Once a quarter, the entire Walla Walla University campus gathers in the University Church for a special week of spiritual emphasis and to reflect together on Jesus. This quarter from Jan. 17–13, 2025, guest speakers David Asscherick and Ty Gibson from Light Bearers ministry presented the series “REALigion,” which explored what it means to build a strong foundation of faith and how to find beauty in religion despite all the many ugly things done in the name of God.
The two speakers discussed the contradiction between the bad parts of religion and the existence of a wonderful, loving creator, and how those two things cannot exist simultaneously. Asscherick and Gibson’s main question asked whether or not there is a way to faith that disavows the bad things done in the name of religion, and how someone can still find their own beautiful, real relationship with God.
Albert Handal, WWU campus chaplain, sees the value in series like these to spark important discussions on campus for students during a vital time in their spiritual journey. When the world may be inviting people to turn away from religion, this discussion, “makes a case for why faith can be meaningful and valuable to students in light of all the ways that faith is abused in the world,” said Handal.
The value of Week of Worship is incredibly important to the WWU campus. Handal believes that creating an environment for the students, faculty, and staff to come together and be inspired with one another is priceless, saying, “At the core of WWU, we’re a place that is about building faith and we build faith when we consider things together as a body of Christ.”
To learn about the variety of spiritual programs on campus beyond Week of Worship, visit wallawalla.edu/worship.
