All Campus Worship unifies campus Christian groups
November 15, 2004
Nearly 2,000 University students of several denominations spent their Friday night at Foellinger Auditorium worshipping together in All Campus Worship, an event co-sponsored by several religious student organizations.
The worship included prayer sessions and songs led by students playing drums, guitars and a saxophone.
Graduate student Clint Wilson, treasurer of the Evangelical Christian Union, said that while everyone is welcome, a number of Christian churches and denominations were represented at the event.
“We expect to see 1,750 students or so (the capacity of the auditorium),” Wilson said before the event. “We’ve been able to fill up Foellinger for a long time.”
University alumnus Felix Bunn, a member of Excel Campus Ministry, has been coming to the event for several years. He said he believes All Campus Worship is becoming bigger each year.
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“The first time I came there was still room in seats. Now there are people sitting on the floor,” Bunn said.
Members of religious and faith-based campus organizations who attended said the event encouraged all the groups to work collectively.
“When (the denominations) come together, there is a sense that everyone is on the same page,” Bunn said.
Aside from encouraging and energizing the students in their faith, Wilson said he finds All Campus Worship to be an educational experience.
“We have a top-flight speaker who applies the Old Testament to the morals and ethics of today,” Wilson added.
Rev. Chris Wright, international ministries director for Langham Partnership International, was the main speaker at the event. While the Cambridge graduate doesn’t usually speak to college-aged students, he said he enjoyed the experience and liked the idea of bringing people together for a common purpose.
“Students definitely have more noise and enthusiasm,” Wright said. “I wanted to get people to see that living as a Christian is more than cultural religion.”
Holly Vanderheyden, junior in ACES, said she agreed that faith as a lifestyle rather than a religion. Vanderheyden is a part of Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU), a non-denominational organization on campus that headed All Campus Worship this semester.
Vanderheyden said about 400 students per week attend CRU meetings.
“I feel like there’s been turnaround on the University recently. (Campus faith) is not the dead-end religion students saw with their parents,” Vanderheyden said. “You can tell how students live their life that they are searching for deeper meaning. People are looking for something that sets them apart.”
Bunn said events such as All Campus Worship can spark interest for people who are new to the idea of faith and religion.
Closing out the night with a little more music and clapping, one leader added, “that’s a little taste of heaven right there.”