A group of twenty Bluffton University students will be traveling next week through North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania during the college’s spring break.
These talented students will be spending their week away from classes touring to different churches. Shining Through, a student music ministry team, is supported and overseen by the Campus Ministry/Church Relations staff of the university. The ministry team got its start in 1992 as a way for students to explore and test their gifts for ministry.
The team is formed each fall at the beginning of the academic year. The director and student coordinators discuss possible themes and develop the music worship program. This year’s theme is “Hope for the Journey”, based on the story of two disciples meeting and walking on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-32. The theme has three areas of focus: the challenges of the journey, fellowship on the journey and revelation on the journey.
Shining Through practices throughout the fall semester and begins their performances in January. By the end of the school year in May, the student group will have visited many churches throughout Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The students use personal testimony, scripture reading and contemporary music during worship services.
Tig Intagliata, campus pastor, travels with the group and is able to provide sermons as a part of the Shining Through program. Dr. Crystal Sellers, assistant professor, provides training and rehearsal support.
The Shining Through ministry team is able to provide services for churches, retirement communities and Christian schools. More information is available by contacting the Bluffton University church relations office at 419-358-3388.
Bluffton High School graduates traveling with Shining Through this spring break are Devon Matthews, a senior majoring in business and theology, and Megan Spallinger, a sophomore majoring in early childhood education.
