Students lead the way in worship
Grace Turner, Staff Writer
Photo curtesy of Anslee Johnson
The week of Feb. 23 students took control of worship at North Greenville University, leading the student body through music and speaking in chapel. Students led Monday and Wednesday as well as in the BCM gathering on Thursday, Feb. 26.
Student-led chapel has been a tradition at NGU for at least the last 25 years. Students lead their peers through the whole service including worship and bringing the Word. Sometimes the message is done by a student panel and other years through independent speakers.
Dallas Vandiver, the assistant vice president for student ministries said, “At its core, it has always been, we’re excited that students are being shaped into the people that God is shaping them into. We’re excited that our students know Jesus and can talk about it.”
When looking for students to speak in chapel, Vandiver said, the school pursues seniors who will provide the best objective evidence that the Lord has been at work in their lives. These students have been around campus for some time, and the evidence has been seen. The students selected, showcase that they are transformational leaders for church and society.
These students are found through the work of Dallas Vandiver, a chapel committee of three to four professors, an outside pastor and even possible suggestions from the school chapel hosts.
Vandiver remarked, “it comes down to our top three and then we’re prayerfully thinking through, who do we think would connect well and could present clearly.”
The students selected for chapel this year were senior political science major, Victoria Azurdia who spoke on Monday, Feb 23 and senior Christian studies major, Landon Norris who spoke on Wednesday, Feb 25. Worship was led by the NGU contemporary ensemble on Monday and the campus band on Wednesday.
When approached about chapel, Azurdia and Norris were asked to speak on the topic of calling in their unique way. Being a student of Christian studies, Norris shared a sermon on 2 Timothy 4 and Azurdia gave her testimony.
“At first I was really nervous and I was freaking out and calling all my friends,” Azurdia said, “but I ended up doing it because it seemed like a great opportunity and it’s also just good to reflect on your story and be able to tell it.”
Azurdia’s message on calling was influenced by a women’s Bible study she attended the previous year. This study reoriented her view on calling. It taught her to be preoccupied with what the Lord wants her to be over the specific details of where the Lord would want her to go.
Azurdia encourages students to remember that their testimony is not only applicable to others but is just as important for themselves.
She said, “If I’m getting preoccupied with what do people want to hear, what would be best to highlight for them? It’s good to ask those questions, but let’s not be so prideful as to think about how God has been faithful in my life. And through that, thinking and mediating on God’s faithfulness throughout your life, I think the abiding produces a genuine storytelling that will resonate with people.”
Norris took the sermon approach for his message. Before speaking, he spent time studying through the scripture, doing a mechanical layout and then breaking down the grammatical parts.
Norris has been preaching sermons since the seventh grade, but says there are still nerves before speaking.
“Believe it or not, the crowd is not necessarily what scares me.” Norris said, “There’s always nerves whenever you are handling the word of God. You want to do so accurately.”
Norris served as the pastoral intern at East Side Baptist in Spartanburg for four years. In his time there he had the opportunity to preach, work with youth, college ministry, children, media and anything else that needed to be done.
Norris said, “the big thing is, to be more concerned about the word of God and make that the simple focus of it all.”
Student led chapel will return for another week in the fall semester of 2026.
