Spiritual programs revamped

Nasser kickstarts several changes in order to promote Campus Community

The spiritual atmosphere at Liberty University has undergone a recent remodeling under the leadership of Senior Vice President for Spiritual Development David Nasser.

According to Director of Spiritual Programs Daniel Bolton, these modifications affect residential hall meetings, prayer groups, Campus Church and Convocation. Bolton stated that these changes were made after much prayer and discussion between campus, spiritual and student leadership.

In an announcement during the first Convocation of the semester, Nasser revealed that campus church has been renamed Campus Community. The title was changed in order to reflect the student body and leaders coming together to study the Bible. Though Campus Community will meet at the same time and place as Campus Church did, the structure of Campus Community has been altered from varying topical studies to exegetical teaching.

According to Nasser, this approach will involve studying different books of the Bible verse by verse. This is in hopes that Campus Community, which will be taught mainly by Nasser and other pastors, will teach biblical truths and help fuel students’ spiritual lives beyond their college years.

Bolton said he hopes students will be able to apply what they learn both presently and in the future. According to Bolton, the leadership in charge of these decisions has been careful to listen to what students think of the revisions being made to the programs.

“The exegetical teaching will be very beneficial, providing vision and something to unite and grow the student body as a whole,” Resident Assistant (RA) Alonna Cherry said.

Hall meetings and prayer groups have also been revamped. Both activities have been moved to Wednesday night following Campus Community. In addition, prayer groups are now called community groups to reflect that they are an extension of Campus Community.

The new structure of community groups will include discussion questions given to prayer leaders to help students understand and apply the truths from Campus Community.

According to Nasser, the community group discussion sheets will be created by spiritual leaders on campus and are called R.E.C.A.P. sheets — Review, Examine, Chat, Apply and Pray.

“Discussion helps make good teaching stick, so I think the students will really benefit from the changes,” RA Lauren Branham said.

Additionally, the format of Convocation has been revised. Now, there will be alternating formats of Monday Convocations. Nasser said that Monday Convocations would alternate between structures of prayer, perspective, praise and play. Alternative Convocations will also take place during select Monday Convocation times.

According to Nasser, prayer Convocations will involve the campus body uniting in prayer. Perspective Convocations will include speakers from various viewpoints and backgrounds. Praise Convocations will devote the entire hour to praising God through music. Finally, play Convocations will be a time for students and faculty to get to know each other better.

The new title for Convocation is now “Convo in the Round” due to the new circular setup in the Vines Center. According to Bolton, this allows for Convocation to feel more inclusive.

Responsibilities of the student leadership team have also seen alterations. Bolton said leadership is still evaluating these changes and will continue listening to
student feedback.

Bolton hopes that students will appreciate the unifying effect of these changes and reiterated the administration’s hope that Campus Community and the R.E.C.A.P. sheets will empower RAs and prayer leaders to be better spiritual leaders.

“Imagine the impact of a whole campus studying the same passage of the Bible together,” Bolton said.

According to Bolton, the leadership at Liberty has an unwavering vision for God and continues to improve their programs in order to better fulfill that vision and to serve students.

Steptoe is a news reporter.