At a graduate class at Penn State, students are asked to form groups of three and become involved in an extracurricular activity of their choice.
One group—two from an atheist country and one from a Muslim country—decided to attend State College Alliance Church for their assignment during the 2022 fall semester.
As a major part of their grade, each group presents their experience to their class at the end of the semester. When the day came for the three students to present on their “extracurricular” church experience, something powerful happened as their classmates began to ask questions.
“Why did you choose to attend a church?” one classmate asked. “There’s no interaction at church. It’s just prayers and going home.”
“No!” they said. “It wasn’t like that! As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed and invited to lunch.”
Later in the semester, a church family invited all three students to join them for Thanksgiving dinner at their home. One presenter even stated that the main thing she had observed in the church was love.
“So will you be converting to Christianity now?” someone asked.
“No, I don’t believe in God,” one student replied. “However, the church is doing something relevant and positive. It is not what I had excepted.”
The third presenter responded with a simple, “Time will tell.”
Moved by the presentation and interaction, the professor emailed this story to Aaron Henning, Lead Pastor at State College Alliance Church.
“I’m writing to thank you for the ministry of your church,” the professor wrote. “Not only were these three students blessed by the ministry of your church, but also my whole class by hearing about their experiences.”
Aaron later shared this story with his Church Evangelism Institution (CEI) cohort, which includes other district workers. He isn’t sure it would be the same story if he hadn’t implemented what he learned during his time in the 2020-2022 multiplication development track.
One of the core pieces Aaron learned and focused on was building hospitality in his congregation. A powerful moment during a Penn State graduate class shows the fruit of that effort.