Liberty University celebrates the traditions of music and worship during week’s Convocations

At the heart of Liberty University’s spiritual development events stands a fervent dedication to use music and worship as a way to honor and glorify God on campus and in each student’s life. During the past week, Liberty celebrated God’s gift of music through powerful worship times at two Convocations and a Campus Community service, featuring Grammy Award-winning music artist and songwriter Matt Redman.

On Wednesday morning, students gathered in the Vines Center for Liberty’s annual Hymnology Convocation. Hymnology is the study and composition of hymns; the word “hymn” comes from the Greek word “hymnos,” which means song of praise. Every fall semester for the last five years, Liberty has dedicated a day to honor and celebrate this music tradition by singing some of the most treasured hymns in church history.

The Convocation began with the hymn “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You,” originally written in 1907 by writer Henry van Dyke. The worship featured a full orchestra and choir of students and faculty. Students sang a variety of traditional hymns, led by the Liberty Worship Collective, including “Come Thou Fount” and “Let the People Rejoice.”

The worship time also featured Redman leading the audience in his rendition of “How Great Thou Art.” Redman had the honor of collaborating with other artists in writing a new verse for the 75th anniversary of the translated hymn. The hymn was originally written by Swedish poet Carl Boberg in 1885 and then translated and adapted by British hymn writer Stuart Hine in 1949.

Liberty President Dondi E. Costin then spoke about his time in the U.S. Air Force and his love for its official song.

“This song that they taught us was to cause us never to forget the words, so that we would never forget those who have come before us, those who have written this song, and so that those who came behind would never forget why we were airmen,” he said. “That song tied us to airmen, and people, and (our) mission long before us, and it allowed us to be the bridge to the next generation.”

He compared it to the hymns the students sang that morning.

“God has given us these songs, so that together we can remember who God is, and who we can be because of who God is,” he said.

Redman was featured again during Campus Community on Wednesday evening, which became an All Worship Night. The audience sang along to worship songs and contemporary renditions of hymns to celebrate the ages of music, including “Let Me See Jesus,” “The Heart of Worship,” “Son of Suffering,” and more.

The focus on worship continued during Friday’s Convocation, where Redman led the university in worship and performed music from his new album, “Life & Breath,” which was released the same day.

Liberty regularly invites Christian recording artists to share their talents and lead students in worship. On Aug. 29, Chandler Moore and Liberty alumnus Anthony Evans led worship during Convocation.