Students sang and danced along with Christian musicians Seth and Nirva Ready as they led chapel worship and performed a concert at Asbury. The musicians came as guests for Servant Leadership Day on Oct. 2.
The second annual Servant Leadership Day had Seth and Nirva Ready lead worship during the morning chapel service, speak at a talkback session in the cafeteria’s Dougherty Dining Room during lunch, perform an hour-long concert in the Student Center and then speak on a panel about servant leadership.
Seth and Nirva are a husband and wife duo from Nashville, Tennessee. Nirva spent 17 years singing for popular Christian artist Tobymac in his band Diverse City. Seth has sung background vocals for Christian artists such as Kirk Franklin, Chris Tomlin and CeCe Winans, among others.
The couple released their first album in 2013 called “I Need You.” They released their second album “Never Alone” in 2016 and a number of singles in recent years. They also regularly host a podcast called Free Mind and perform at events throughout the country.
Chair of the Department of Communications and host of the event Dr. Jim Shores described their music genre as a blend of R&B, urban pop and gospel.
Shores had seen them perform and thought they would make great guests for Servant Leadership Day because of “who they were on stage, their love of Christ and their servant heart towards the audience in terms of leading them in worship.”
Students were invested in every event throughout the day, including the chapel service. “I felt a little bit of resistance from students right at the beginning of like, ‘Oh no, more worship,’” said Shores. “And then suddenly that wall came down, and they were like, ‘Oh these people are real.’ … There was just this unity I felt in the [student] body; it was really lovely.”
The lunch talkback from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. was packed the entire time. Students asked questions about the balance between fame and ministry, skill level and practice, among other topics.
The evening concert in the Student Center was a major success. Seth and Nirva created a lively, uplifting atmosphere by encouraging students to dance and sing to their songs.
Following the concert, the servant leadership panel featured Seth and Nirva, several current and previous Asbury professors and members of the Wilmore community.
The speakers focused on what being a servant leader means to them and what it looks like in their different callings.
Andy Bathje of AdventureServe Ministries described servant leadership as “focusing first on the needs of others, being an active listener, being an observer of the needs around me and serving.”
Shores mentioned that Asbury has goals of putting more effort into teaching good leadership, and Servant Leadership Day is the start of that mission. Asbury’s long-term hope is to create some kind of leadership program, whether it be a master’s program, leadership institute or leadership summit.
“My hope is that as students graduate, leave here and ultimately become leaders, and the typical Asbury student will be a leader at some level, that they really can become a servant leader,” said Shores. “By that I mean that they serve the people that they’re leading and provide for them, that they have a mentality of providing what those people need to be successful.”
Shores also expressed his hope that Asbury will bring more popular Christian bands and artists in the future. “We just need other artists coming in who are really good at what they do but also have a heart for Jesus,” he said.
