theRiver - Bringing Faith to UNI Students

When I first came to the University of Northern Iowa, I had little to no experience with church. When my roommate Holly first start inviting me to this thing called theRiver, I was unsure. I was positive that I wouldn't fit in or belong, so I was scared.

How wrong I was!

Right away, I felt welcomed at theRiver. It opened a whole new wold for me and my curiosity about religion bloomed again like it had when I was a child. The music and the message each week hit home for me, and it helped Holly and I to bond and become close friends.

So, what is theRiver?

theRiver is a branch of Prairie Lakes Church that is geared towards college students. When I first went to theRiver, it was held at the center of campus in the Maucker Union Ballroom. in the two years since then, it has evolved and moved to also be held at the Prairie Lakes Cedar Falls campus, in a room of its own.

On Tuesday, April 23rd, I revisited theRiver to get a sense for what it's like now and to show my college readers the options that are available for them. The past two years I have just been attending church on Sundays, so it was refreshing to experience theRiver again.

The new setting for the service is beautiful, with strings of lights and a small stage for the band. About a hundred students came to the 8 o'clock service. This was the last gathering of the year before they begin theRiver Summer Edition at the end of May. We spent the majority of the service worshiping through singing along with the band. Midway through the gathering, we had time to dedicate to several different stations that had been set up for us.

One station was labeled, "Reflect on Your Year," which was a great way to look back and see how God has been working in our lives and the lives around us for the past twelve months. Even when you think God isn't listening, if you take a moment to look back and see how far you've come, it's impossible to believe He does not have a plan for you. This station also had notecards where you could write down prayers for those in your life and a basket to put them in. I found this bit particularly touching as I think it is important to think about people other than yourself and be considerate in your conversations with God.

The second station was called, "Pray for Your Campus," which encouraged us to consider Prairie Lakes as a whole and to pray for everyone in our church community.

Thirdly, there was a station where you could be prayed for if you felt that would help you.

Lastly, a fourth station was labeled "Meditate on the Lord's Prayer," Which had helpful tips and reminders for how the Bible says we should pray.

All of these stations provided helpful ways to reflect on where we are at currently faith-wise and to spend some time forgetting about the stress of nearing the end of the school year and focusing on God.

After the gathering, I had the opportunity to interview Michelle Eblen, the College Ministry Coordinator. She is a recent graduate of UNI and took some time to tell me more about theRiver.

During her sophomore year at UNI, Michelle became an intern for Prairie Lakes Church as a project manager. The next year, she began working with students individually and getting to know them, and found that this was something she loved. Everyone told her that she was gifted when it came to ministry, and thought that she should pursue it full time.

When asked about how theRiver has changed over the years, Michelle said they have made big changes when it comes to their over-all model.

She said, "When we were having a worship service every week, that was very similar to what was happening on Sunday mornings, and what we don't want is for theRiver to take the place of normal church."

Michelle added that they didn't want students to look at the college ministry and see that as church and stop valuing the local church. With that, theRiver shifted from weekly gatherings to monthly gatherings.

After moving from on-campus gatherings out to the main campus, theRiver noticed a temporary dip in numbers, but in their second year at the main campus, Michelle says the numbers are just as strong as they were before.

Michelle also wanted it to be known that theRiver is a great place for college students to be known, loved, and cared for.

For my full interview with Michelle, check out my livestream below!