Spiritual Leadership During COVID-19

So why did you decide to pursue theology and sociology together?
Well, originally I wasn't going to do sociology. I was just going to be “theology” and call it and call it a day. I’ve always loved theology and I have felt called to be a pastor since I was five. But sociology is something that's fairly new. My passions are social justice and community engagement and involvement. It's one thing to help an individual person and it’s another thing to really understand how systems impact groups of people. So sociology helps me understand better how various things impact various groups of people. The church has a mission of reaching all of the world like the Bible says, but we can't necessarily meet an individual's needs unless we understand all the factors that affect each individual. After taking principles of sociology with Professor Witzel, I prayed about it and I said this really seems like a great way to help me understand people better and reach various groups of people.

So what made you want to become Religious Vice President of AUSA?
A series of events led to this. When I came to Andrews, I ran for class pastor. We didn't do much but I guess the freshmen knew me as pastor. I worked with Michael Cuke who was the religious Vice President last year. We did Sabbath school together and I got to help him out with a few things. In January or early February, when the application for Religious VP went out it was the last thing that was on my mind. I wasn't even thinking about it. I didn't think that I could do anything like this. Mike came up to me after Sabbath School one day and he said , “You’re running for  RVP, right?” He said it like he expected me to run. I began to pray and I started getting ideas about events we could do next year. I decided to run and no one ran against me. I said to myself, “Lord, you must really want me to have this position if you opened the door.” That’s how I got into this position. All summer and throughout quarantine. my mind has just been filling with things that we can do and accomplish.

So far, what have been the challenges that you have faced as religious VP especially during the circumstances of COVID 19, social justice issues, and the ongoing crisis of the world?
Let's start with COVID. COVID has impacted my ability to know other people. I was a little freshman and for some reason I was able to get to know lots of people, whether that be in my class or across the campus. Due to COVID that has greatly changed. So I don't know many of the freshmen and other individuals. When you're a pastor you’ve got to know your flock. There are lots of people that I've never met simply because of social distancing. We can't talk to each other in the cafeteria. So, being able to develop those connections one on one and understand how the campus is thinking has been a difficulty. Another thing that has been difficult is trying to plan for events. We usually have Sabbath School and one of the ways that we get people to come is by providing food, but because of COVID we can't do that. However the Lord has blessed us, so we have Sabbath School outside in the white tent every Saturday at 10:30. Another example is Lighthouse, which occurred last week. We could only fit 150 people in the HPAC. There were about 600 people watching online. Because of COVID we had to social distance, so many people could not join us. There are some other events that we've been trying to plan, for example Afterglow on a Saturday afternoon, but COVID hinders us. We have had to rethink all of our plans. We can't do this and we can't do that. Maybe we can have an outside but then it’s going to get cold. So, COVID impacts us in a greater way than we think. Our society right now is in a state of unrest. I think this is a great opportunity. I don't really think that this is a challenge. It gives us a chance, especially on Andrews University campus as Christians, and from a religious standpoint, to talk about social justice from the perspective of God's love and His mercy, and the unity that he wants us to have. So, as bad as it is, we can take advantage of this as a way of opening the door to telling people the truth about real Christianity and what God's love is really about.

What are some ways that you've adjusted your role, and your responsibilities, due to COVID 19?
One of the things that we are doing is trying to get smaller groups of people. We're in the beginning stages of forming an RVP Think Tank. Basically we want to bring core clubs that have a religious Vice President together so we can have a common goal to empower each of their groups to serve their communities from a spiritual standpoint. So a change in my role is to empower others to unify their separate groups. Instead of just me being our RVP and planning all these events for the entire campus, one of the things that I want to do this year because of COVID is empowering other clubs and organizations to engage their constituents spiritually, because it's much easier to do that, and because it's on a smaller scale.

So what ways do you recommend people here on campus to seek God during college and during this chaotic time?
Last year when I gave my speech to run for RVP I ended with the three R's which I believe should be the basis of our spiritual lives. That is real, relevant, and relational. We don't want a relationship where we just go to church on Sabbath, sing a few nice songs. We want a real, tangible relationship with him. One that's relevant and when I say relevant, I mean relevant to our modern society and what's taking place in society. Relational, not only between us and God but between us and others. The common aspect of having a real relationship or relational connection is love. Lastly, real. We have to come to the point where our relationship with God is not of forms and ceremonies and rituals. Instead we have a personal daily walk with him, you know we're studying our Bibles, we're praying. Our prayer life is less something I have to do, and more of I really want to talk to Jesus today. We’re at a turning point in society; there are so many crazy events going on. But when we read the Bible, the gospel has a solution to many of these things. We're just not applying it. And so if we want to be relevant, if we want our faith to be relevant, we really have to apply biblical truths and teachings to the issues in society, such as social justice issues. Our number one priority should be our relationship with God. But right up there next to it should be healthy relationships with each other, regardless of race, gender, you know, sexual orientation and economic class. Our priority should be fostering healthy relationships with one another. Simply because that is the basis and essence of a good spiritual life. Those three things to me are the foundation of a good spiritual life.