by Tim Yu

The College Praise Team is the musical praise ministry that is part of the College Life ministry at Lighthouse. The ministry is called the “musical praise” ministry in favor of “worship team” to clarify a common misconception that worship is limited to the singing time that precedes the sermon. Music is just one of the many mediums in which we worship and give glory to God. The ministry purposes are to lead and facilitate musical worship of God, to personally understand and teach the body what biblical worship is, and to grow in excellence in musical talents and abilities. Currently, the College Life ministry serves on Wednesday at SDSU Bible study (led by Nelson Kha), Friday at UCSD Bible study (led by Tim Nieh), and Sunday at College Life large group (led by me).

Because of campus restrictions on having amplified music, musical praise times on the college campuses are simple and unamplified, usually led by just a single guitar with vocalists. Though that may seem like a drawback to fans of loud, exciting music, singing with and hearing the collective voices of passionate collegians in a large, echoey, lecture hall is awesome. Large group praise times provide a different setting because meetings are held at church, after the collegians are given a short break after Sunday school to grab lunch. The band is in full effect, combining the wide range of talents on the team to create a unified sound.

College is an exciting but challenging time to serve in leading musical praise. It’s exciting because collegians are energetic and passionate in their worship of God. They are faced with unique challenges and opportunities to bring the gospel of Christ to their worldly campuses, which stretches their faith and trust in God. And most are just starting to realize the treasure that can be found by deeply studying the Scriptures. Yet, leading musical praise during college can also be challenging because of the struggles with pride. With the help of the music director at Lighthouse, Eugene Park, I have learned to not excuse pride and immaturity just because of youth. The expectations of godly character, a life above reproach, and a servant’s heart are essential, regardless of the age. God’s Word never makes exceptions for younger men and women.

With all of the upcoming changes in the future due to the church plant, the College Praise Team will likely have a much different structure in the next school year. So basically, the upcoming plan for the ministry is to be flexible and ready for anything while entrusting our hearts for worship to the Lord.

College Praise Team