Zion Johnson, a sophomore at Southern Adventist University, floated between various churches when he first arrived on campus. Then, one day, he ran into Reginald Horton, pastor at Merge Worship, a student-led, multicultural church service that is part of the Collegedale, Tennessee, Church.
Horton was looking for students to play basketball during intramurals.
“He asked me if I played basketball, and I was like, ‘Yeah, but I don’t have a team,’” Johnson, a computer science major, recalled. “And then he was like, ‘Oh, I have a team.’ And that’s kind of how I started.”
Whenever Johnson came to play, Horton would invite him to potlucks and upcoming events happening at Merge. Soon, Johnson started to attend the worship service regularly.
These days, he is just one of many students from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds who have discovered a place of community, music, and connection with God.
According to Horton, Merge intentionally draws from Black gospel tradition in its style of music and sermons.
In addition to the dynamic service, many students said they are drawn to the welcoming atmosphere, opportunities to get involved, and caring relationships found at Merge.
To Caleb Hoffman, junior computer science major at Southern, the gospel- style worship service felt unfamiliar at the beginning, but he kept coming back for the sense of engagement and energy. Over time, he felt that his experience at Merge was helping him to grow spiritually, and to be more intentional about his relationship with God. About a year ago, Hoffman decided to start volunteering as a prayer warrior during Merge’s worship service.
“Merge is especially intentional about just having their arms wide open to anyone and everybody,” said Hoffman. “I mean, look at me. I’m a white guy who is, you know, actively a part of a gospel- centered church.”
Now, Hoffman said Merge is something he looks forward to all week.
“I get excited because I’m like, ‘Oh yes, Sabbath is coming,’ which means I get to pray with my family — like my big family at church, ” said Hoffman.
At Merge, prayer is an integral part of creating a sense of community. After the praise team leads the congregation in singing, volunteers called prayer warriors go to each corner of the worship space, and offer to pray personally for people. Often, different corners will focus on a theme such as guidance or gratitude. For those who choose to remain seated, prayer leaders ask that they form groups and pray with the people around them. Several students said that the communal approach to prayer helped them feel a sense of belonging.
“The way we do prayer at Merge [is] a really powerful thing,” said Trinity Hayden, a senior studying music and worship. “I’m really glad we do that, because that’s definitely important for building community — just praying together.”
Hoffman and Hayden have both stepped into leadership positions since they started coming to Merge Worship: Hoffman leads the prayer warriors, and Hayden conducts the Merge choir. Merge relies on student leadership for most of its operations, including its praise, AV, social media, and greeting teams. “They have built their church on the fact that they need students,” said Hoffman. “It’s not just [that] student-led worship is a part of the church. It is the church.”
“They’re really intentional about letting us make it our own, like finding that fire and that passion for God on our own,” said Hayden.
Involvement makes a difference, at least according to the students who have been impacted by Merge. “[When] people aren’t involved, and people don’t actively attend, then, you know, they are just blending in,” said Johnson, continuing, “and you never really touch anybody’s heart like that.”
Georgia-Cumberland | April 2025
Comments are closed.