What started as a lingering desire inside a Point Loma Nazarene University Flex apartment has come to fruition, as students create a new space to gather in community and engage in worship, Bible study and fellowship. Created to foster a sense of community and deep understanding in God, this group is open to both men and women.
Roommates Hudson Giles and Simon Agustin, both third-year kinesiology majors, and Cruz Barron, a third-year psychology major, created the group last semester after talking about starting a worship night.
“I feel like we all had it on our mind[s],” Agustin said. “We were all kind of thinking about it [but] we never really initiated it.”
Agustin said they wanted to create something more than just a Bible study — a space that also included worship and community prayer.
“[It’s] just literally setting time aside in an open space to worship God,” Agustin said.
While the group’s first meeting last semester had only a small group of men, they’ve since hosted two more gatherings in December and January with nearly 20 students, both men and women.
“At the beginning, it was a men’s group type of thing, and then one day we extended the invite to one of our friends that’s a girl,” Agustin said. “She invited her friends and then everyone kind of just came along.”
Barron said that because the group has only met three times, attendance has mostly consisted of friends and students they know, but they are open to anyone who wants to join.
“We just want to open a space for others to maybe get to know God more and meditate on who he is through Scripture,” Barron said. “We just wanted to take that step in obedience, even though we didn’t really know what we were doing.”
Giles, who partners with Agustin to decide the passage for each meeting, said that reading the Bible is essential for the lives of believers and is a great way to worship. While leading deep conversations about the Bible can be challenging, Giles said he’s hopeful that people will grow more comfortable as the meetings continue.
“I think we kind of just take it as it comes,” Giles said. “For the most part, everyone responds well because I think everyone who’s there wants to be there. If they’re there on a Friday night, they want to be there to worship.”
While PLNU embodies the Nazarene tradition, many students come from various denominational backgrounds. This is reflected in their meetings.
“[There’s] many different Protestant views, but we’re all coming together to worship. So I think that’s a big plus for the church body,” Giles said.
Toni Vasquez, a third-year business management major, attended the group’s last meeting in January, and said the night typically consists of communal prayer, worship, reading Scripture and diving into various discussion questions.
“I think that having a co-ed Bible study is really cool because I feel like people shy away from that,” Vasquez said. “I feel like it cultivates a different sort of connection and conversation.”
Vasquez also said that men and women may study the Bible differently, making conversations complex at times. Despite this, she said it’s important for various perspectives and interpretations to be heard, which can foster new conversations.
“It’s really cool to see that collide and … get a sneak peek into how someone of the opposite gender [is] seeing Christ and perceiving him,” Vasquez said.
While most students might only experience community gatherings in a church or chapel service, Barron said hosting a worship event in their apartment creates a unique and welcoming environment for others.
“I think we’re just blessed with a space to make the environment more hospitable,” Barron said. “We have an opportunity to open our home to other people and create a space for [them] to come in and worship God. That’s something that we were so excited to do.”
Vasquez said she appreciated that Barron and his roommates opened up their living space for others, especially considering how many people attended the previous two meetings.
“I think it’s really cool because it’s really showing that students on campus are going out of their way to be ushered into the Lord’s presence outside of the things that are provided to us, like chapel,” Vasquez said.
Barron said it’s not about the number of people who come to each gathering, but rather they hope that people experience God in a new way.
“It doesn’t really matter if a hundred people show up or if people stop coming. It would be so chill if it’s just us three and we’re worshiping God on Friday night,” Barron said.
Vasquez said most people are figuring out their faith on their own each day, so having people who invite others to be in the presence of the Lord together is special.
“I think it’s just kind of like a haven in a time of craziness,” Vasquez said. “Any place where we’re gathering in the name of the Lord is a safe place for us right now, in this stage of life.”
To get involved in the group, contact Cruz Barron at cbarron0023@pointloma.edu.
