Fulmer, Inky Johnson will speak in Milan

Former University of Tennessee head football coach Phillip Fulmer and former Vols player Inky Johnson will be in West Tennessee just in time for football season.

They won't be giving pep talks to a winning season or breaking down offensive line blocking schemes, but Chapel Hill Baptist Church senior pastor Dale Denning said their message will be more important.

"They'll come and tell us about what God is doing in their lives," Denning said. "And both of their messages are both powerful."

Fulmer and Johnson will speak at Chapel Hill on Aug. 15, the Saturday of the weekend preceding the beginning of high school football season in Tennessee.

Price of admission is $20, and that includes a dinner before the service during a time of tailgating in the parking lot before the event.

"I think we're doing the tailgating in a different way that's pretty cool," Denning said. "We'll have about 20 stations outside the church with each one representing one of our Sunday school classes and each one will be grilling something different – burgers, hot dogs, shrimp, wings, whatever.

"We want everybody to enjoy a time of food and fellowship before we go inside to listen to a couple of people we know talk about their relationships with God."

Denning said not many tickets remain for the event. The sanctuary at Chapel Hill holds about 1,000 people "and that's packing them in pretty good," Denning said. He then estimated about 200 tickets remain.

"Usually with these types of events, you might have a third of the tickets sold with two or three weeks to go before the event, and then a lot of the remainder will get sold right before the event," Denning said. "With a capacity of 1,000 we're planning on, we've nearly got the thing sold out with two months to go."

Nine West Tennessee high school football teams are signed up to go, most with churches within their area sponsoring them.

"We had a similar event like this last year at First Baptist Milan with the Bowdens, and it was nice to see all these teams who might meet and try to kill each other on Friday nights lining up to walk into church to worship together for one night," Denning said. "We want to have a night where we can honor God and worship Him and also reach out to the community and let them know we love them and want them to know Jesus Christ."

For more information, call Chapel Hill at 731-686-0414.

Brandon Shields, 425-9751