November 2, 2024

California Baptist University filled Magnolia Church across the street last Wednesday, Oct. 2, for Worship Night hosted by the school’s Spiritual Life program.

The evening began slowly as students arrived and found seats for a night of worship.

The night started with music and, to the surprise of some students, a slower song. Faith Rogers, junior business administration and philosophy double major, expressed the uniqueness of the event.

“They started off with a slower song,” Rogers said. “I wasn’t expecting that, but I thought it was a really unique way for us to calm our hearts and jump right into the night, which was really wonderful.”

As the evening continued, students worshiped while Spiritual Life leaders occasionally came on stage to read scripture.

Ella Hodson, junior early childhood studies major, shared her love for worship nights.

“I absolutely loved it. The worship was incredible. I love what Elsa is doing and how they’re implementing more worship nights than just one per semester like they used to. It was a great night of community,” Hodson said. “It was a great way to take a step back, relax and be in an environment with other believers.”

This relaxing environment for students to come and worship will now be offered more frequently. Daisy Marmion, a discipleship staff member from Spiritual Life, said, “We are planning to have three worship nights per semester, which is more than before because we haven’t put them on regularly in the past.”

Students attending the event at Magnolia Church had the opportunity to sing and worship alongside their peers.

“It was really special that we have such a good community,” Hodson said.

The night ended on a high note as the worship team closed with the song “I Thank God,” an upbeat song that had students clapping and dancing while worshiping.

Rogers noticed several people in the crowd who likely had experience in worship leadership or camp ministry.

“You could see the people who worked at a church or a camp, or were plugged into worship in their own lives. They were jumping around and doing the classic turnarounds during the song,” Rogers said. “It just felt so jubilant and free—we were all feeling the joy of the Lord. That really touched my heart.”

Worship Night provided a calming and relaxing space for students, and Brian Zunigha, shortly after the event, announced that CBU’s worship nights would soon be open to the public.

Marmion spoke about CBU Spiritual Life’s hopes for students who attend the worship nights.

“The hope for this time is simply to worship God as a community. It has been such a sweet and fun time to do this together and hear everyone singing praise to God. We also hope people will connect with each other and with the Spiritual Life staff to keep growing together,” Marmion said.

CBU’s worship nights set the tone for students gathering to worship the Lord and provide a place for them to come together under one roof for one purpose.

“Knowing we can meet in that place and knowing we’re there for the common purpose of wanting to grow with the Lord and humble ourselves before God in worship,” Rogers said.

The night came to a close for the SL worship night at Magnolia Church, and students exited the church to carry on for the end of their week. There will be more opportunities to attend SL worship nights during the fall semester as 2 more will be offered later on.

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