This spring marks the beginning of a new semester of one of Asbury University’s many worship nights. “Worship Him at Midnight,” more commonly known as WHAM, is an interactive time of song worship and prayer, as well as a message that is presented to the student body.
As many students begin a new year of classes, routines, and schedules, Asbury’s WHAM team is looking ahead as well.
“This fall, we had such a healthy culture and have seen God move,” said Zeke Atha, lead coordinator of WHAM and senior at Asbury. “Our vision this coming semester is really just trying to ride the wave of what God has been doing, and seeing where He wants to take us next. We are very excited for this first WHAM, as well as several new things coming this spring.”
Some new changes to WHAM are being made as we begin this new year.
“In the past, as many know, our acronym has been ‘WHAM’ for ‘Worship Him at Midnight.’ However, we really want to start making our culture ‘Worship Him Any Moment.’ What avenues of life are worship? All of them. We are also looking to change our location from the Shaw CLC building to Hughes Auditorium,” Atha said.
The WHAM team is also looking ahead to a memorial service in celebration of the Outpouring that took place last Feb. in 2023.
Atha said, “On Feb. 9, 2024, we will be having a service that will be a combination of some local youth groups as well as our own students. It will be a celebration of the Outpouring, taking the form of a worship service. Our main and central focus will just be celebrating and thanking God for what He has done in the past year.”
After arriving back on campus, Asbury students look forward to these rapidly approaching WHAM services.
“Even though WHAM is late in the evening, I am always glad I go. There never ceases to be fruit from my experience,” freshman Peyton Dick said.
“Although I always seem to bring with me worries and complaints to the service, I leave unburdened,” Grace Garrison, also a freshman at Asbury, said.
Even as a new year brings changes and transitions, the WHAM team’s main and central goals remain constant.
“WHAM has been a sacred space, outside of chapel, for hungry students to come worship, by invitation, and without obligation. This is a space we protect and cherish. It is not just the WHAM event itself but how we carry this constant worship on through our lives. How are we living out a heart of worship from day to day? And not just Sundays or Friday nights?” Atha concludes.
The WHAM team invites all of Asbury to attend! The first service of the spring semester will be held in Hughes Auditorium from 10:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. on Jan. 19.