Point Loma Nazarene University’s Alpha Groups gathered for a night of worship at McCullough Park early this month. All groups and leaders met to nourish their community through worship, prayer and listening to student testimonials.
Alpha Groups were designed for first-semester freshmen, allowing them to build relationships and fellowship through small group bonding and spirit-driven discussions with upperclassmen Alpha leaders.
Ana David, Alpha Group family leader and third-year applied health science major, said the inspiration behind hosting a combined worship night came from what the leaders thought would help first years.
“We just wanted to have an opportunity to bring the whole freshman class together,” David said. “We wanted to help them work through their feelings of what they’re feeling freshman year.”
The event featured prayer stations, where the students could write or receive prayers with various Alpha leaders. Blankets were spread out across the lawn, where students could sit and eat waffles provided by the event, while listening to worship music led by a band of Alpha leaders.
Alaina Pacheco, a first-year applied health science major, was one of the many who attended the event.
“It just felt like a little family just coming together under one community of God,” Pacheco said. “It felt reviving and refreshing, and I got to grow in community with people.”
Grace Park, a first-year biology major, said the worship night fostered spiritual reconnection.
“Tonight was a really good way to just reconnect with God in all your busyness,” Park said. “It was just a space to be honest with yourself and with the tables to write encouragement and prayers, it was just a good way to reconnect with God and love others.”
The worship night also provided the opportunity to hear testimonials by a handful of Alpha leaders. One of them was David, who said in her testimonial that everyone has a unique walk in life.
“What I want people to take away is that they’re not defined by their past, and that there is so much life and light that God can bring,” David said. “And having a relationship with him is just so fruitful in so many ways.”
Alpha Groups strives to help first-year students shape their faith; however, it wasn’t only first-years that found these groups memorable. Bri Nieto, a second-year psychology major, was one of the Alpha leaders who attended the worship night.
“I feel like leading other people, especially freshmen, at such a pivotal point in their lives in college, is just so unique and important,” Nieto said. “If it weren’t for Alpha, I would never have experienced this, and just getting to be an important part of their college experience has been so special and meaningful.”
Nieto said her involvement has come full circle, from finding community in her first-year Alpha Group to helping new students find and build the same connections.
“As a freshman, I didn’t really know a lot of ways to get involved other than Alpha,” Nieto said. “So having opportunities and events like this is a great way to meet people in other dorms and meet student leaders, and spending time with God in such a pretty place is always an added bonus.”
For David, the worship night was a reflection of the program’s mission to foster mentorship and spiritual connection among students. David said that the program and events like these have nourished the Alpha community.
“I think that this event strengthens the Alpha program as a whole and what Alpha stands for: being seen, known and loved,” David said. “We’re here to fill the cup of each person. We want to be here for each freshman, no matter what they’re going through, if it’s good or bad, we’re here with them through it all.”
Bray Bartley