Music could be heard on Ho Plaza from Sage Chapel as attendees came and went through open doors. Inside, emotions ran high under a colorful projector screen, with pews filled, a full band and ambient lighting.
More than 600 students across various Christian organizations gathered at 7 p.m. on Friday in Sage Chapel for an inter-fellowship worship called Ignite.
Ignite’s founder, Christopher Ho Kim ’25, and the Ignite planning team aimed to gather members from various Jesus-centered organizations on the Cornell campus. They sought to host a night of unified prayer and worship while providing a safe space for those unfamiliar with the Christian community.
Kim started the semesterly event during his first semester at Cornell after transferring from the University of Virginia for his sophomore year.
“At UVA, they had this inter-fellowship worship night called SEEK, which was hosted at a local church in Charlottesville, and so I thought that was pretty cool,” Kim said.
Planning for Ignite took roughly 10 months. However, a few days before the event, the Ignite team issued a statement announcing a change from its traditional structure in response to several tragic events within the Cornell community, including a Cornell sophomore’s death and a report of sexual assault and drugging at a fraternity.
In the usual Ignite structure, two students share a testimony of coming to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and experiences as a Christian. These testimonies are placed sporadically between the reading of a Psalm and sets of worship. On Friday, Ignite removed the student testimonials, extending the time allotted for worship and prayer.
“This semester, we felt that it was more important to kind of hold the space for all of us to engage with one another in a way that is more active than listening to a student speaker and discussing that,” Kim said.
The event clocked at almost two and a half hours, with one of the final songs paired with a Christian mosh pit to “No One” by Elevation Worship. Despite the reverent nature of Ignite and dim, atmospheric lighting, students danced and chanted their praises throughout Sage Chapel’s pews.
Joseph Kim ’25, a member of the Ignite worship team, shared, “I think right now, given everything that’s happening on campus, I think it’s super important as Christians to come together and pray about it, and pray about healing, pray about comfort for those that are in need.”
At the event, the Ignite team announced plans to expand to a state-wide worship event starting Easter Sunday next semester. In addition to students, Ignite is currently attended by alumni and Ithaca locals.
“It’s the event that brings together Christians all over campus and people who aren’t on campus anymore,” said attendee Winnie Hui ’21.
Ciera Wolff ‘28 and Cassidy Beard ‘25, members of Cru Cornell, came with the intention of “celebrating Jesus” and to “mourn and find light in the situation” of the week‘s heaviness.
“I have never seen this many people, this many believers like in one specific location on this campus up until this point, so that was really awesome,” Wolff said.
Anjelina Gonzalez ’27 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].
Matthew Korniczky ’28 contributed to reporting.