Angelina Burkholder | Echo
Sunday Night Community is returning after hiding away for a month. The Chapel Coordinators (CCs), Keith Cantrell, Maddy Trudeau, Eric Croft and Melvin Susanto, are excited to offer, once again, a great night of worship and fellowship to the student body.
"My personal hope is that everyone who comes to SNC will have their needs met, that we can provide a comfortable place of reflection and revitalization that students will use as a resource throughout the year," Trudeau said.
This year, Sunday Night Community looks a little different. After tossing around ideas with Randy Gruendyke, discussing among themselves and seeking out advice from Discipleship Coordinators, the CCs decided to offer Sunday Night Community once a month instead of every week.
"Our hope is that through providing a few specific dates for students to put on their calendars, everyone can plan ahead and look forward to coming together as a student body and enjoying God's presence corporately," Cantrell said.
The Chapel Coordinators each get the chance to plan a specific Sunday Night Community date, while the other three CCs work to carry out those plans.
"It involves a lot of prayer and brainstorming as we try to determine what will best benefit the community," Trudeau said.
Each Sunday Night Community service will feature a key speaker that students are interested in and wouldn't normally be featured in a chapel service. For example, last year one of the speakers was Larry Mealy from the Dining Commons. Along with a special speaker like Mealy, SNC will also include extended prayer and worship time.
"We want people to have extra space and time to reflect and take a deep breath," Cantrell said.
Although Sunday nights can be busy, they are generally more open than weeknights. Because of this, CCs hope to make Sunday Night Community a flexible time where students can get what they want. With the switch from weekly to monthly services, CCs hope more students will show up.
"Of course we would love it if everyone would come every time," Trudeau said. "But our purpose is to reach out to those students who need it."
Sunday Night Community is put together with a lot of thought and prayer. It's for students and it's meant to bring community together.
"It doesn't matter what dorm, club or major a student comes from-everyone can come to Sunday Night Community and leave refreshed," Cantrell said. "Students need to be refreshed at critical points throughout the semester, and we hope Sunday Night Community will be that 'breath of fresh air' for the Taylor campus."
The first Sunday Night Community will take place Sunday, Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. in Rediger Chapel.
