Flames team builds in faith and strength

 As Flames fans pour into Williams Stadium on fall Saturday afternoons and cheer on their favorite football players, one of the Flames critical ingredients to success is often overlooked as he paces up and down the sidelines. 

The Flames Director of Spiritual Development Ed Gomes is in his 18th year as a member of the Flames football staff. In his almost two decades with the team, Gomes has seen the program’s significant growth as well as the spiritual battles that come with exposure.

“The thing that wakes me up in the morning is to help our young men become intentional about their relationship with Christ and to help our football team,” Gomes said.

Gomes explained that he offers three different kinds of discipleship that are categorized by how interested the players are in pursuing their relationship with Christ.

“If (Liberty’s) recruiting you and you’re not a believer but you know what the clear-cut expectations are, and obviously there’s discussion among the coaches, we may say that God may use us in their lives for evangelism,” Gomes said. “We’ve had guys who have come to our football program and were led to Christ.”

 Gomes currently meets with 50 different players every week for half hour sessions, seeking to encourage the Flames football team to seek Christ first. 

“When you take guys, who are willing to take time to grow in their relationship with Christ, it has a way of changing the culture of a team,” Gomes said. “I’m encouraged by what God is doing but I’m not satisfied because we still have guys on our team who have spiritual needs.” 

The Flames football team is distinctly different from the majority of FBS schools because of their desire to care for their players spirituality. 

“I would say that what makes us unique is that obviously we have a Liberty University mission,” Gomes said. “But we also have a football vision, we have a football mission, we have core values and we have whole person development. And these are things Coach Gill uses to guide our program.” 

The Flames defeated Norfolk State 52-17 Saturday, Dec. 1, to finish the team’s first season of bowl eligibility with a 6-6 record. 

Due to the Flames schedule having them play two FCS schools the Flames had to finish with a 7-5 record to become bowl eligible. 

Gomes reminds fans that the Flames football team is about more than just winning football games — it’s about training Champions for Christ.