
Jeff is a Christ follower with a passion to see people come to know Christ as their Savior. He is a high school teacher and coach and a father of 3. Jeff can be a both a soft spoken and outspoken man of God who has heart and talent for meeting people where they are at.
Benjamin McQuire
Director of Communications
Benjamin, an amazing father one wonderful son. Huge part of his home church, former streat evangalist. This guys has a big heart for Jesus that he cant help but share.
Erin Wischmann
President of Operations
Erin is an adoptive father to one little boy who isnt so littel anymore. Life long entrepeneur and believer since 3rd grade. Erin brings the business acumen and his fair share of passion to the team.