By Sarah Carlson, Staff Writer
At 8:50 p.m., the auditorium was empty.
At 8:52, three people came in.
“I remember getting here at a quarter till nine o’clock, and you would have to go up to the balcony to find seats,” said Austin Crow, junior education major from Philadelphia, about the weekly 9 p.m. devotional at University Church of Christ.
About 60 students attended Sunday night’s devotional, far fewer than in previous years, Crow said.
Crow said nine o’clock was popular during his freshman and sophomore years, and he does not know why attendance has dropped so drastically.
“I hope it goes back up because it was amazing to feel this place just shake when people sang,” Crow said. “It was awesome.”
The devotional service was begun in 1990 as a time for students to get together for praise and communion.
Crow said one reason attendance might be down is that the devotional time has been restructured.
Chris Blair, campus minister for University Church of Christ, said the new structure of nine o’clock begins with an introduction, followed by song. In the middle of the service, a scripture is read or a few words said to transition into a time of communion, with another transition at the end, Blair said.
The end “transitions us away from the table and into the world to proclaim what God has done,” Blair said. “The songs can be a little bit lighter; they don’t have to be as solemn, and that’s what we wanted to provide.”
Blair said he restructured the format because some students wanted a solemn time of worship and others wanted a fun time, and this was a way to please everyone.
Crow said one time Blair stopped a song halfway through, saying it was not the appropriate time to sing it.
“I was kind of annoyed because I like the free atmosphere of nine o’clock, and here they were trying to tell us when we can sing certain songs,” Crow said.
Blair said the song was either “Said I Wasn’t” or “Get Right Church,” songs he did not feel were appropriate during a time of communion.
“I just don’t know whether we would sing those songs on Sunday morning around the table to prepare our minds for the Lord’s Supper,” Blair said. “I wish I hadn’t have handled it the way that I did. I could have handled it better.”
Blair said Eddie Sharp, pulpit minister at the church and adjunct faculty member for Bible, missions and ministry, told Blair when he took the job of campus minister that nine o’clock is a “time at the altar.”
Blair said he was told the service was a chance for students who missed church to take communion, and the focus should be on that.
“As far as my understanding, that’s how it has been,” Blair said. “Now as far as how students perceive it, that’s a different story.”
Crow said he attends nine o’clock because of the loosely structured praise time.
“You get to worship in your own way,” Crow said. “The part that really gets me into the service is the private devotional time, just between me and my Lord.”
Philip Campbell, sophomore youth and family ministry major from Nashville, Tenn., said he attends nine o’clock to see friends, listen to singing and talk to Blair.
“I come to pray, I don’t come to praise,” Campbell said. “I’m devoed out.”
Campbell said his reactions to devotionals might be other students’ as well.
“A lot of people go to church twice a day and go, ‘OK, I don’t need to go to church a third time a day just to feel spiritual,'” Campbell said.
He said he does not think the low attendance means the service has gotten worse.
“It just means the people who are here want to be here,” Campbell said. “Our generation is more based on the experience of God instead of the reason for being with God.”
Katie Clarkson, junior youth and family ministry major from Portland, said she started attending nine o’clock this semester because her boyfriend attends, and she said she loves the spontaneity of the songs sung.
“It’s true worship,” Clarkson said.
She said she heard from friends who attended about the service being packed in the past, and she said it would be nice for the building to be full again.
“The more people that come, the better it is because we have more parts,” Clarkson said. “It would be better if there were more people, but since there is just who there is, we make it the best we can.”
Blair said he does not know why students have stopped coming.
“I’ve heard and I myself have thought I’m the reason why because it seems logical,” Blair said. “As far as a definite reason, I don’t know.”
Blair said it does not matter how many people attend the service and that dwindling numbers throughout the year is a reality.
“Whoever comes, I want us to be able to provide an atmosphere as a ministry of University Church of Christ of an opportunity to worship,” Blair said. “Even if it’s just a few people, then that is a service I want to provide.”
