A worshipful outreach to youth

For students at Columbia International University, worship is an integral part of campus culture. It’s there every Tuesday and Thursday, when students lift up their voices in worship led by the CIU Chapel Worship Team.

Students from the Chapel Worship Team also take the music off campus as the CIU Undergraduate Admissions Worship Team. The band was created to better serve and engage with churches in the Columbia area, providing a break for church staff, and an opportunity for CIU students to connect with youth as they share their CIU experience, and more importantly, their faith.

In the 2022-23 academic year, the Undergraduate Admissions Worship Team served the youth at First Baptist of Columbia, giving high school students a taste of the college experience. Leading worship was only part of their ministry, as there was also pizza, fellowship and dodgeball. CIU students are interacting with the youth and spreading the light of the gospel through song.

Haidyn Curtis, a 2023 graduate from the Business Administration program, led not only the Chapel Worship Team for four years, but also the Admissions Worship Team for over three years. Curtis chose CIU after meeting a CIU student interning at his high school. He says he “fell in love” with CIU during a campus visit.

“It was one of those things I feel everyone in my class says: I wasn’t going to come here but walked on campus and said ‘OK, this is it.’”

Curtis says there are a couple of important things about the worship night at First Baptist of Columbia.

“It’s a cool experience to make them feel seen and loved,” Curtis said. “But aside from that … it’s really just showing students (going) into college that there is hope, and there’s a way they can go to college and grow in their faith.”

Curtis has passed the leadership baton to rising junior Harrison Burnette, and would “love to see us grow into some bigger opportunities … I would love to see it grow (into) a collective that could represent CIU at some bigger events,” Curtis said. “Harrison is someone with really good vision and I believe he could take it there.”

Burnette, a double major in Bible and Music, was encouraged to come to CIU after visiting a Preview event where he saw Curtis leading the worship team. With a history of leading worship before coming to CIU, Burnette knew this was something he wanted to take on. He believes that the Admissions Worship Team is imperative to the community saying it “points people to a piece of CIU. To show them this is what the culture is like … We love to worship and want you to be a part of that.”

Burnette wants to continue what Curtis has started and “be able to show (young people) the love of Christ through worship.”

CIU is celebrating 100 years of its mission to “educate people from a biblical worldview to impact the nations with the message of Christ.” The university consistently ranks among the Top Regional Universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report, as well as a Best Value Regional University in the South. Apply now or request information on enrollment by contacting Admissions at (803) 807-5024 or admissions@ciu.edu.