Pepperdine University will host its annual Worship Summit on Saturday, September 16, at Firestone Fieldhouse, featuring Christian singer-songwriter Phil Wickham, Christian speaker Jonathan Evans and music ministry by United Voice Worship. Pepperdine president Jim Gash will speak to the gathering, and free food will be served from local food trucks.
“We are thrilled that this event gets more popular every year,” says Elyse Jankowski with Pepperdine Public Relations. “We value joining together in worship and reaching not only the Pepperdine community but also the Church around us.”
The free event, which requires registration, is already sold out, Jankowski says, mainly on the strength of outside interest. This year, 57 percent of registrants have no affiliation with Pepperdine, 23 percent are students, and about 6 percent are alumni.
“The Worship Summit has become a spiritually powerful, tone-setting event that calls the Pepperdine family and community to worship.”
Tim Spivey, associate VP for spiritual life
“The Worship Summit has become a spiritually powerful, tone-setting event that calls the Pepperdine family and community to worship,” said Tim Spivey, associate vice president for spiritual life. “During this special evening of praise, prayer and preaching, we express our Christian mission boldly and offer our school year to God.”
Phil Wickham is a Grammy-nominated artist and leader in the modern worship movement. He has penned and sung countless songs sung in churches around the world, winning Dove Awards for “Worship Album of the Year” and “Songwriter of the Year” in 2022. His anthemic “Living Hope,” an RIAA Gold-certified hit, earned a GMA Dove Award for “Worship Recorded Song of the Year” in 2019, while his first RIAA Gold®-certified single, “This Is Amazing Grace,” became his first career number one, holding the top spot for 13 consecutive weeks and being named Billboard’s number one “Christian Airplay Song of the Year” in 2014.
Former NFL fullback Jonathan Evans is an author and speaker committed to developing the next generation of Christian leaders. In 2006, Evans and his father, pastor Tony Evans, wrote Get in the Game: A Spiritual Workout for Athletes, a practical guidebook filled with sports analogies and spiritual truths. A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary with a master’s degree in Christian leadership, Evans also serves as the chaplain of the Dallas Cowboys and co-chaplain of the Dallas Mavericks.
United Voice Worship is an a cappella music ministry composed of worship pastors and praise leaders from Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. Dedicated to honoring Jesus Christ, their vision is focused on “bridging life together” by using the powerful gift of the human voice and, even more, by modeling what it means to celebrate differences and to call one another family.
Also upcoming on the Pepperdine campus is the Waves of Flags display, honoring the lives lost in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. As part of the display, nearly 3,000 flags stand in Alumni Park along Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon Road, one for each innocent victim, including a national flag for each foreign country that lost a citizen in the attack.
“Waves of Flags is a tangible way to celebrate and honor all the lives lost on that tragic day,” said Hung Le, senior vice-chancellor for alumni affairs. “Every year, I walk through the display, and I am deeply saddened as I think about each flag representing one life, one family with an empty seat at the table.”
The university is seeking volunteers for the Waves of Flags flag-raising event on September 2 and flag-lowering event on September 21. Register at https://www.pepperdine.edu/waves-of-flags/.
