Connecting with Something Old and Something New

My name is AJ Curtin, I am a student in chapel class as a junior and I attended the 2015 Symposium trip. When I first heard about Symposium I was sort of unsure of what it was. I heard stories from past students and teachers saying that it was a fantastic trip so when I heard that we could all go I was excited but wasn’t sure what to expect. 

Denise Kingdom Grier leads a worship service during the
2015 Calvin Symposium on Worship. (image courtesy
of www.calvin.edu/worship)

When we got there the first day, I walked into something that was like a standard church service but less modern than mine. It was great to go in and try something different than from the church services I usually go to. The pastors and speakers were fantastic and really connected to me in a way that made me think deeper into what they were saying. 

When the service was over we went to the workshop things which was probably the most interesting part of the program to me. We had plenty of choices daily of things we could do whether it was a sermon, music or art related, a class about the world wide view of Christianity and more. This sort of reminded me that even just my musical talents can be such a blessing in the eyes of the Lord and really helped me see the importance of who I am in God's eyes. 

Along with new things I saw, there were things that reminded me of our school whether it was a song or two or the visuals or the way they related something as silly as a children's book to our lives as C

Tim Blackmon uses the children's book Knuffle Bunny by
Mo Willems during a message. (image courtesy
of www.calvin.edu/worship)

hristians. These similarities and others really connected with me and sort of enlightened me to the fact that the similar things we do can really have an impact on students. 

When it comes to the new things, I saw there was plenty. There was a great sense of community to me, everyone said hello and how are you doing as if they’ve known you for years. That connection between fellow brothers and sisters is something I think should be even more encouraged at our school someway. 

AJ Curtin with other members of the Chapel Leadership
Team during our trip to Symposium.

For example, on this trip alone I became more connected to the people in my class and became more like brothers and sisters in Christ as we all should be. This fellowship and more really shows that it is possible to enlighten more of a sense of community and love for each other as we were made to as Christians. This really opened my eyes to things I can do in my own life and for my small group or church or school and more. If I had the chance to go back I would go back in a heartbeat to connect with my fellow classmates, teachers, brothers and sisters in Christ, and most importantly with Christ himself.