First Campus Community Ushers in Hope for School Year

Liberty students were welcomed back with a new kind of Campus Community on Wednesday. Socially distanced and masked up, nearly 4,000 students gathered to worship and listen to Campus Pastor David Nasser in Williams Stadium for the first time this school year.

The night began with Acting President Jerry Prevo’s first in-person address to the student body. Prevo introduced his wife and said they wanted to get to know the students, offering to grab lunch with any student that was interested. He also welcomed the incoming class and closed his introduction with a prayer over the
field of students. 

The Liberty Worship Collective took the stage, exciting the crowd who had not worshiped together since March due to social distancing guidelines. 

Nasser followed the worship by praying for discernment and wisdom on the sermon he was about to preach. He acknowledged that Liberty students would not be the only ones watching the meeting that night, especially in the wake of Liberty’s place in the news the past week. Nasser read a pages-long statement where he emphasized the importance of Campus Community’s status in a Liberty student’s life.

Nasser was transparent with the students, saying that he was aware that some people leaving the stadium that night would be unhappy with how he was about to address the resignation of Jerry Falwell, Jr. … earlier in the week. He explained that he wasn’t going to bash the Falwell family, but he also was not going to take the other extreme and spend the evening praising Falwell and his accomplishments at Liberty. 

“Now, a more personal note, just for me,” Nasser continued. “This moment that we’re in, is a mess. … Let me begin by saying to you: I am sorry. … Liberty is more than a college. We are God’s college.”

The campus pastor spoke openly with the students who sat listening intently to his message, one about the grace and truth of Christ. Nasser explained that in difficult situations, believers are called to give grace to those around them, but not leave out the truth of sin in the process.

Throughout the stadium, the students did not allow themselves to be distracted by masks or social distancing and instead took notes and worshiped like normal. The first Campus Community of the semester ended with Nasser praying over the student body once again and asking that they continue to social distance when exiting the venue. 

Campus Community plans to return to Williams Stadium again next week, welcoming students who have previously registered to come, a new system that will allow for proper social distancing throughout the stadium. The Office of Spiritual Development announced that they would open registration each Monday at 9 a.m. 

Savanna Graves is the News Editor. Follow her on Twitter @SavannaLeigh.