After a morning of nearly freezing temperatures, a group of students completed a 24-hour worship session at Rudder Fountain Plaza.
Heart of Worship held from 8 p.m. Monday to 8 p.m. Tuesday was organized by students who played music to worship Jesus Christ. The students encouraged others to join in public worship, professed the Christian faith and took prayer requests.
Its what God calls us to do, said Brandon Shirk, freshman business administration major. Its a way that we grow in faith and sharpen other believers in Christ.
Jack Stephenson, junior university studies major, and his collaborator Conner Wright, junior information and operations management major put the event together. The two were inspired to organize the event after witnessing a 72-hour complete Bible reading.
I think it is good just to publically declare your faith, Stephenson said. We have the ability to worship openly on campus and so we want to take advantage of that.
Stephenson said the appeal of the event lies in its simplicity, explaining that during some of the larger-scale worship concerts the event becomes more about the participants experience than about the worship. Heart of Worship aimed to make worship the primary focus by keeping the experience simple but uplifting.
Proclaiming your faith in public is a hard thing to do, said Thai Ho, freshman biomedical sciences major. The ability to do that is one of the greatest forms of worship.
Students were given the opportunity to sign up as worship leaders and perform during the event. The performances lasted from 30 minutes to an hour while other students interacted with passers-by.
We have experienced joy in Christ and we cannot help but to worship him, Stephenson said. Its this overflow of joy we have in having a relationship with him and it has presented a lot of opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people.