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Teens Experience ‘Kin-dom’ of God at Shenandoah

A group of 80 people, composed of primarily high school-aged United Methodists from the Northern Shenandoah Valley and their chaperones, explored what it means to “live in the Kin-dom of God” during a recent daylong “Mission u” event held at Shenandoah University. 

“Any time I get to engage with students of any age as they wrestle with complex subject material, inside and beyond the classroom, that speaks directly to the day-to-day realities of their lives, it is one of the highlights of my job, and this day was a prime opportunity for that,” said Shenandoah University Chaplain and Director of Spiritual Development and Outreach Ian Carlos Urriola.

The day’s curriculum, designed by United Women in Faith, a women’s advocacy organization connected to the United Methodist Church, asked three primary questions: “What is the Kin-dom of God like? What is the Kin-dom in the midst of challenges? And, what is our participation in the Kin-dom?”

“Kin-dom” of God was popularized as a term by Cuban American theologian and ethicist Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, who authored “En la Lucia/In the Struggle: Elaborating a Mujerista Theology.” Isasi-Diaz used the word “Kin-dom,” rather than the hierarchical “Kingdom,” to describe God’s bottom-up approach to freedom.

Shenandoah was invited to host the event by some other leaders in the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church (and its United Women in Faith leaders), said Urriola, who noted that while it was Shenandoah’s first time hosting “Mission u,” he hopes it won’t be the last. 

Urriola said he and Shenandoah University Chaplain Rev. DeLyn Celec admire United Women in Faith and its work and were more than happy to participate. Shenandoah Office of Spiritual Life chaplains and staff led the emerging student leaders through the curriculum, the focus of which, he added, “also lines up perfectly with our mission to educate and inspire individuals to be critical, reflective thinkers; lifelong learners; and ethical, compassionate citizens committed to making responsible contributions within a community, a nation, and the world.” 

Although the participants considered heady topics during “Mission u,” they also had time to enjoy Shenandoah. They shared a meal at Allen Dining Hall and met Vice President for Student Affairs Yolanda Barbier Gibson, D.A., as well as a representative from the university’s Office of Admissions. Sarah Celec, from Transformative Teaching & Learning, and Tamiya Earley, from the Division of Student Affairs, also helped to lead a warmup activity for the students. And, the group culminated its experience by being led, in part, in closing worship by the university’s Harambee Gospel Choir.

When Matthew Hwang graduated from Shenandoah University with a business administration degree in May 2018, he knew he wasn’t going to step into a business-related job. Instead, his eyes were on the skies, anticipating a career as a pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps.

He’s heading into the military this fall, with skills honed by the positive challenges he experienced at Shenandoah.

Meeting And Greeting Challenges

“Academically, I was placed in practical learning environments where I had to apply what I was learning, which improved my critical thinking. It is a skill that I can take wherever I go,” Hwang said. “Emotionally, I was taught how to deal with stress. I was involved in a lot of things in the community, in school and in sports, so I learned how to compartmentalize and stay calm in stressful situations so I could act effectively. Athletically, tennis was a passion of mine. I cared about being good in the sport, cared about winning, and cared about the guys I was playing with. All of this pushed me to work harder every day on my craft and my mental strength. Spiritually, Shenandoah put me in position to find my faith and learn how to hold onto it during stressful times. Some of my favorite classes were the religion classes at Shenandoah. They were challenging to say the least, but it forced me to find truth in the word and learn how to love Christ.”

At Shenandoah, Hwang served as captain of the men’s tennis team, participated in student government, played lead guitar at Abundant Life Church in Stephens City, volunteered his time with student life, and made a mark with Spiritual Life. “Matthew was involved in a number of different ways,” said Assistant Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Spiritual Life Rev. Justin Allen, D.Min. “He was active in our Bible study ‘Home Sweet Home’ (meets at my house). He played guitar and was a Communion steward for our Higher Ground and University Chapel worship services a few times. He preached at the RE-3 event we had in September 2015 in partnership with Virginia Tech, Randolph-Macon, the University of Virginia, Ferrum, William and Mary, and more. He is truly gifted and used his gifts in a myriad of ways to benefit the whole of Spiritual Life and Shenandoah University.

He was an academic success story, an athletic success story, a Spiritual Life success story, and now he enters a vocation of service and sacrifice,” Dr. Allen said.

Matthew Hwang '18 takes a selfie in Goodson Chapel at Admitted Freshman Day in 2018.

Matthew Hwang ’18 takes a selfie in Goodson Chapel at Admitted Freshman Day in 2018.

Becoming A Leader At Shenandoah

Hwang said Shenandoah not only provided him with leadership opportunities, but also exposed him to many different types of people. “In today’s Marine Corps, there is a very diverse group of Marines wherever you go. Knowing how to work collaboratively with different kinds of people at Shenandoah definitely set me up for success for when I entered the Marine Corps.”

Hwang revealed his leadership abilities at Shenandoah, even when he may not have felt ready to do so, Allen said. “Matthew came to Shenandoah like a lot of students, eager and energized.  However, college can sometimes be a challenge with so many different people from so many different walks of life. Matthew was gifted from the beginning and wanted someone to push him to be better academically, athletically, and spiritually. However, it wasn’t long before he was the one pushing others to keep up with him, and encouraging them to be their best, perhaps before he anticipated ever doing so. That, I believe, was hard for Matthew. I think he was waiting his turn to be the leader and everyone else was looking to him to be the leader before he thought it was his turn. So, when he finally got done waiting, his college life took off when he started to assert himself. Matthew learned a lot about leadership when he took the authority upon himself to lead and model the way for others.”  

Bringing The Shenandoah Spirit To The Marine Corps

The next stage of Hwang’s life as a leader begins on Oct. 1, when he reports to Quantico, Virginia, for The Basic School, a six-month-long program where commissioned officers learn how to be Marine officers. Then, he’s set to head to Pensacola, Florida, to learn how to be a Marine pilot.

He’ll carry Shenandoah with him into the future, within his memories and heart. “Shenandoah has become home to me. The professors, the people, the campus have all become something I feel safe with. It has helped me grow in every way possible and I couldn’t be more thankful. I will never forget the incredible people I have met here. They are what made my experience priceless and what makes Shenandoah home for me.”

Hwang’s potential is so great, Allen said he can’t even dare anticipate where the future will take him. But he does know this: “Whatever he does, I know it will be morally and ethically aligned with his Christian values to love his neighbor, his enemy, and his God.

“Knowing that he is now a Marine makes me feel better about our country,” Allen said. “He will be made better by the Marines and he will make the Marines better.”

Twenty high school students from the mid-Atlantic and Northeast deepened their understanding of their faith at Shenandoah University’s inaugural two-week-long Youth Theology Institute (SUYTI) this summer.

The students spent a week at Shenandoah and a week studying at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., at the institute, one of 92 such programs around the country funded by grants from the Lilly Endowment Inc. Shenandoah’s institute is funded through a $600,000 four-year grant.

Each institute has its own focus, with Shenandoah’s being Christian Vocation in the 21st Century. Students rotated through three courses taught by Assistant Professor of Religion Meredith Minister, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Religion Kevin Minister, Ph.D., and Elizabethtown College Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Richard Newton, Ph.D., said SUYTI Director Rev. Colleen Hallagan Preuninger:

  • Christian Vocation in a Religiously Plural World, which examined how to communicate with those with different beliefs
  • Christian Vocation for a Sustainable Society, which focused on ecology/theology, asking, for example, questions about how faith relates to the conservation of resources
  • Christian Vocation for a Diverse Community, which considered issues of race, class, sexual orientation and systems of justice/injustice

“Our intention, ultimately, is to create and cultivate an immersive experience for high schoolers, where they can create and deepen, or reinforce, or become, more aware of the intersections of their belief system and the way they live their life, and the way they improve the future,” Preuninger said.

A Shenandoah Youth Theology Institute student helps out at Winchester-area community garden.

A Shenandoah Youth Theology Institute student helps out at Winchester-area community garden.

Aside from the courses, students also devoted time to worship, small-group discussions, and interfaith and service-learning opportunities, such as working at a community garden, helping Habitat for Humanity, cleaning up Abrams Creek on Shenandoah’s main campus, and visiting Holy Cross Abbey in Clarke County. While in Washington, D.C., the students also participated in seminars with the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, visited Adat Shalom (a reconstructionist Jewish Community in Bethesda, Maryland), Masjid Muhammad Mosque, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Graham Horvath, 17, of Fairfax County, said he feels like he now understands his faith better, and that previously he only scratched its surface. For him, the experience at Holy Cross was particularly affecting. He called the experience beautiful and peaceful, and he said it was “amazing” to just spend some time at the monastery, in silence.

The Lilly Foundation’s goal, with the establishment of institutes like Shenandoah’s, is to influence the current generation by equipping them with skills of discernment, critical theological engagement, and intersectional awareness through participation in a rigorous cultivated community that provides students with the skills needed to live an integrated life that doesn’t compartmentalize their emerging faith, Preuninger said.

The questioning and the overall SUYTI experience also helps remove fear, and when fear is no longer present, Preuninger said that opens a world of theological imagination, allowing one to embody what she would call, “the spirit of God.”

Shenandoah University Youth Theology Institute Director Rev. Colleen Hallagan Preuninger in the institute's unique worship space.

Shenandoah University Youth Theology Institute Director Rev. Colleen Hallagan Preuninger in the institute’s unique worship space.

While the SUYTI is framed within the Christian tradition, it could be modified to include other faiths, Preuninger said. The institute is designed to empower students with information about the Bible and how it is used in Christian traditions, to understand faith better, and how to incorporate it into their lives.

For many of the student participants, the institute’s take on different worship styles made a deep impression, as did the time spent in small groups working through ideas with their peers.

Corran Hale, 17, of Caroline County, said he felt like he could truly engage in deep discussions with fellow participants.

During the small groups, Preuninger said, students had discussions like: “Is God in everything? Is God in trees?” Sounds silly, but if they say yes, what does it really mean? “How do we ethically reconcile cutting them down?” Questioning is central to the SUYTI, added Preuninger, who noted that the process of asking questions “breaks something open within you.”

“Diversity has really made this experience more powerful,” said Whitney Wright, 16, of Bridgewater, noting that what she experienced at SUYTI was different than what she was used to in relation to faith, and that was eye-opening and powerful.

Students receive three college credits for the institute, with everything experienced during the institute counting as contact hours, Preuninger said. Those credits also can be used toward the Faith Seeking Justice Christian Leadership Program certificate if students decide to attend Shenandoah in the future.

Another view of the Shenandoah University Youth Theology Institute worship space in Goodson Chapel-Recital Hall.

Another view of the Shenandoah University Youth Theology Institute worship space in Goodson Chapel-Recital Hall.

Students took advantage of the sanctuary space at Goodson Chapel, which featured little traditional worship space, and instead included music and activities, such as an indoor labyrinth, said mentor Andrew Dietz ’17. He noticed students embracing practices as their own, which he said is imperative for having a fully realized faith. Dietz was one of four mentors for the SUYTI, for whom, Preuninger said, the institute provided Christian leadership experience.

According to the SUYTI web page, the institute’s daily schedule followed a rhythm that encouraged students to “develop, grow, and learn as leaders through experimentation, vocational discernment, and self-reflection.”

This rhythm followed the pattern of:

  •   looking up (through worship experience)
  •   looking in (understanding themselves through reflection)
  •   looking out (through immersive experiences)
  •   looking in (more self-reflection)
  •   looking up (worship experience)

The SUYTI experiences in Winchester and Washington, D.C., followed the same daily pattern, while allowing the students a more “rural” experience in the Winchester area and a more urban one in the nation’s capital, centered around the rural experience in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2 and the urban new Jerusalem in Revelation 21.

On the final day of the institute, student participants needed to present their ideas for a justice project, which should be an idea that is compatible with, but not the function of, their local church. The students then must present their ideas to their church and write a reflection/report of the outcomes by Sept. 15. It’s not necessary for the project to succeed, Preuninger said. Instead, the goal is for students to connect their local faith community needs with what they’ve learned at the institute and to build skills of translation. “The point is not the product, although we do want students to work for change and justice in their contexts. The point is the process,” she said.

At heart, the SUYTI is designed to help students better understand their faith and integrate it into their lives and futures. That’s what all the coursework, experiences, worship, contemplation, discussion, and projects lead toward. “It’s necessarily complex to get to something elemental,” said Preuninger.  

Shenandoah University, in partnership with Wesley Theological Seminary and the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, has received a $600,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to establish the Shenandoah University Youth Theology Institute.

The program is part of Lilly Endowment’s High School Youth Theology Institutes initiative, which seeks to encourage young people to explore theological traditions, ask questions about the moral dimensions of contemporary issues and examine how their faith calls them to lives of service.

Rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors are eligible for the university’s institute, which will begin in July 2017. The students will be taught by Shenandoah University and Wesley Theological Seminary faculty and will be awarded three hours of college credit upon completion of a final project in their home church.

“This grant allows us to help shift the culture of the local church through empowering students,” said Dean of Spiritual Life and Director of the Institute for Church Professions Rev. Justin Allen, D.Min. “Youth Theology Institute students will explore the sacred scriptures thoroughly and address contemporary issues facing the church and the world.”

“Just this week world leaders gathered in France to address climate change,” added Allen. “The results of climate change will impact the poor and marginalized more than any other constituency, and the church should have something to say about that. We want our youth to wrestle with the scriptures and contemporary issues, and be a strong, passionate, and educated voice for change.”

The four-year program will focus on God’s love for the rural environment as illustrated in the Garden of Eden in the first book of the Bible and God’s love for the urban environment as illustrated in the holy city in the last book of the Bible. Therefore, students who participate in this program will spend a week deeply engaging the tradition and the future of the church at Shenandoah University against the backdrop of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and a week at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., within the political environment that determines our nation’s direction.  

“This is an opportunity for Shenandoah University to give back to the community and the United Methodist Church by doing what we do best — educating and inspiring students to make a contribution in their community, the nation and the world,” said Allen.

Shenandoah University will hire a director for the institute by July 2016 in order to begin planning for the 2017 institute. Additional information regarding the application process and other details will be released later in 2016.

Shenandoah University is one of 82 schools participating in the initiative; participating schools are located in 29 states and the District of Columbia. Although some schools are independent, many reflect the religious heritage of their founding traditions. These traditions include Baptist, Brethren, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches, as well as Roman Catholic, non-denominational, Pentecostal and historic African-American Christian communities.

“These colleges and universities are well-positioned to reach out to high school students in this way,” said Dr. Christopher L. Coble, vice president for religion at the Endowment. “They have outstanding faculty in theology and religion who know how to help young people explore the wisdom of religious traditions and apply these insights to contemporary challenges.”

The Lilly Endowment is giving $44.5 million in grants to help a select group of private four-year colleges and universities around the nation to create the institutes. The grants are part of the endowment’s commitment to identify and cultivate a cadre of theologically minded youth who will become leaders in church and society.

An additional grant to the Forum for Theological Exploration will establish a program that will bring together leaders of the high school youth theology institutes to foster mutual learning and support.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family – J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli – through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly & Company. The endowment exists to support the causes of religion, education and community development. Lilly Endowment’s religion grantmaking is designed to deepen and enrich the religious lives of American Christians. It does this largely through initiatives to enhance and sustain the quality of ministry in American congregations and parishes.

Photo by NEILL CALDWELL/ Virginia United Methodist Advocate
Virginia Greer is a student at Shenandoah University in Winchester.

And a young adult shall lead them.

There was a lot of talking on November’s “Day of Holy Conversation” – hosted by Woodlake UMC in the Richmond District and webcast across the conference at multiple sites – but it was generally agreed that the youngest panelist shared a lot of wisdom in her brief comments.

Virginia Greer, a student at United Methodist-related Shenandoah University in Winchester, related a story about traveling with her family on a long journey in the car and her parents getting angry and frustrated with each other. When the family stopped for gas, Virginia’s dad returned with something of a peace offering: a flip-flop-shaped air freshener with a coconut scent. “And my mom doesn’t even like coconut,” Greer said.

The point, she said, is that The United Methodist Church’s 40-plus years of arguing over human sexuality is like her family’s situation in the car. “There are many moments at church events where people are arguing, people talking over each other and people in the back who just want to get out,” Greer said. “When we ought to be thinking of how we can show love when it is most needed. … We’re Christians; we’re used to loving someone we can’t understand. But we can do so much better…”

“If we want to get anywhere together we need to agree that loving one another is more important than being right,” Greer continued. If we can do that, she concluded a few moments later, “we’re going to lose the easy answers, the feeling of safety and of being right. But we gain the Spirit.”

It was a positive message late in a day of positivity, with a few minor exceptions. People on social media during the day’s program called out the Rev. Bruce Johnson for using the phrase “bless your heart” in addressing Greer, saying that although he said he “didn’t mean it in a condescending way” it still came off as very condescending. And there were tweets complaining that the morning session’s three panelists were all middle-aged, white and straight.

Generally there were no breakthrough moments. The conservative speakers stressed that the covenant in the Book of Discipline has been and is being broken, meaning the church is already in schism. The progressive speakers argued for full inclusion for all on the basis of that’s what Jesus taught us to do. And the “centrists” on the two panels used, “We hang in there and find ways to work things out together.”

The “Wesleyan Quadrilateral,” how to look at Scripture with reason, experience and tradition, was also mentioned several times.

Bishop Young Jin Cho set the tone for the day with his message at the outset of leaning on Christ and the Holy Spirit. Facilitator Dr. David Hooker used a gentle hand of guidance in both morning and afternoon panel discussions. Following each, there was time for small group discussion, both at Woodlake and the remote sites scattered around the conference. And, finally, everyone came together around Christ’s table to share Holy Communion.

“As I participated in A Day of Holy Conversation,” said the Rev. Marc Brown, conference director of Connectional Ministries and chair of the Common Table that organized the event, “I was especially encouraged by the comment that Virginia, representing the voice of the Young Adult Council, shared about hope being present when persons engage in holy conversation even when there are no easy answers. It’s my prayer that A Day of Holy Conversation was a step forward in hope as we continue to consider what it means to be disciples of Jesus.”

Bishop Cho, in his opening sermon, likened the debate over sexuality to a storm, particularly the storm that panicked Christ’s disciples while he slept.

“If Jesus is the answer to the storm,” Bishop Cho said, “then we need to trust in the Holy Spirit to still guide our churches. … We must let the spirit of Christ be our Lordship as we listen to each other. No person owns 100 percent of the truth. All human beings have their short-comings and are moving on to perfection. We should be more humble and open to each other, and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit together.

“The bottom line of this issue is that it’s a faith issue,” the Bishop concluded. “Are we willing to give up our own agendas and be willing to follow the guidance of the Lord?”

Presenters for the morning presentation were the Rev. Rob Vaughn, on behalf of Methodist Federation for Social Action and Virginia Reconciling United Methodists; the Rev. Greg West for the conference’s Evangelical Fellowship; and the Rev. Tom Berlin, representing a centrist position.

Participants for the afternoon panel were Greer, Johnson, West and Vaughn, along with the Rev. Gina Anderson-Cloud and laywoman Rives Priddy.

There were thoughtful comments made across the spectrum of thought on human sexuality issues.

“We are a family but a family in deep disagreement,” said West at the outset of the day, long before Greer’s analogy. “I would urge progressives to reconsider the authority of Scripture and the tradition of 2,000 years.”

Vaughn countered that “it’s not what the text says but what it means and how we interpret it. … Taking the Bible seriously means digging deep to learn what God wants from us.”

Vaughn reminded the audience that the early church gave up circumcision and strict dietary laws to be more inclusive to Gentiles.

Berlin brought a belt from his daughter’s closet to illustrate how trying to hold two ends together is a huge point of tension. “I’m disappointed in both the disobedience to the Book of Discipline and the calls to divide the church,” he said. Berlin quoted Jesus’s greatest commandment and Paul’s statement that we are all one in Christ. “We all interpret Scripture all the time. We’d love for it to be simple but it’s not.”

He also said that his personal opinions about gay people have changed over the years. “I’ve had college friends who have ‘come out’ in recent years tell me that they didn’t come out in college because of how I might react. … If I am uncomfortable around homosexuals then that’s my sociology and not my theology.”

Vaughn pointed out that the vast majority of scientific studies have shown that gender attraction is not a choice but a physical part of our makeup. “We don’t choose sexual orientation. If this is how God made the diversity of creation – and we agree that God made no junk – who are we to say God made a ‘mistake’?”

West countered that the jury was still out on the science about human sexuality. But he also concluded that most of us have “made up our minds” on this topic and simply “seek affirmation of our positions.”

The afternoon panel was larger and more diverse. Vaughn started out by outlining some of the changes that progressives will seek at the 2016 General Conference, but also urged that people “do no harm” and stop injuring others with harsh language.

West said that the church has reached a crisis phase after more than 40 years of debate on homosexuality. “The division has already grown when you have episcopal leaders and pastors deliberately breaking our covenant and encouraging others to do so. And there is a pattern developing in the church that when pastors break this covenant and perform same-sex weddings the punishment is symbolic and the reward is real. We already have schism; we already have separation.” He also quoted Mark Chapter 3, where Jesus says “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”

West urged an amicable separation. “Both sides are sure they’re right. There are people of good will on both sides. Paul and Barnabas separated but mission continued. Our (Methodist) church began with separation from the Church of England.”

Anderson-Cloud talked about her experience as a church planter trying to reach the unchurched, and said “Our denomination was founded on casting a wide net and taking the cross into the fields and slums. We need to move beyond this political process of taking sides. … Our divisions are ripping us apart but our mission – to make disciples for the transformation of the world – unites us.”

She also urged participants to read the Rev. Adam Hamilton’s “A Way Forward,” but West countered that Hamilton’s plan will only transfer the conflict to the local church.

Priddy, the only gay panelist, agreed that the church was broken. “Our numbers (in The United Methodist Church) have dwindled, but many of those are our gay brothers and sisters and their families who have left the church” because of the way they have been treated.

Johnson said that there were “reasons that we’re still in disagreement after 42 years… there are some things on which we just won’t agree.”

“When you start changing the definition of marriage, who’s going to say what marriage is,” said Johnson. “If we’re going to change that, or acquiesce to a society that wants to change it for very un-Christian reasons, then where will it stop? And what will the church do? If today we bless same-sex unions then tomorrow when the polyamorists show up at our door and we want to love them as Jesus loves them then what are we going to say?”

At that point Dr. Hooker reminded the audience that the “men after God’s own heart” in the Old Testament had multiple wives.

Anderson-Cloud cited the church’s rejection of homosexuals as “one of the top five reasons people won’t try church. … I’m concerned about our perception (with unchurched persons).”

Vaughn concluded that he would rather have a “bias of inclusion rather than exclusion.”

“I don’t see a way ahead when we’re going in two different directions,” said Johnson.

“It takes conversation,” added Anderson-Cloud, “and that’s what we’re doing today.”

Priddy expressed hope that “this day is only the beginning of how we talk to each other. Yes, we do disagree, but God is among us.”

By NEILL CALDWELL Virginia United Methodist Advocate

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF THE Virginia United Methodist Advocate

Shenandoah University hosts its Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service of Remembrance on Monday, Jan. 20, at 3 p.m. in Goodson Chapel/Recital Hall on Shenandoah’s main campus. The university and surrounding  communities are encouraged to gather together to commemorate the life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

This year’s celebration features the university’s Harambee Gospel Choir performing a riveting multi-media gospel presentation titled “Let Justice Roll.” Comprised of excerpts from Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” it follows the central statement taken from the Hebrew Bible, Amos 5:24, which states, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”

The letter, written to leaders in faith communities, was a call to action asking them to speak publicly against segregation and the unjust enforcement of it. Dr. King urged these faith leaders that their followers must hear their support that had been offered privately, so that change could take place.

The event is a partnership between the Black Student Union, Harambee Gospel Choir, Office of Spiritual Life, and Office of Student Engagement for Intercultural Programs. The service is free and open to the public.

Visitors are welcome to park in the upper or lower lots adjacent to Goodson Chapel/Recital Hall for this event. There is also parking available in the parking garage next to the Brandt Student Center. Those who use wheelchairs for mobility may be dropped off in front of Goodson Chapel/Recital Hall at the accessible sidewalk.

All 3 p.m. classes are cancelled so that students may attend the service. Classes will resume at 4 p.m. 

For those unable to attend the service on the main campus, there will be a live stream available at the Health Professions Building in Room 109 and the Northern Virginia Campus in Room 133. To view from your own location, go to: 
http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/shenandoahadmin.portal