Vespers Alumni Service Bridges Generations of Worship

Published: October 05, 2025

Author: Luis Palmer

photo by Andres Esquivel-Garza

Vespers, Greenville University’s weekly late-night worship service, is an intimate time of student-led praise and prayer.

Known as worship by the students, for the students, it offers a unique spiritual space that fits the rhythms of college life. This fall, students welcomed alumni back for a special Vespers gathering that marked the launch of the new school year.

AN ANCHOR POINT FOR FAITH

Nathaniel Kriebel, director of GU’s Pursuit worship bands, describes Vespers as “an anchor point” for students in their faith journey. Unlike The Wednesday Experience (GU’s campuswide service), Vespers is student-focused and provides a safe space to learn what it means to walk with Jesus.

“It’s unique,” Kriebel says. “Students share the Word with their peers and step into leadership in ways that shape their calling.”

A BRIDGE BETWEEN GENERATIONS

The Vespers Alumni service featured an eight-member worship team of recent graduates: Jesse Uphoff, Matthew Williamson, Liam McArthur, Sam Alender, Isaac Etheridge, Shauni (Warner) Etheridge, Marissa (Horning) Rushik, and Luke Rushik.

Kriebel says the event had two purposes: to build momentum for the new semester and to show current students what is possible when they commit to their gifts. “It’s powerful for students to see alumni who were in their shoes just a few years ago,” he explains.

The night closed with the alumni leading The Blessing, a symbolic moment of sending God’s favor on the next generation. For Kriebel, it was also personally moving: “It was deep to reconnect and be led by them. Their hearts are still set on worshiping the Lord.”

THE INTENSITY OF PRESENCE AND TIMING

Held at 9:30 p.m. in the Chapel’s Recital Hall, Vespers fits students’ schedules in a way that few other campus events can. The late hour allows them to linger in prayer and community without the pull of competing demands.

“It’s a space where God can move,” Kriebel notes. “The setting itself—the Recital Hall—feels distinct, more reverent than a multi-purpose space.”

LEARNER-LED LEADERSHIP

Vespers is entirely student-led. For worship leaders, the responsibility extends beyond organizing music—it means walking alongside peers, encouraging them, and witnessing God’s work firsthand.

One student leader, Ella Hudspath, reflected, “Leading Vespers has been a revelation in my discipleship. It’s helped me discover my calling to vocational ministry.”

That calling also includes learning the rhythms of the Sabbath. The leaders acknowledge the challenge of balancing academics, social life, and ministry, and say Vespers has taught them to trust God with rest as much as with work.

Andres Esquivel-Garza

A COMMUNITY OF TRANSFORMATION

The fruit of Vespers is evident: students are staying long after services end, praying with one another, even fasting and worshiping overnight. Kriebel has noticed a hunger among students to know God deeply. “That hunger is contagious,” he says. “It makes even those with doubts reconsider.”

Ultimately, the vision of Vespers is not only to shape worship on campus but also to send students into the world transformed by Christ’s love. As Kriebel puts it, “We trust that God will continue the work He’s doing through Vespers long after today’s leaders graduate.”