Members of the LGBT community at Pepperdine will get a chance to share their stories with an audience at Stauffer Chapel once again, at the Second Annual Building Bridges through Prayer: Stories of the Gay Community event.
The event, sponsored by Campus Ministry and the University Chaplain’s office, is a time of prayer and exploration of how LGBT students have reconciled their sexual identity with Pepperdine’s faith-based community.
There will be anonymous stories posted throughout Stauffer Chapel during the prayer service, while other stories will be read aloud.
Furthermore, the stories posted throughout the chapel will have envelopes hanging from them, allowing for those who read them to reply to the stories by leaving notes in the envelopes.
Senior Alexander Cooper, and member of Reach OUT at Pepperdine, is excited about the event.
“I think this is a unique opportunity for students who might not know a lot about their gay peers, to get a better feel for what many of us have gone through and what many of us experience,” Cooper said.
“I would only ask that students attending keep an open mind, and that they would take advantage of this event to understand the backgrounds and perspectives of the diverse population of gay students here at Pepperdine,” Cooper said. “It’s about reconciliation and learning how we can develop common ground and relate with each other, and I hope the event will be conducive to that end.”
Cooper mentioned that it is important to note that the event is hosted by Campus Ministry, not by the unofficial student group Reach OUT at Pepperdine.
“Campus Ministry has been very open to dialogue with the LGBT students here at Pepperdine. Not only has it allowed us to have two prayer events, but the ministers themselves have been more than open to hearing us out,” Cooper said.
The first Building Bridges Through Prayer event was held last year when alumnus Daniel Dugger, a Campus Ministry intern at the time, came up with the idea.
“I was also involved with the leadership at Reach OUT, and we discussed that one of the most powerful tools for change, especially with gay rights, is sharing stories, because people hear the truth from people they trust, rather than political nonsense,” Dugger said.
At the same time, one of Campus Ministry’s main themes for the year was sharing stories as a form of ministering, so as to build community through intimacy and trust. For Dugger, as a prayer intern, all of those things came together.
“With the help of other Campus Ministry leaders and Reach OUT leaders, we got it planned,” Dugger said.
Dugger explained that Campus Ministry was very important to the creation of the event.
“Campus Ministry was essential because they know what a firestorm this issue can bring about on a Christian campus, and were extremely careful in planning and wording the event in a way that didn’t cause one,” Dugger said.
Dugger suspects that without the help of Campus Ministry, an event like that would not have been as successful.
In its second year, Dugger is excited about what the event represents.
“The reason I love this event is because there are so many, even myself at one point, that were told that God’s love has limits, and that you had to be a certain way to get that love,” Dugger said. “I pray through this event people grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is, and [that they will come] to know this love that surpasses all knowledge. The fact that I get to be part of an event that leaves that legacy makes me so happy.”
The prayer service will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Stauffer Chapel.