Cornell alumnus Kelechi Umoga used to see church as just another obligatory Sunday activity. This changed during his sophomore year, when he joined a Bible study group.
“I began to question everything up to that point. Like what defined me — grades, the way other people thought about me, and that was my identity: being successful and going to Cornell,” he said. “But then I came here and I began to realize that I can’t depend so much on grades, … I realized I had to base my life on a foundation on something that will not shake regardless.”
Now a member of Cornell Cru, a youth Christian fellowship, he participated in one of the largest Sunday activities in Ithaca’s history.
In a Palm Sunday celebration called “Worthy,” more than a dozen musical, drama and spoken word groups gathered on March 20 in Bailey Hall at Cornell University for Ithaca’s largest ecumenical celebration ever.
The crowds filtered into the aisles waving palm leaves while a 125-voice choir and 50-member band and orchestra performed on stage. Students presented spoken word poetry and rapped over the beat of revamped traditional music, and in a corner of the stage, artists continued to express themselves through canvas painting throughout the entire event.
J.W. Betts, a staff member of Cornell Cru who helped organize the event, said this goes to show that worship should include a variety of mediums.
“You never want to compartmentalize the idea of devoting ourselves to God in worship to just singing or musical expression,” Betts said.
Cornell’s Jazz department, Campus on a Hill, Cornell United Religious Work and Community Faith Partnership sponsored Worthy, which invited dozens of local church congregations and pastors, each represented by a flag on stage.
For many pastors, like Steve Felker from Christ Chapel — across from the Ithaca Mall — participating fully in an event like this was an extraordinary call from God.
“God really dope-slapped me early in my life, and just kind of impressed me with the real importance of being a servant of other people,” he said. “To serve others has sort of been my gig.”
The Christian faith has been a source of comfort to attendee and Cornell junior Nicole Mensa since she left her parents in Ghana, who are also Christian.
“That has just been phenomenal, especially being away from home, all the way in the U.S., just knowing Jesus and that he is secure,” she said.
It’s an event that has been the vision of many organizers for years. Producer Stan Matusz, a former Cornell student, moved back to Ithaca seven years ago with this vague vision in mind.
“In my mind’s eye, I thought of Bailey Hall, and I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be absolutely astonishing if Bailey Hall would be filled up with the body of Christ of Cornell and Ithaca,’” he said. “It’s been 7 years, and I never put further thought into that, … and now 7 years later, it’s happening.”
He said the coordination really only began less than two months ago, when musical director Joe Salzano, also a lecturer in the Jazz department, began visiting churches and ensembles and started arranging musical charts for the performances.
The Jazz department allowed them to use Bailey Hall and its equipment for free, according to Nick Biebel, a 2014 Cornell graduate and intern at Cornell Cru. This was key to realizing that vision of utilizing Bailey Hall to bring together Christians of many different practicing faiths.
“I believe in the unique identity of each different Christian ministry and fellowship,” he said. “This is a time we can definitely come together to worship together and be one together. To see this actually happen is a dream come true.”
