Every week on campus, Liberty University students have the chance to attend exciting events offered by the Office of Spiritual Development, including the longstanding tradition of Campus Community, or “CampCom” as students like to call it. On Wednesday nights in the Vines Center, students receive consistent encouragement from university leaders to grow in their faith and then follow that up with a community group in their residence hall where they discuss the night’s message, delve into God’s Word, and focus on applying it to their daily lives. These groups are a core form of fellowship and discipleship on campus, as students can open up to each other for prayer and advice.
An entirely optional event for students, Campus Community continues to grow in popularity. At the first event of the school year on Aug. 21, nearly 8,000 students attended — the largest of any Campus Community in Liberty history.
Chancellor Jonathan Falwell kicks off a new year of Campus Community on Aug. 21. (Photo by Ryan Anderson)
“I think the best way to understand Campus Community and its significance at Liberty is to see it as the sort of fountainhead of spiritual development,” said Vice President of Spiritual Development Josh Rutledge. “From that Wednesday night gathering flows community group involvement, outreach, and truthfully all the rest that is entailed in the spiritual development of a student here at LU. It’s not to say that Campus Community is more important than any of the rest, but it is that central, wide gathering place. If you show up on Wednesday night, it’s almost impossible to miss all the rest.”
Dr. David Wheeler speaks at Campus Community on Sept. 18, 2024.
Community Groups are facilitated by Community Group Leaders, or CGLs, who must apply for the position through the Office of Spiritual Development and receive training through the LU Shepherd Office. Liberty currently has 905 CGLs.
All students are provided workbooks that supplement the teaching from the services.
“Having a structured time to walk through a specific passage of Scripture with other students is a really unique opportunity; you don’t really get to this level other places,” said senior Peter Schumacher, a CGL in Residential Commons IV. “You open opportunities for discussion that you otherwise wouldn’t have.”
“Campus Community is a beautiful thing because we can really see the students who have a heart for the Lord and a heart for community outside of what is required,” said junior Elizabeth Law, who leads a community group in Residential Commons I. “We all love Convocation, but there’s something special about choosing to be surrounded by a group of people worshipping and listening to speakers on a Wednesday night when it’s not required.”
A community group in Residential Commons I meets after Campus Community on Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by: Emily Cuthrell)
The theme of the fall semester’s study was “Witness,” offering students an in-depth look at the book of Acts and the work of the Holy Spirit in the early church. Speakers included Rutledge, Chancellor Jonathan Falwell, President Dondi E. Costin, Associate Athletic Director for Spiritual Development P.J. Preston, evangelism professor Dr. David Wheeler, John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Dean Dr. Troy Temple, LU Serve Executive Director Wes Franklin, and Liberty Worship Collective Executive Director Kevin Huguley.
Preaching from Acts 1 on Aug. 21, Falwell expressed his longing for every student in attendance to have confidence in their salvation. He noted that Jesus left the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide Christians after He ascended into Heaven, and the Holy Spirit continues to work in believers by providing them with biblical understanding and discernment for their daily lives. Falwell also exhorted the students to continue the work outlined in the Great Commission, as Christians are called to be witnesses in every part of the world, to those open to or hostile to the Gospel.
Some messages during the semester centered on the incredible healing power Jesus has over every circumstance, “from sniffles to Stage 4,” according to Preston. Reading from the story of Peter healing the lame man in Acts 3, Preston argued that God continues to heal just as He did in the Bible. And once that man was healed, everyone present became witnesses of God’s power.
“They recognize him as ‘the one who sat’ — past tense,” he said. “The one who sat sits no more but stands. The one who used to beg has become a blessing now. They were amazed at his healing. Don’t be amazed when God does what He says He is going to do.”
Associate Athletic Director for Spiritual Development P.J. Preston speaks at Campus Community in the Vines Center on Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Chase Reed)
Preston noted, however, that this healing is not always seen this side of eternity. Sometimes God’s answer to prayers for healing is that the suffering individual is welcomed into paradise free from the bondage of pain.
Speakers often share from their own personal experience, as Preston testified to seeing both his father and mother miraculously overcome serious medical situations because of God’s grace.
“We have to trust that healing still happens, and we have to have the faith that God will make it happen,” he said. “And even if He doesn’t, we have the hope of Heaven.”
On Sept. 18, Wheeler encouraged students to serve daily as witnesses for Christ, noting that every one of Jesus’ disciples suffered tremendous hardship for their faith.
“A faith you’re not willing to die for is a faith you will never be willing to live for,” he said. “From the very beginning of Acts, when Jesus used that phrase, He knew He was giving His disciples a death sentence. He knew there was no way the Gospel could get to the world unless they were willing to die for it.”
Comparing modern-day Christians to biblical prophets, Wheeler said every believer is capable of bringing the Gospel to those who have not heard it.
“We need to understand that we have been given the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants to fill us up and use us. If we are willing to pick up the prophet’s mantle and speak truth, God will protect us and walk with us. And if it means that we must give our life for the service of that, we’re going to get to go to Heaven. It’s going to be even better there.”
This spring, students are studying from the book of Colossians in a series titled, “He Is.”
Vice President of Spiritual Development Josh Rutledge speaks at Campus Community, held in the Vines Center on February 5, 2025. (Photo by Ethan Smith)
