Attendees join in worship with United Voice Worship at the 2025 Worship Summit at Alumni Park on Sept. 13. Over 5,000 attended the event, surpassing 2024 attendance. Photos by Melissa Houston
Ground shaking, voices lifted, hearts open. Pepperdine hosted its fifth annual Worship Summit Sept. 13.
Around 5,500 attendees gathered on Alumni Park to worship alongside Grammy-nominated artists Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes, Waves Worship and United Voice Worship. Francis Chan, founder of Cornerstone Community Church and New York Times best-selling author, delivered the message for the night.
“Our job really is just to get everyone to look to the cross and look to Jesus,” Jobe said. “There’s not a lot of pressure on us.”
Power in Numbers
Four women sit on Alumni Park while waiting for worship to begin Sept. 13. Pepperdine hosted Grammy-nominated husband and wife Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe.
The summit was not exclusive to those affiliated with Pepperdine. Attendees from various California counties made the journey to Malibu to worship.
Brother and sister Micah and Mya Mikail said they traveled from Camarillo to attend the event after hearing about it from people at their church, Camarillo Community Church.
Junior Kal Auxier said he did not attend his first year and was abroad in Switzerland his sophomore year, so this is his first Worship Summit.
“I just want to be filled up,” Auxier said. “I hope that this can be a good display of His love for me and that my heart would be softened and I could receive that.”
The night opened with a set performed by Pepperdine’s homegrown Waves Worship, who released their first album Sept. 11.
The group led with “GOODBYE, YESTERDAY,” followed by an original “Move Like Wind.” The pit area quickly filled with young students and adults, worshipping alongside familiar Pepperdine faces.
A cappella worship group United Voice Worship performed next, delivering popular Christian pieces such as “Gratitude” and “Praise.”
Interim Chaplain Dee Dee Mayer came on stage to marvel at the physical phenomenon of the ground shaking from the voices of United Voice, coupled with the 5500 attendees.
Humble Worship
Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes, after being introduced by President Jim Gash, took the stage, facing thousands, expectant in worship.
“I remember one of the first times that I got invited to lead worship in a larger room, I was really nervous, and I remember the Lord telling me, ‘Hey, when you get nervous, just close your eyes and pretend that you’re at your piano at home,'” Carnes said.
The husband-wife duo earned a Grammy nomination with Jobe’s third live album, “The Blessing.” Carnes guest-starred and co-produced in 2022. Together, Jobe and Carnes have been traveling the world, sharing the gospel and worshipping with all, according to Jobe’s website. The pair finished their European tour, “Live from Europe,” in 2024.
“We just love to worship the Lord and minister to the Lord,” Carnes said. “Wherever we are.”
Cody Carnes performing “Firm Foundation” at the Worship Summit on Sept 13. Carnes is a three-time Grammy nominee.
At the beginning of the night, Vice President of Spiritual Life Tim Spivey welcomed all Summit attendees with the reminder, “This is not a concert.”
Jobe and Carnes carry a similar posture of balancing performing in such large crowds with maintaining and protecting a sacred worship space for the Lord.
“We worship a lot in our sweet little living room, just really trying to hear the Lord and lean in,” Jobe said. “We really try to carry that same heart of just being sacred before the Lord at home. So it doesn’t feel foreign.”
Jobe said she has been worshipping since she was 13, and Carnes received his first of three Grammy nominations after only being in the music industry for three years.
The two are very accustomed to large crowds, yet make a priority to keep God in the center.
“Over time, I think we’ve lost more and more of that fear of man and really just wanting to function under the fear of the Lord,” Jobe said. “And that in and of itself can help you stay in a sacred space in your head and in your heart.”
Attendees lift their hands in worship during Jobe and Carnes’ worship. The pair earned a RIAA Gold Digital Single certification for their song “The Blessing.”
The Lord’s Holiness
Francis Chan is the founder of Cornerstone Community Church, one of the largest churches in Simi Valley. He is also the author of “Crazy Love,” a New York Times best-seller and taught at Pepperdine over 20 years ago.
Chan said he started Cornerstone in his mid-20s and attributed much of his spiritual growth during that time to his mentor, who walked alongside him during this life milestone.
“I don’t know what would have happened if he wasn’t there,” Chan said. “At the time, I didn’t realize how badly I needed an older voice in my life guiding me and keeping me from making stupid mistakes.”
Chan said he encourages the younger generation to prioritize having older Christian mentors, rather than relying solely on peers their own age.
“It was tempting just to get advice from friends and people your age, and sometimes it’s easier because you get each other,” Chan said. “But I would say seek out the older people who have made it. And stay close to them.”
Chan opened his sermon with prayer, then spoke on the importance of God’s holiness. Chan quoted from Exodus 33, which tells the story of Moses learning of the Lord’s powerful glory.
Chan challenged the crowd to seek God’s holiness, regardless of how large the crowd is. Sharing a humorous story of him and his family throwing a large party for his mother, who ended up not showing up, Chan created a parallel to attending a large and exciting Christian event, yet not having the Lord’s presence in the event.
Chan ended his sermon in a rather unique way: joined with Carnes and Jobe, the three gathered on stage and prayed over all the attendees. The murmurs and spiritual requests of the trio were quietly heard throughout the park.
Jobe and Carnes closed the night with the Grammy-nominated piece “The Blessing,” with all voices reverberating into the dark sky.
An attendee shakes his tambourine for worship during the United Voice Worship (UVW) set on Sept. 13. UVW is a diverse a cappella worship group dedicated to multicultural awareness, according to the United Voice Worship website.
“I just think it is so cool that Pepperdine brings all of the Malibu community and all the Pepperdine community together in this way to worship our Lord and Savior,” junior Kaylee Snyder said. “It literally is what heaven sounds like, and this is what life is all about.”
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Contact Shalom Montgomery via email: shalom.montgomery@pepperdine.edu
