By Kat Wojsiat
Houghton University is a college founded on a Wesleyan faith in the Trinity, meant to be a community of believers pursuing academic excellence. As part of this institutional identity, spiritual life is an important focus on campus. Houghton offers numerous spiritual outlets to students, including chapel programs, worship sessions, daily prayer, and small group meetings. On paper, it looks like Houghton’s spiritual life is thriving, with lots of programs and events. However, a real look at Houghton shows the sadder reality here.
A year ago, I spoke with a friend of mine who was President of Mercy Seat at the time. Mercy Seat is an hour-long worship session open to all students that occurs every Monday-Friday night. He was having a terrible time finding musicians and prayer leaders to lead daily worship, and there were only one or two students actually attending Mercy Seat on any given night. He was so discouraged by the lack of student desire for worship that he purposefully gave Mercy Seat a one-semester break in hopes to give the students a chance to miss it. Since it returned last spring, attendance has been highly unpredictable, with anywhere from one to ten people on a given night. The current President, sophomore Jadyn Matton , said it is difficult to get people to attend, but when they are there, she has “definitely seen people uplifted and very excited!” People seem to enjoy their engagement with Mercy Seat and The Cry, but people just don’t often participate! In addition to this, a small few students utilize the daily prayer and communion, with only between one and six students there on a regular basis.
The icing on the cake for me was Chapel on March 17th. Students had the choice to go to chapel 20 minutes early for extra praise and worship, but most students did not arrive until the usual start time. I got there after class at 11:05 and found that many students who were there already were sitting down or on their phones, as though this was not real worship and they were just waiting for the real part of Chapel to start. Worship is worship! We were given a chance to praise God with a little extra of our time, and so few people were actually excited to take advantage of this opportunity! The purpose of Chapel is not to just satisfy God with 40 minutes, but to practice honoring Him with all of our being; when there is worship going on, God wants you to join in! Even more, you should want to join in!
After worship ended, we had Houghton Alum Katie Allen (20’) come from Asbury Seminary to tell us about the Asbury Revival. It was a huge blessing to have a Houghton Alum right there experiencing this outpouring, and it was even more of an honor that we get to hear from her directly! She came all the way from Kentucky to tell us about this huge spiritual awakening that happened at Asbury! As she spoke about this revival, I sat in my seat feeling encouraged and warmed to hear about how God is moving in our country today. My heart was then broken when I looked around the chapel to see over half the students within my view on their phones and many more on their laptops.
I am a student too, and I fully understand that sometimes you have to cram in your reading for your 12 o’clock class during Chapel; these things happen! But over half of our students just scrolling away on their devices while our speaker is telling us about spiritual renewal is just so discouraging. God is moving in the hearts of thousands in our society, but here at Houghton it seems like we are just pushing Him away. We see what God is doing in other areas of the world, and I know He can do it here at Houghton too! We just have to open our hearts and minds and put God first! After Chapel, worship continued, but very few students stayed. I want to encourage the student body to put down their phones, take out their earbuds, close their laptops, and rest in the sacred time chapel provides. Scripture firmly encourages taking a Sabbath, but I look around campus and see hundreds of students who never take a break. Chapel is a set time designed to allow us to rest in the Father’s arms and join in communal worship, and we should engage in the time we are given to do so.
I pray that Houghton will see its own revival and that the Spirit will pour out on us. Our spiritual life has taken a beating since COVID, and we need to be renewed in our desire to seek God. There are plenty of resources; it is on us to utilize them. Participate in a Life Together group, dedicate one day a week to go to afternoon prayer, or make time to go to Koinonia each week! I hope that those who desire spiritual awakening will pray for Houghton to be renewed in the Spirit. I am not saying we need a two-week-long, nationwide, non-stop Revival. I just hope that each individual here at Houghton will take the step to make room for God in their lives, and I pray that God will move in this way here. ★
