Then & Now of U-Church

CLEVELAND, Tenn. – On November 17, Lee University students will gather in the Conn Center for U-Church. This is the fourteenth year of U-Church as a night of worship, but it hasn’t always been this way.

In fall of 2005, Dr. Brad Moffett and Josh York, vice president of operations, formed U-Church 234 – an alternative to required Sunday night chapel services. The services on the second and fourth week of the month would have sermons, the third week would be a night of music, and the other weeks would be open for students to rest and attend local churches. Within the first five years, there was a noticeable attendance difference between the different nights. 

“Rather than trying to reinvent some other way to get people there [to U-Church] more regularly, we just decided to just encourage people to find a local church to be a part of,” York said. “We'll just offer the concert which is obviously something that students are enjoying.” 

In spring 2010, U-Church 234 changed into U-Church – a monthly concert or worship night where the community could come together and hear top singers from the contemporary Christian music industry. 

However, COVID-19 caused events to come to a grinding halt. In light of the sudden isolation, U-Church became an online event that Lee U Worship hosted.

After quarantine, U-Church started again but with six feet of separation between seats throughout multiple areas on campus. When the distance requirement dissipated, York tried to make U-Church what it used to be.

Due to inflation, concerts were no longer an option and U-Church became a night of student-led worship that is held once every semester. This pushed U-Church to become more creative and use simplicity to its advantage. 

Now, the focus of U-Church is to “not only have music, but then incorporate communion and involve other creative elements that we feel like we refer to as worship expressions,” York said. 

These worship expressions include more intimate encounters that a contemporary concert would not incorporate like dancing, American Sign Language interpreting, painting, and other artistic demonstrations. 

Grace Newland, Lee music major graduate and former singer on the Chapel Worship team, says that “the difficulty that we're facing is just that a lot of people don't know about it because of COVID.”

Although Lee has fewer concerts, U-Church is still seen as a time to worship with others outside of chapel. 

“It was always a refreshing time for me in the middle of the semester because I just love going to an extended time of worship,” Newland said. “There's no sermon. There's no agenda. It's just an hour carved out of our time to come and worship God with a lot of creative elements.” 

Wes Lutes, Lee University campus pastor, describes how this U-Church service is inspired by God’s command to Israel in Joshua 4 to build an altar of remembrance. 

“U-Church will be a time of remembering the incredible things God has done and reflecting on how He has brought us through challenges. It’s also an opportunity to look ahead at what He will continue to accomplish,” Lutes said. 

Following U-church, there will be a post mixer at the Paul Conn Student Union with free food and fellowship. U-Church is a free event to all students and community members. 

The next U-Church service will be on Sunday, November 17 at 7:30 p.m. and counts as one chapel credit. 

For more information about U-Church, visit Campus Ministries at the Conn Center or campusministries@leeuniversity.edu.