On Sept. 23-24, Union University kicked off a year-long bicentennial celebration with its annual Family Weekend, featuring a variety of events and attractions dedicated to the bicentennial and primarily hosted on the Great Lawn.
The capstone of Family Weekend was the much anticipated David Crowder concert on Saturday night. Students, families, church groups and others traveled in from all over the country to worship together after enjoying an evening of food, fun and friendship. The concert concluded with a fireworks show over Miller Tower.
The Bicentennial Family Weekend started with a special chapel service on Friday morning, where students, faculty and visitors heard from Randy Davis, the President and Executive Director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
Davis shared about the rich history and accomplishments that Union has seen over the past 200 years, emphasizing how the grace and hand of God are seen throughout all of it.
Reading from Psalm 1, Davis contrasted the two ways of life seen in this passage. “We want our lives to count for something,” Davis said.
He then spoke of the individuals who have been part of Union’s history. Referencing the Scripture, he said “his delight is in the Lord’s instructions, he meditates on it day and night, it’s never far from him. He is like the tree planted right by the water… whatever he does he’s got the hand of God on his life, he’s living under the favor of God.”
Other activities during the weekend included a selection of events dedicated to celebrating the history of Union, as well as Buster’s Bicentennial 5K, men’s and women’s soccer and ultimate frisbee games, a campus prayer walk and Union Night.
Union Night held opportunities for people of all ages with carnival rides, food trucks, inflatables and tents hosted by a wide range of campus organizations. Some tents were exclusively for bicentennial merchandise while others sold products to raise money for sports teams, clubs, academic programs and philanthropies.
Families were welcomed to stay through Sunday and encouraged to join their students at their local church homes. They also had the opportunity to attend Blank Slate Improv Team’s first show of the year, held in the chapel.
Ken Litscher, Dean of Student Life, offered some insight into what it looked like to set up Family Weekend in conjunction with the Bicentennial Kickoff and admitted that it was both easier and more challenging than simply having Family Weekend on its own.
“We had some challenges with logistics–where certain events would be held, layout on the Great Lawn, and making sure all tasks were delegated to the right people,” Litscher said. “But we were able to overcome them through early and frequent communication, and a fantastic spirit of collaboration to ensure the weekend was a success.”
In light of this spirit of collaboration, Litscher had high praise for everyone who worked to put the event together.
“I tried thinking today of all of the people that we needed to work with in order to pull this off and the list was too long to complete,” Litscher said. “It was an “all hands on deck” weekend and everyone worked hard to pull it off. What a great team!”
Photo by Laila Al-Hagal
