Baker University’s Osborne Chapel was full Jan. 26 of not only students and staff, but of hope.
“Hope is the expectation of future good,” Devan Taylor, senior pastor of Beyond the Four Walls Church International in Kansas City, Mo., said.
The first worship service of the semester was in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with Taylor acting as the keynote speaker.
Taylor’s message stressed the importance of having hope and the impact it can have on an individual, a community and a nation.
“The preaching about hope and how to end the cycle of oppression was great for MLK day, which is traditionally a reflection of struggle and the weak and down trodden,” senior Jason Robbs said.
Robbs played the piano and sang “His Eye on the Sparrow” for the service.
“The theme of hope tied into the song real well which talks about there still being hope for the hopeless and comfort for the comfortless,” Robbs said.
University Minister Ira DeSpain partnered with Mungano to shape the service, just as he has done in past years for the Martin Luther King Jr. service.<br/>
“I was really gratified by the number of people that were there,” DeSpain said. “It showed an interest, great enthusiasm and passion.”
In addition to Taylor’s sermon and Robbs’ performance, the Baker University Speech Choir also performed and DeSpain showed video clips of two of King’s speeches.
“King was able to transcend all kinds of boundaries and barriers and unite people across a common cause,” DeSpain said. “He was an American hero, the conscience of a nation, and my hope is that students will take on the cause of justice and equality and freedom from his message.”
Junior Mungano member JaNay Adgers shares DeSpain’s view and believes that Taylor, whom she has known for many years, had a great message that she hopes will empower students.
“I would like to see people taking responsibility for the things they’ve done and for what they want to do,” Adgers said. “I just hope that if anybody has things they wish to change on campus they start from the inside out.”
