Written by: Amy Mejias
On Jan. 4, Southern Adventist University students received an email from Joseph Khabbaz, vice president for Spiritual Life, stating that two Vespers services will now be offered each Friday night.
This change marks the first time Southern has offered two Vespers services, Khabbaz told the Accent. It also marks a return of the service to the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists.
The first Vespers service will be from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and the second will be from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Both services will be held in the church.
For most of last semester, Vespers took place in Iles P.E. Center due to the high student attendance. According to Khabbaz, his office received no explicit complaints about holding Vespers in the gym, but some students expressed that they missed the traditional setting of the church.
In the Jan. 4 email, Khabbaz stated that he proposed the change due to a significant response from students regarding spiritual life on campus.
“We wanted to ensure that every student that wanted to be at Vespers could be at Vespers”
“We wanted to ensure that every student that wanted to be at Vespers could be at Vespers, and that would entail having two services because the church … doesn’t have enough room for all of the students,” Khabbaz said.
The introduction of two services brings additional responsibilities for those working behind the scenes, including the audio-visual team, performers and speakers. Those involved will need to arrive even earlier for sound checks and remain at the church even later due to the time of the second service. This will require about six hours of commitment for many individuals.
Khabbaz is planning spiritual support for everyone involved in the services.
“Spiritually we are wanting to fill them up a lot more intentionally, since they are going to be pouring out so much,” Khabbaz said. “For our team, we are praying over them and supporting them even more as they are preparing for it.”
Khabbaz said he wanted the first service to be just as spiritual as the second service and that both services will be identical to each other, with the same performers and message being given.
“For our team, we are praying over them and supporting them even more as they are preparing for it.”
According to the email sent to students, the Office of Ministry and Missions is anticipating that the second Vespers service may have higher attendance than the first service, so those who want a guaranteed seat may need to attend the first service.
