Unity Nights Continue to Bring Together Campuses

By Kennedy Conger, Bryce Crossman, Sydney Leyerle, Kenzie Ogden, and Brian Weah

On Jan. 27, college students across northern Indiana gathered in Upland for the monthly Unity Night.

The student-led gathering was hosted at Pierce Church with a night of worship, prayer and a message. In addition to the usual structure, the group also introduced its new discipleship groups. 

Discipleship groups began at 7 p.m. followed by the usual worship gathering at 8 p.m.

Evan Kenny is co-leader of the Unity worship team. Kenny said he has been able to connect with students from various schools since the birth of Unity in Oct. 2022.

“The thing I’ve seen the most from these events is a general community of students,” Kenny said. “I’ve just heard many stories of a lot of fellowship and connection…now we can go back to our campus and spread the word and continue diving into this.”

Students traveled from several campuses including Indiana Wesleyan University, Taylor University, Ball State University, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Huntington University, and Anderson University.

Maddie Borchelt said she first heard about the Unity gatherings when she was in high school. She had a friend that was in college who had encouraged her to attend. 

“It’s the Church. It’s the Body of Christ. Even though we all are from different schools and different areas, we all come together to worship. That’s what’s super cool about it,” Borchelt said.

Now a sophomore at Taylor University, Borchelt said she has since started inviting her college-age friends. Last week, she messaged Elizabeth Lalonde from Purdue University Fort Wayne, who was able to attend her first Unity Night on Jan. 27.

“I love nights like this,” Lalonde said. “It makes you feel really good that other people around you are also Christians out there praising the Lord.”

The next gathering is set to take place on Feb. 24 with the location to be announced.