By Alexandra Purcell

Students from all walks of life at Colorado State University-Pueblo gathered together in front of the dorms for the Campus-Wide Worship event Aug. 27, 2017.

The event featured two major attractions: a worship band provided by Praise Assembly, a Christian church in Pueblo, Colorado, and a sermon given by Tim Brotherton, director of the Pueblo chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

While Praise Assembly has helped put on Campus-Wide Worship in the past, this year marked the first year “in a few” the church had such a major role, according to young adult pastor Jonathan Lewis.

“We’ve been involved for a number of years,” Lewis said. “This is the first time we’ve really gotten back into it.”

“We’re just [located] so close to campus, we want to reach out to students [at CSU-Pueblo] as best we can,” Lewis said. “[We want] to help people in discovering faith.”

Lewis and the worship team from Praise Assembly performed a selection of four popular praise songs, including “Great Are You Lord,” and invited the audience to sing with them.

After the worship songs were done, Brotherton of FCA took the microphone to speak to the audience. He cautioned students to “avoid getting wrapped up in things” and getting distracted from their faith.

“Sin trips us up,” he said in his sermon. “It’s like a spider web … but Jesus is telling us he wants to unwrap you.”

He challenged students of Christian and Catholic faith to make a difference at CSU-Pueblo by “[changing] the campus through the love of Jesus Christ.”

“Thanks for letting this old man come and tell you about the person I love [Jesus],” he said at the end of his speech.

Praise Assembly and FCA were not the only groups with a presence at the event. A few tables were set up by local churches to encourage attendance by CSU-Pueblo students. Several of the organizations were handing out snacks to students as they passed by. Churches represented included Majestic Baptist Church, oasis Church, Aberdeen Baptist, Fellowship of the Rockies and Frist Presbyterian Church of Pueblo.

Other on-campus ministries were also involved with the event. FCA student leader Makayla Miller said her organization was part of the planning for the event. “We contributed by volunteering for different things, like bringing games. We’re here because we’d really like to get to know the students interested in ministries and worship,” she said.

Pack Catholic, CSU-Pueblo’s resident Catholic organization, had a table handing out popcorn to help promote themselves while leaders of Christian Challenge and Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) mingled with the students in attendance.

“We want people to know about Jesus,” said Ruth Bailey, a leader for Cru. “Even if we only get one student involved in a ministry, that’s a huge success.”