During this year’s fall semester Week of Prayer, held on Sept. 14-19, students had the opportunity to raise their voices and sing praise songs together each day before hearing the speaker’s message. This year’s theme, “Calling > Career,” encouraged students to look beyond the traditional question of what career they might want to pursue and start considering how God might be calling them to use their gifts for him. Through the music sets, the worship teams had the opportunity not only to share their talents but also to create meaningful moments that brought students together and encouraged them to draw closer to God.
A lot goes into coordinating multiple different worship teams for a Week of Prayer. Worship teams are chosen well in advance so that each group has time to choose songs and practice their sets. Jacob Elanko (senior, marketing) was in charge of coordinating this year’s worship teams. Elanko has been leading worship music at 星空无限传媒 since his freshman year. During his junior year, he was a worship pastor at One Place as well as worship director for Proximity vespers and Center for Faith Engagement (CFE). Elanko is currently a student chaplain for worship, a new role that helps better disciple and mentor people within worship spaces on campus.
Elanko shared that he tries to get a rotation of reliable worship leaders around campus to help participate in song services for chapels and vespers. “We try to represent each fellowship,” he said. He aims to have groups from One Place, New Life, and Genesis, the student-led fellowships on campus, lead out in music. Having each fellowship do its own worship set, lets students get a taste of what each fellowship is about and what they have to offer.
In terms of song selections, Elanko provided the teams with the overarching theme of the Fall Week of Prayer, “Calling > Career,” and allowed them to choose songs that they felt fit that theme, encouraging them to pick songs that were familiar and well-known on campus. “Teaching a new song might not be the right mood for Week of Prayer,” Elanko pointed out. “Choosing familiar songs allows more people to join in on the singing.”
Elanko hopes that students are blessed by the music shared during the Week of Prayer. “For me personally, hearing young people be on fire for God and use their talents to glorify him really changed my life,” Elanko shared. “It really makes me want to draw closer to God.”
Elanko believes that the worship teams play a very important role in being an encouraging light to those all around campus. “You never know who you could affect or whose day you could change through worship and music,” Elanko emphasized.
While Elanko focused on coordinating and setting up worship teams that would bring the whole campus together, the student worship leaders were the ones who brought those plans to life.
Shaina Mamarimbig (junior, nursing) led out in the Wednesday worship set. Mamarimbig participated in the Week of Prayer during her freshman year, playing the acoustic guitar. This year, she got to be a praise team leader, and she valued the opportunity to lead worship with her team. “Every time I do a praise set, I always feel like I’m jamming out with my friends,” Mamarimbig said.
For her team’s worship set, Mamarimbig chose songs that were familiar to the audience. “I wanted to choose songs that people could sing along to,” Mamarimbig explained. “I wanted it to be a simple set. Something that brought students back to their academy days.”
Some of the songs in Mamarimbig’s set were “I Could Sing of Your Love,” “The Power of Your Love,” and “Draw Me Close.” She intentionally chose songs that she felt flowed together to create a cohesive worship experience. For Mamarimbig, singing together is one way students can have an active role in worship. “I think it’s good that we sing because in a way, it makes us participate in worship and not just be listeners when the speaker is talking,” Mamarimbig shared.
Gersh William (senior, psychology) led out in the Friday morning worship set with the Impact vespers worship team. William has participated in Week of Prayers for the past two years and is a worship leader from the Impact vespers team. William believes that singing is a great way to engage the crowd and audience to respond and worship God together.
Two of the songs William’s team chose to sing were “Lord Prepare Me” and “Holy Spirit." William explained that he and his team believed these two songs connected well with the theme. He hopes that students on campus know that they can put their faith and trust in God and know that he will always lead them in their life. “Even when they are sure or unsure of what their calling or career is, they can know that they have someone to turn to, someone who knows what is going on in their life,” William said.
Overall, whether through familiar songs or encouraging lyrics, the worship teams created many opportunities for students to participate in worship during the Fall Week of Prayer. As the voices of many college students filled the Pioneer Memorial Church, the worship team leaders hoped to do much more than just prepare students for the speaker’s message. They hoped to inspire them to draw closer to God and remember that faith can guide them wherever their calling might lead.
– With additional reporting from Anna Rybachek
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 星空无限传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 星空无限传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.