Acorn

The passion was palpable in the room as Cave, an off-campus gospel group, took the stage. The sextet, consisting of five singers and a single pianist, belted out a series of gospel songs with unbridled passion that really brought down the house.

For many, it would not come as quite a shock to find out that Drew University's student body is not the world's most religious group. One might even argue that for many, religion has no place in their lives at all. However, Sunday's Concert of Worship proved otherwise. The concert, which was held in the Brothers College Chapel, brought students, faculty and community members of various races and persuasions together under the same clarion call.

"We're here to glorify God," freshman Ian Highcock said. A member of Shadow of His Wings (WHOS), Highcock, along with the rest of the Christian a cappella group, opened the show after a prayer with two selections from their religious repertoire. One of these was a Christian-themed re-make of the Coca-Cola song, which dramatically concluded with the phrase, "There will always be Jesus."

In addition to the a cappella group, there were solo performances ranging from religious slam poetry, to ballet, to glow-stick dancing by a local Christian youth group of middle-school age children.

The night was rich with appearances by sophomore Evan Smith, a member of WHOS, who sang and played a song on his acoustic guitar. Before beginning his song, he likened his expectation of what God thought of his guitar-playing ability to that of a parent hanging a young child's finger painting on the refrigerator.

Smith would later return to accompany Senior Glorianne White by singing while she danced a ballet.

Freshman Isis Harris took the stage twice during the night to enthusiastically cite a few pieces of her original religious poetry. Her powerful voice, as well as most of the other performers', reached across the room and grabbed the audience's attention, making for a truly captivating evening.

The chapel also welcomed a group of five high school girls from a Baptist church in Brooklyn who performed an act of mimed worship in long robes.

The varied performances encompassed so many forms of worship that it was difficult not to remain enthralled the entire time by how each person, or group of people, expressed their faith. Although a few of the performances may have seemed different, or maybe even downright strange to an outsider, the passion in each of their actions was both obvious and infectious. This allowed each and every member of the audience to appreciate the show as if they were a part of it.

The crowd was peppered with the occassional student, but there seemed to be a scarcity of students who came simply to watch and not to see a friend or a relative.

At the end of the show the recessional song, "Salvation," invited each member of the audience to sing his or her heart out and join in the passion and faith.

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