Wens Hall Dedication

On Saturday, we dedicated the new women’s dorm (Wens Hall) to God. I wanted to share a few of the comments for those of you who couldn’t join us in person:

Wens Hall has come to be in an era of maximized individualism, where the community is viewed as a servant to my needs.
It has come to be in an era of anti-institutionalism, where ancient ideas,
even in the church, are thought of with disregard.
It has come to be in an era of greed and self-preservation, where our identities are wrapped up in our net worth.
It has come to be in an era of social unrest and anger, only a few short years after Covid and in the midst of deep distrust and violence.
It has come to be in an undisciplined era, when a careful and disciplined faith is often written off as legalistic or lifeless.
And It has come to be in an era when the primary question people are grappling with is, “what is reality?”

In the midst of these profound difficulties, God has seen fit to raise up a generation of young people willing to engage the difficult questions of our day.

They are willing to explore the ancient paths of faith that brought us the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. They have a hunger to know God and discern reality. They want to know the scriptures. They are less afraid of owning difficult convictions than my own generation. They are willing to have their love of money challenged. They are open to the idea that a careful and structured spiritual life is not the end of our love for Jesus, but an important element of a courageous and effective Kingdom worker. And in their highly digital world, they long for Christian community, knowing that isolation sucks the life out of us.

In this environment and for these students, we praise God for a new space in which His people will be trained to serve in His Kingdom.