Peaceful Religous Retreat at WSU

In the midst of all the chaos and stress of school, students took time for peaceful retreat in the Wildcat Theater every other Sunday at 7 p.m.

This Generation, a Christian fellowship at Weber State University, is a student run organization made up of students and other young adults who sing songs of praise and worship as Christians.

"This Generation is a non-threatening, interdenominational ministry geared specifically for college students. We invite all to come and leave school behind for a few minutes, worship and have a great time," said Dave Bernesser, staff Pastor at Alpine Community Church and the overseer and spiritual advisor for This Generation.

"I enjoy coming to This Generation because it gives me my spiritual lift for the week," said Meg Nickel.

This Generation brings together surrounding ministry students from University of Utah, Westminster College, Utah State University, Salt Lake Community College and Brigham Young University.

"I like the fact that it's Christians from surrounding churches that come to worship in unity," said Brienne Smith.

This Generation started three years ago as a small Christian church by the name of Church on the Terrace. Its founder and advisor, Bryan Dwyer, a mathematics professor at WSU, derived the group's name from a passage out of the Bible, Psalms 24:6.

"I started This Generation because I wanted to establish a Christian, evangelistic fellowship since there wasn't one already on campus," Dwyer said.

Not only does the ministry take time to worship and pray, but also to have fun. This Generation plans various activities throughout the year such as camping, hiking, sport activities and community serviceprojects.

"I love coming here because it's not impersonal like some churches, it feels like family," said Whitney Wendel, a senior at Salt Lake Community College.

The student advisors for This Generation are Mike Fogg, April Conyers, Irene Pak and Chris Jones. They help to plan activities and events for the ministry.

"The one thing that we don't want people to think is that they are being taken away from their church," Jones said. "You have freedom to worship how you want to worship, no matter what denomination you are."

"Everyone should come to This Generation because it's a great place to meet people who share the same beliefs as you," said Marie Sumner, a senior at WSU. "They have great activities. It's fun and it gives you a chance to meet Christians your age and have a good time to worship and socialize."

You can reach corespondent Robert Gallegos by calling 626-7655.