New Worship gathering allows ministry students to practice skills

By Alayna Simons

Editor-in-Chief

Daniel Magee, a graduate assistant of student development, wanted a place where he could practice his passion of preaching at Trevecca Community Church. After approaching Jeremy Height, the college and community engagement pastor at TCC, about his eagerness, they realized that there was a lack of opportunity to preach on campus.

During the summer, Magee thought that there should be a space where young adults could practice their gifts in ministry, and from that conversation, the creation of Pneuma began.

“It was really cool because we weren’t looking to start something, but we recognized the need and started talking about a way to meet that need, which allowed me and Jeremy to do more of what we are called to do,” said Magee, the leader of Pneuma’s preaching ministry.

Pneuma, which is Greek for “breath” and “Holy Spirit,” is a young adult led worship gathering that meets at 7 p.m. on Sunday nights in the TCC lobby. The purpose of this gathering is to provide a space for young adults to practice their passions in their call to ministry.

“Especially in our community here, we have a lot of people who are called to ministry, but not everyone gets a chance on Sunday mornings to be involved in that way and services,” said Kyla Mays, senior music and worship major in charge of the worship ministry side of Pneuma. “So we wanted to recognize that we’ve got people who feel like they can do this and want to do this.”

Height realizes that there are several opportunities to be involved in a small group and a time of worship through the week for students, but Pneuma is different in the fact that it is a gathering that allows everyone to be engaged through three different forms of ministry throughout each service.

“The central point is giving experience and practice to those who, whether or not they’re called to be full time pastors, want to be involved in leading in the church in some way,” said Height. “In times of spiritual formation, worship and preaching.”

The three ways to get involved in a ministry with Pneuma is through preaching organized by Magee, leading worship through instrumental or vocal music organized by Mays, and spiritual formation which includes small groups guided by questions relating to the lesson, organized by Kennedy Crider, a pastor at TCC.

“I’m really proud of the leadership that Daniel, Kyla and Kennedy are providing, and I’m really excited for how they’re leading on campus and how they will continue to lead in the years to come,” said Height.

Magee, who meets one-on-one with students to prepare them to preach for Pneuma, says that a lot of people already have those gifts, but it takes a willingness to lead and to hone in on those gifts. Sunday nights are a safe space for that willingness.

“Sunday mornings are an energetic time to connect a whole lot of people and start your Sabbath off really well, and Pneuma is a good time in the evening to wind down before the week starts,” said Magee.

Mays joined the team because of her passion to lead and mentor others, as she was mentored by others over the years.

“I’ve had a lot of opportunities to be mentored into doing worship ministry, and I just really appreciated having that mentorship to be able to grow,” said Mays. “I really wanted to jump on this because some people don’t get that opportunity to lead or have experience in those things, so I want to help people grow in their gifts and help them have opportunities to be guided.”

Community is something that Height has been trying to build among not only young adults in the campus church, but also the Trevecca campus as a whole. Numbers of people attending is not the goal of Pneuma, but rather the intentionality of growing community and encouraging friends and leaders around us.

“For us, the win isn’t needing to have large numbers of people,” said Height. “The win is having a community that comes together and provides an opportunity for people to preach and to lead through song and music.”

Since 2020, Height has felt a weight from the isolation that took over communities. With Pneuma starting up this semester, he feels as though their efforts to bring back the community are starting to bear fruit and finally come to harvest, he said.

As the “team captain” of Pneuma, Height is thankful for the opportunity he has been given to pour into the leaders on the team so that they can pour into others. With more people saying “yes” to being involved than expected, the team sees the importance of how this opportunity to be involved can flow into ministry experience past college education.

“We have the opportunity to try and pour into young adults for the season that they’re here before they go out,” said Height. “So I think this is a great way to get to come alongside them before they leave.”

The initial plan was to introduce the gathering this semester and see whether it was successful enough to continue meeting moving forward. With the engagement they have seen so far, the team hopes to continue it into the spring semester, allowing students to take a breath and to experience the Holy Spirit through the practice of their calling to ministry.

“Our goal is that we gather together in God’s presence and then we’re sent out and powered by the Holy Spirit,” said Height. “So it’s like breathing in and then being breathed out into the world as followers of Christ.”