“I remember one night, it was just me for two hours,” Miranda said.
But Miranda stayed determined and created a consistent place where students could come at the end of the week and join in with songs of praise. News of the Friday night worship spread, and eventually, the BHC basement halls were filled with many voices.
Recently, because the racquetball courts were a much sought-after space, the group began looking for a new location.
That was when they found the perfect place, taking their guitars, voices, and hearts of worship to the center of campus: the steps of the BHC.
“The BHC steps were perfect. People could stop for a bit as they passed by and come and go as they pleased," Miranda said.
Each Friday dozens of students now come together on the BHC steps to lift their voices up in praise, bringing guitars, cajons, and violins. There is no predetermined set of songs, no rehearsal with the musicians, and no large lyric boards. Sometimes the night is centered around a theme. But really, they start with one song, and recommendations are shouted out as each song ends.
Sophomore Priscy Garcia-Perez started attending the worship nights at the end of freshman spring.
“I think Owen gave me the cajon because he got tired. I just kept on playing for the rest of that night.”
Since then, Priscy has not stopped. Her experience on the cajon in the first couple of weeks of the semester led to her decision to audition for the formal chapel guild.
After a work-filled week, students look forward to the restful time of encountering God on the school steps.
“Praise can be pleasant. We’re allowed to enjoy worship, and it should be joyful, because it’s about the Lord. It’s such a reset of perspective,” Miranda said.
Patrick Henry College exists to glorify God by challenging the status quo in higher education, lifting high both faith and reason within a rigorous academic environment; thereby preserving for posterity the ideals behind the "noble experiment in ordered liberty" that is the foundation of America.