Worshipping with Selah
PC: Levi Ventura
Union College’s Campus Ministries team plans many events throughout the school year, including concerts by various Christian artists. The first concert of this school year was performed by Selah, a gospel vocal trio comprised of Amy Perry, Allan Hall and Todd Smith.
The concert took place on Oct. 19 for Family Worship which was a special night because some high school students were visiting Union for the soccer and volleyball tournament.
College View Church was packed full of people for the concert. Only standing room was left in the sanctuary by the time the group was introduced. After Selah was introduced they immediately jumped into the concert. Selah fed off the energy and interacted with the crowd, encouraging those attending to sing along.
Selah sang their most famous arrangements including, “In the Sweet By and By,” ”Swing Low, Sweet Chariot/I’ll Fly Away,” “You Raise Me Up,” “Amazing Grace” and “I Got Saved.” In addition, Hall sang Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors” and Perry sang “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman” as a duet with her niece Samantha, who Perry called on stage from the audience.
Halfway through the concert, Selah asked if there were any students from Union that were from the Congo. Smith had spent time in the Congo growing up and knew the native language and some of their Christian songs.
Two students said they were, and later they were invited to come on stage and sing a song with Selah in a language native to the Congo. Selah also invited two other students to join them on stage for the song.
After the concert, Robert Leslie, a junior business administration major, was emotional and excited for the opportunity to sing with Selah. “I got to sing with one of the greatest Christian music groups of all time, which I’ve listened to for my entire life, and made my life dream come true,” Leslie explained.
This year’s concert coordinator is Cole Yeager. This Selah concert was his first for Campus Ministries. “I think it [the concert] went really well. Honestly, I don’t think it could have gone any better. I’m really excited; I was very nervous because I hadn’t planned anything like this before,” explained Yeager.
Campus Ministries has several other concerts planned for the remainder of the school year. The next concert will be on February 15, when Tim Timmons will visit Union. There is also a concert in the works right now for sometime in March.
Jordan Judge is a freshman studying business administration.