NORTHFIELD — The Moody Center on the Northfield campus will be buzzing with activity the next two months, beginning with back-to-back events starting Sept. 9.
And from a teen conference to a Christian prayer movement, Moody Center General Manager Julia Wiggin said there’s plenty of opportunities for Northfield residents to get involved.
“We’re very proud and pleased to be able to host these different events,” Wiggin said. “Our doors will be open to Northfield residents and the greater community.”
Redemption Christian Academy, a Christian prep school on Northfield’s South Mountain Road, is organizing two events on the Northfield campus. The first, on Sept. 9, is a conference for teenagers ages 14 to 20 called “Pathfinders.” Wiggin said the event will promote purity for teenagers, including by abstinence from premarital sex and living a drug-free lifestyle, and will allow attendees to explore “the role of teens in the kingdom of God.”
Marquita Wilchcombe, Redemption Christian Academy’s program director, and her husband Tristan will speak about their decision to abstain from sex until marriage. Korey Harris, a student at Trinity Bible College in North Dakota, will also talk about his reasons for being celibate, and the importance of raising self-esteem. However, Wilchcombe said the conversation won’t be condemning.
“We’re just here to tell them you don’t have to fit a particular mold,” Wilchcombe said.
The conference, to be held at the Moody Auditorium, is free to attend, though a lunch of hot dogs, hamburgers and beverages costs $2 per person. The first of four sessions starts at 12:30 p.m. and running through 8. Jeremy Losier of Camp Northfield will offer closing remarks, and Wilchcombe said there will be an optional purity pledge.
Those interested in sponsoring the event are invited to contact Wilchcombe by email at kikisgotgame@aol.com or by phone at 518-892-1671.
The second event, “D.L. Moody Days,” to be held from Sept. 10 to 19, is being organized by Pastor Nick Moorhead from North Carolina in honor of Dwight L. Moody. Moody, a famed evangelist, founded the Northfield campus as the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies in 1879 and held internationally attended conferences there.
After visiting the campus for the first time last fall, Moorhead said he “felt called to lead a D.L. Moody-styled meeting that would focus on the cross of Christ and D.L. Moody’s messages and life.”
“Through his words, pictures and music, we will tell the incredible story of this community’s impact on America and the world,” Moorhead explained. “My desire is that Northfield will once again be a beacon shining for those who have lost their way.”
The event kicks off Sept. 10 with Bob Dvorak leading traditional hymns on the grand piano in the Moody Auditorium, Moorhead said, just as Ira Sankey would have done during Moody’s services. On subsequent nights, services will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. under a tent on the campus, though the auditorium will be used in case of bad weather. Moorhead said featured musicians and guests will be scattered over the 10 days, and Moody artifacts will be displayed on the last night.
Moorhead invites anyone with artifacts they’re willing to display, churches who would like to participate, and those interested in volunteering, to contact him at northfielddlmoodydays@yahoo.com.
Expanding on “Restore: A New England Convocation,” an event held on the campus last October, organizers are holding “10 Days Northfield” and “Restore and Revive.”
Jonathan Friz, coordinator for New England Alliance, an informal association of churches and ministries from six New England states, is the key organizer of “10 Days Northfield.” The gatherings — from Sept. 20 to Sept. 30 — are part of a broader movement called “10 Days of Prayer,” a Christian unity movement.
“We will have daily sessions of worship, prayer, scripture reading, silence and teaching, meeting in Hibbard Hall,” Friz said of the Northfield event.
Sessions are held from 9 a.m. to noon, from 2 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m., Friz said. On-campus housing is also available, with a limit of 120 people. Those interested in attending can register for the event and for housing at bit.ly/2wPaDLB.
Coupled with and overlapping “10 Days Northfield” is “Restore and Revive,” a New England-wide conference from Sept. 29 through Oct. 2 that is also sponsored by New England Alliance.
“We believe God’s spirit is bringing together a set of meetings which will not only honor Moody’s legacy, but will also open a way for new work in New England and beyond,” said Tom Savastano of FirstLoveWorks, the nonprofit assisting New England Alliance with organizing the event. “As Moody’s Northfield campus was the instigator of a powerful student missionary movement, and of the summer Northfield conferences that brought together Christians of all ages and denominations, we trust that the Restore and Revive conference will contribute to the renewal of a similar vision for today, and to revival in New England.”
Speakers include R.T. Kendall, senior pastor at the Westminster Chapel in London, England, for 25 years; Paul Jehle, executive director of the Plymouth Rock Foundation; Larry Taylor, a revivalist who has ministered in American and Southeast Asia; James Levesque, a church-planter from Connecticut; Chuck Pierce, who leads the Glory of Zion ministries; and Heida Baker, who ministers in Mozambique.
On Sunday, Oct. 1, from 10 a.m. to noon, services led by Seung Park and James Ward will focus on student missions, and outreach to the poor and other countries.
Sept. 29’s service, which starts at 6:30 p.m., is complimentary, Savastano said. The price to attend Saturday, Sunday or Monday is $25 per day, or $50 for all three days. Visit bit.ly/2vF9oQE to register or for a more comprehensive schedule.
Redemption Christian Academy is also organizing a free presentation by Dozie Ezemma, a professional football player, on Oct. 28 in the Moody Auditorium. Ezemma will speak about his decision to be abstinent, Wilchcombe said. The event is tentatively scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m.