Campus Ministries will be hosting a series of online vespers, which will be streamed on southern.edu/streaming, in response to students returning home and classes moving online. The program will also be available on Southern’s Facebook and Instagram pages and will remain online for subsequent viewing by students in different time zones.
The first worship took place last Friday, March 20, and included an online discussion led by Ministry Coordinator and Admissions Counselor Ryan Becker. It also featured a sermon by Vice President for Spiritual Life Joseph Khabbaz, titled “Moving on From Empty.”
Associate Chaplain Anna Bennett said Campus Ministries is calling the worship style “living room worship” to reflect the reality of students’ experiences at home.
“Since Friday night Vespers is something that our campus family looks forward to every week, Pastor Joseph and I believe it is paramount to continue to worship as a campus family even though we’re currently more distant from one another,” Bennett said. “With so much uncertainty in the world right now, it’s our desire to connect with students to offer hope as we worship in music and hear an encouraging message. … We are a campus family that worships together and not even COVID-19 can stop us.”
Campus ministries will continue holding online vespers until the end of the semester. Bennet said students with ideas about what they wish to see on the program can email Campus Ministries at chaplain@southern.edu.