The weekend before fall break, Covenant College was honored to host the first annual Worship Leader Summit. This conference on October 17-19 was a time for worship leaders from all over to come to campus and hear from speakers sharing their experience in the industry. Notable guests included Keith and Kristyn Getty, Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, Wendell Kimbrough and others. As stated on the Covenant College website, it was “an educational, enriching conference for church music directors and worship leaders.”
There were many different panels, talks and discussions at the event, led by prominent voices in the worship music scene. Students and visitors alike were able to benefit from the wisdom and skills demonstrated during the conference. Adison Smith, a freshman who went to many of the panels, remarked: “I had a really good time going to the panels; they were really informative on how to write music that is glorifying to the Lord and to honor him in all that we’re doing …. It was really great to hear Keith Getty and Matt Papa and Matt Boswell talk about their writing style and how community is so important to writing music that is glorifying to the Lord and that we’re meant to be creatures of community.”
In addition to the panels, there were multiple concerts that happened on the nights of the conference. The Gettys gave a concert at Redemption of the Nations church, featuring their band as well as Covenant College students. Students who signed up to be in the choirs were able to perform in both of the concerts. Justin Hayes, a junior whose role in the choirs was to be the bass section leader, enjoyed the process, even though it involved a lot of work. He said, “Being the section leader for the bass at the Getty concert was a lot of fun … I had to kinda adapt and lead the rest of the basses in a way that I’ve never had to do before. It was a really cool learning experience. The Gettys’ concert was absolutely surreal … I would absolutely do it again.”
The second concert of the weekend was completely different, featuring the gospel choir the Choir Room. In this concert, Dawn Hill led the Choir Room as well as Covenant College student choirs in a night full of joyful gospel-style music. Lauren Westberry, a senior in the choirs, said, “I was honored to get to be part of what the Lord was doing during the Worship Leader Summit. It was definitely incredible to worship alongside Keith and Kristen Getty, but I was especially impacted by getting to work with Dwan Hill and the Choir Room. I know that Covenant College needed the joy and light they brought with them, and it was such a powerful time of worshiping our almighty God!”