Worship, praise and free food: the three great attractions of the UMB interfaith chapel’s “Speak A Word of Faith” event, held Thursday, October 24 at 4:00 pm. This event, organized by the Rev. Adrienne Berry-Burton and Maggie Cahill of the Protestant Campus Faith Ministry, was designed to allow devout Christians on campus to share with one another personal expressions of their faith. The timing, according to Berry-Burton, was such that it was not to be held too early in the semester, at a point where students were getting adjusted to their new class schedules, nor before midterms, which is a hectic period for everyone. Just after midterms was therefore the ideal time to give students the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in this experience, without distraction.
The event drew a small but lively attendance of about 15 people in all, which was admittedly less than the organizers had anticipated. Furthermore, of the three speakers scheduled to take the podium, only one showed up. However, the quality of the words of faith uttered at the congregation were certainly not limited by this. Besides the organizers themselves, several of those in attendance got up to sing hymns, including Funmè Ogunbodede, a student in her final semester as an undergrad at UMB, who preceded her singing of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” by Thomas Chisolm by saying, “I’ve been through a lot lately and I just wanted to thank God for his great faithfulness towards me and seeing me through the past three years.”
The one speaker who did show up for the meeting certainly made his presence felt, reciting spirited renditions of Myra Brooks Welch’s “The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” a parable in which the downtrodden human soul is symbolized by an old violin; “Booker T. and W.E.B.” by Dudley Randall, which related a hypothetical conversation between two of the original instigators of the U.S. civil rights movement, as well as a second Dudley Randall piece called “Ballad of Birmingham,” chronicling the last day of one of the four young African-American girls who died in the destruction of a church by white supremacists in Birmingham, AL and “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann, a reflective existentialist piece. This very gifted speaker was Donald Clarke, a UMB alumnus who is back at the school, taking graduate classes. Clarke’s presence moved the audience a great deal, and he was lauded as being ‘wonderful’ by both the organizers and the attendees.
All in all, “Speak A Word of Faith” was an enjoyable experience for all involved, as even after all those interested in doing so had taken their turns at the podium, many remained to discuss their faith [among other things] amongst themselves. It is clear that such simple gatherings are important to the deeply religious in these trying times. A second such event is planned for later this semester, but not yet scheduled. The Rev. Berry-Burton hopes for a larger turnout for it, so more students and faculty alike can share their faith with one another.