MINISTRY TEAMS LEAD WORSHIP ACROSS THE COUNTRY In April, Liberty University’s Worship Collective sent a 10-member band to lead worship for more than 5,000 youth pastors at Student Leadership University’s (SLU) Youth Pastor Summit at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla. The two-day event featured prominent speakers, including author and church planter Francis Chan, author/speaker Brent Crowe, and David Nasser, Liberty’s senior vice president for spiritual development. The band also played
for SLU events in Dallas and Nashville last spring and is scheduled for a 20-city tour with SLU’s Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 events. Another traveling music ministry, the Sounds of Liberty, performed on April 17 in Washington, D.C., at the Center for Christian Statesmanship’s 20th Anniversary Celebration. Over the summer, Liberty’s Worship Collective and the Sounds of Liberty will travel to numerous churches and youth camps to lead worship.
“DUCK DYNASTY” LANDS AT LU When the Season 9 finale and 100th episode of A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” aired in March, Liberty University students had the unique experience of watching it with two of the show’s stars — fellow classmates John Luke Robertson and his wife, Mary Kate. Students joined them in the Vines Center for the largest “Duck Dynasty” watch party in the world, eager to see their campus featured on screen. The one-hour episode, “RV There Yet?,” featured members of the “Duck Dynasty”
clan on a road trip from their home in Louisiana to Lynchburg, Va., where they dropped the couple off at Liberty for the first time last fall. The TV crew spent a full day filming on Liberty’s campus last August. The episode spotlighted a few familiar locations, including Hancock Welcome Center (where alumni Trey and Sarah Falwell took the Robertsons on a guided tour), DeMoss Hall, and the Residential Commons (Liberty’s highrise residence halls).
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President Jerry Falwell and his wife, Becki, spend time with Korie and Willie Robertson during the filming of ‘Duck Dynasty’ on campus.
During commercial breaks at the watch party, John Luke and Mary Kate offered behind-the-scenes tidbits about filming on campus and the reality TV production process. Liberty students also had the chance to see more stars of the show, as John Luke Robertson connected with his family through FaceTime and projected it onto the videoboard. John Luke and Mary Kate are both pursuing degrees in Christian Leadership & Church Ministries through Liberty’s Rawlings School of Divinity; John Luke is specializing in adventure leadership and outdoor ministries, and Mary Kate is studying women’s leadership. Other Robertson family members have returned to campus since the filming. John Luke’s mother, Korie, and sister Sadie came for Fall Family Weekend in September, where they spoke at Liberty’s Convocation, and Willie, his father, surprised guests at Commencement.