During worship in the Edward Jones Dome at Urbana 06 lights swirled, hands were raised, and voices were lifted up in praise to God. It was sincere, enriching, and for many students it was a time when they could sense the presence of God among them.
But for Kate Perkins, it was the rare moments of silence that spoke to her most; for her, stillness and reflection were more real and raw than the noise and busyness in the seminars, general sessions, exhibits, mealtimes, and hallways of Urbana. It was prayer during the week and Communion on the last night where Kate heard God’s still, small voice whispering to her.
Like other attendees, Kate, a student from William and Mary, spent her week at Urbana listening for God and exploring what it means to have a vocational calling. Kate said, “God calls us to follow him wherever, whenever, and to love him and receive his grace.” She is reluctant to see calling as a command to go to a specific place. “When I get caught up in specific locations or missions,” she said, “I easily fall into the trap of falling in love with the mission instead of the God who that mission belongs to.”
However, Kate has felt a general call in the past several years that continues to be affirmed: that is to serve the American poor in failing urban communities. The call to incorporate her passion for social justice with her faith persists in growing and bearing fruit.
Going into college Kate saw her passion for social justice and her faith as two separate parts of her life. But her involvement with InterVarsity over the course of her first year at school began to change her perspective. In the first semester of her sophomore year,
Kate started a social justice prayer group, and the second semester she led the InterVarsity chapter on a service trip to Camden, New Jersey. Now she serves the chapter as the social justice coordinator.
Still, it’s simple for Kate to slip into complacency in her relationship with God and focus only on social justice. Much of her time at Urbana was spent refocusing her relationship with God and seeking closeness with him. On one afternoon she went to the prayer seminar: Barriers to Intimacy with God.
While in prayer with another person during the seminar, Kate heard God’s still, small voice assuring her that he loves her for whom she is, not just what she does; it was a message that Kate, who sees herself as an action-oriented person, felt she needed to hear.
On the last night, Communion brought the convention full circle for Kate. It was there, in the stillness, that she once again heard God. And she felt his overwhelming love for her, and also for every other person, no matter how rich or poor, how sick or healthy, and no matter their ethnicity.
“There is something so utterly beautiful about communion,” Kate mused. “Just the sheer equality of it – we all sit before the table, humbled and reminded of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.”
