Exodus ministry team leaves on summer tour

Last summer Liberty University’s musical ministry team, Exodus, lived up to its name by journeying to the West Coast. They spent their summer ministering to young people as the in-house worship band at Hume Lake Christian Camp in California, and along the way, they encouraged campers to come to LU. Their efforts yielded approximately 2,000 applications to LU and more than 6,000 inquiry cards about attending the university – a huge success.

Now the band is hoping to have a similar recruitment harvest closer to home.

Focusing on LU’s southern “feeder states” where most students typically come from – the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Virginia – the band will travel to summer camps and churches for 10 weeks to encourage young people and spread the word about Liberty.

“I think it’s going to be really lucrative and excellent in terms of recruitment because we’re going to be hitting a lot of different places,” said Travis Doucette, summer tour coordinator and band director for Exodus.

Considering the current economic picture nationwide, Doucette said the team wanted to go where they could bring in high numbers with ease.

The five-member band, with a sound similar to Hillsong United, might look a little different than it did during the school year. The summer group will incorporate two musicians from other ministry teams on campus – the Sounds of Liberty and the Campus Praise Band. The current bass player for Exodus will accompany the group, as well as two brand new Exodus members who will continue serving with the band this fall. A sound engineer will also travel with them.

Band members had a one-week training camp in May to learn all of their music, and they are hitting the road now through Aug. 9.

Doucette said he appreciates the opportunity that Resident Recruitment and the Department of Ministry Teams is giving Exodus again this year.

“They’ve been really gracious in trusting us, and I think they were really pleased last year with the numbers we brought in from Hume,” he said.

Exodus is one of four musical ministry teams at Liberty. The groups perform at events and church services throughout the country to praise God and act as ambassadors for LU. For more information, visit the band’s MySpace page. For booking information, click here or e-mail ministryteams@liberty.edu.