Courtesy of Stephanie PavlichUnited held its first meeting of the semester last Friday in the Vaughn Courtyard.
United’s goal is to bring campus Christians together once a month for a worship service to proclaim God’s name over the University of Tampa.
Freshman Dawn Van Wert attends United regularly.
“It is so evident that God’s hand is moving throughout the colleges in Florida. I don’t know what His plan is, but I’m excited to be a part of it,” she said. “United is something that is so different and fresh, and we’re trying our best to be obedient with what God wants for this.”
“I think it’s a really good thing,” said junior Laura Phillips. “It’s nice to have somewhere to go on a Friday night where I can just praise God in such a relaxed atmosphere.”
Senior James King agreed. “It’s a great chance to build relationships and fellowship with peers that share our passion for God.”
The idea first came about last April when a couple of the school’s students felt that the spiritual atmosphere on campus was thinning.
Since then, there have been 5 separate worship services and increasing growth and development in multiple campus Christian organizations, including the “re-birth” of Campus Crusade and the introduction of Space.
Both USF and UF recently began organizing regularly scheduled campus worship services to bring together their Christian organizations.
Churches throughout the local area have volunteered their worship bands to provide a live worship service for the campus.
Although there isn’t any formal preaching, at the end of each worship set the microphone is opened for anyone who feels that God wants them to say something.
Upcoming United events include the Davis Island worship band on Feb. 22, the Catalyst worship band on March 28, and the Baylife College worship band on April 25.
United takes place once a month in the Vaughn Courtyard. All events take place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and everyone is encouraged to attend.
Space includes a co-ed Bible study and relevant discussion. Interested students can contact ldarden@ut.edu for more info.
Intervarsity is an organization focused on community service and group growth, and more information can be obtained from michelleivcf@gmail.com.
For information on co-ed Campus Crusade Bible studies, students should contact jlennon@ut.edu.
For information on girls-only bible study, students can contact lphillips@ut.edu.