By Stephen Milligan – the Walton Tribune
Event to offer free music, speakers at Fairgrounds in Monroe
Chris Conner wants it understood from the very start, this story is not about him.
Conner might be spearheading the organization of the ever-growing religious revival event, the Festival of Hope, coming to Monroe next week, but he said he’s just one lone foot soldier in a vast array of men and women striving to make the crusade a major success in every way.
But Conner, a minister who has pastored at local churches and currently conducts outreach on behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention, did help get the ball rolling, with a bit of help from the Almighty.
“The Lord started to burden me about the community,” Conner said. “I wanted to bring something to bring people an event that brings hope to the community.”
So Conner began to reach out to local pastors about organizing a multi-evening revival, with musical guests and speakers to spread the word of God to all who would hear it.
It quickly grew far beyond what Conner had originally envisioned.
“I would mention it to a friend somewhere and he’d tell everyone, so suddenly we were getting volunteers from as far as Elbert County and farther,” Conner said. “It just kept growing. We currently have volunteers from 80 different churches, some nearby like Walton, Newton, Barrow, Gwinnett and Jackson, but others extending into metro Atlanta and beyond. We have all different denominations involved.”
And it’s brought a number of guests and musical talent, including several American Idol contestants and winners, such as Colton Dixon, Jamal Roberts and Jordan McCullough, Grammy-award winners like Juan and Melodee Devevo, of Casting Crowns, and Grammy and Dove winner Mac Powell, formerly of Third Day.
It’s basically a different concert every night, Conner said, and, at his insistence, it comes at no cost to those attending the event each night.
“It’s free,” Conner said. “Concerts have gotten so expensive these days. We wanted to bring something to families here they could afford.”
While the primary speaker each night will be Doug Elks, with the Billy Graham Association, Conner said they’d also have others speaking each night to bring messages of hope, including University of Georiga basketball player Marcus “Smurf” Millender, Miss Georgia 2025 Audra Kittila and Tony Nolan, who Conner noted had an especially powerful story of survival and overcoming.
Conner said they were also hoping to bring in young people and, to help with that cause, were offering a free car giveaway for a 2022 Ford Escape.
“Each night young people from sixth to 12th grade can come get a ticket,” Conner said. “And on Wednesday night we’ll draw the winner, as long as they make sure to be in attendance that Wednesday.”
The Festival of Hope will run each night at 7 p.m. from Sunday, Sept. 20, through Wednesday, Sept. 23, at the American Legion Fairgrounds on Church Street in Monroe. Conner said those attending the event were encouraged to bring lawn chairs for the outdoor event, and said they had leased extra land across the street to try and provide as much parking as possible.
Now, as Conner and the army of volunteers polish off the last details before the event kicks off Sunday night, he said all they can do is wait and see who comes.
“We’re just going to trust the Lord to bring people in,” Conner said.
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