Social media evangelist Bryce Crawford and Christian rap artist Hulvey kicked off the 2025 school year in the Vines Center this week.
Crawford opened the first Convocation on Wednesday, Aug. 20 by sharing his testimony with students. Hulvey followed on Friday, Aug 22. He shared how he uses his calling in music to glorify God.
Crawford began by explaining what it took to be set free from sin and how the audience could experience a deeper relationship with Christ.
“If you want something you’ve never had, then you have to do something you’ve never done,” Crawford said.
He encouraged students to turn away from the influence of the world and instead turn their focus to Christ and the relationship God desires to have with them.
Sophomore Sarah Tluczek said Crawford’s message immediately caught her attention.
“When Bryce Crawford came up on stage in tears, I knew right then and there that this would be a good Convocation,” Tluczek said. “Coming up on the stage, being that vulnerable really shows how the Holy Spirit was moving.”
He led students through both the Old and New Testament and gave examples of how being honest is an important part of having a strong relationship with God.
“Blessed are you who can be honest and transparent with a God that already knows everything about you,” Crawford said. “But he wants you to tell him because he wants to be best friends with you.”
He continually reminded students of the importance of their relationship with Christ and what a relationship with him looks like.
“The God that knows everything about you, he wants you to be honest with him, because the reward for you being honest with him, is more of him, but your sin is callusing you from this intimacy,” Crawford said.
Crawford directed every point he made back to the Bible and urged the students to earnestly call on God when they feel lost or helpless.
On Friday, Christian rap artist Hulvey took to the Vines Center stage and described how the Lord is leading him in his musical career.
Vice President of Spiritual Development Josh Rutledge led the Q&A with the Christian music artist by asking Hulvey how he went from starting out in a grocery store to now being a prominent figure in the music industry.
“I am not going to lie, bro, it grew to a point where I was miserable in it, and a mentor of mine asked me, ‘If I had to work there my whole life, would I be okay with it?’ and that question tormented me,” Hulvey said.
He said that as he grew in his faith and contentment with working where God placed him during that time, he began sharing his faith and praying for others.
“I look back and I feel like that taught me that praising him and loving him just as much in the secret, … in the quiet spaces that nobody sees, doing that stuff that doesn’t matter to people, and honestly, it became a mission ground for me,” Hulvey said.
Hulvey explained to students that he worked his way from the ground up to build something that glorified God. His love for music and Jesus Christ became his ministry, but he said that his calling goes beyond his music.
“If music was my calling, that means that I am failing right now, like in this moment, I am not rapping or singing, that means I’ve already failed. … if being in ministry is my calling and I go to sleep at night and there’s no one to minister to then I’m failing, but being his son is 24/7, it’s 25/8, it’s all the time,” Hulvey said.
Senior Derek Works said he was convicted by how Hulvey described his relationship with God.
“He (Hulvey) reminded me that God shouldn’t just be a slice of the pie, even if it’s the biggest slice. He should be the title, because everything we do should be because it glorifies him,” Works said.
Fellow musicians in the crowd, like senior Charity Parrott, said that Hulvey’s heart for Christ is something she admired.
“As an aspiring musician, I really think his bringing … (God) into his music is definitely something I am inspired by, and I want to do,” Parrott said.
Riden is the on-campus news editor for the Liberty Champion.