Fellowship, ministry and discipleship –– Vintage Church Malibu’s Friday Night Light provides space for students to grow in their faith, ask difficult questions and further their commitment to Christ without time constraints.
Friday Night Light is a discipleship training program held every Friday night at Vice President Danny DeWalt’s house. The program is set to begin a new session Sept. 20, Jadyn Gaertner, assistant director of worship and service at The Hub for Spiritual Life and Friday Night Light worship leader, sent in a text to the Graphic.
“The biggest thing has been my confidence to step out in my faith and actually act in it,” senior Megan Anderson said.
The program consists of mostly undergraduate students, with a few graduate students, began at the start of the spring semester and will be returning this fall, Anderson said.
DeWalt intended for a seven-week run but extended an extra two weeks to cover all the planned content, Gaertner said. The group meets at 7 p.m., and continues as late as they feel appropriate, with end times varying weekly, but often ending between 10 and 11 p.m.
“The argument is, it’s a Friday night; no one has anywhere to be on Saturday morning, so we can kind of go as late as we want or need,” Gaertner said.
Students and leaders share a meal before worship begins, followed by reflection time and prepared material from DeWalt, Anderson said. She said students don’t know what the night will look like until it starts happening, but it usually feels very spirit-led and is left open-ended to provide space for questions and conversation.
“Sometimes, it’s a lot of teaching by him [DeWalt] and sometimes, we are praying over people or sharing testimonies,” Anderson said. “A lot of times, it’ll start one way and then turn into something else, but the time flies.”
Gaertner leads worship every week usually with a 30-45 minute set. She said it is important to her that the songs follow a theme that she prays on throughout the week.
“Sometimes, I felt the Lord’s bugging me about a certain theme that he just really wanted,” Gaertner said. “One of the nights, I just felt the Lord saying, ‘I just want them to know how much I love them tonight, and so, a lot of my songs were themed around that.”
It feels special being in a place with people who gathered together simply to worship, Anderson said. It is a comforting and unique environment, she said.
“There’s something about the worship that I’ve experienced there that’s kind of unlike a lot of other places,” Anderson said.
The Pillars of the Program
The three pillars of the program are learning how to be like Jesus, become like Jesus and do what Jesus did, Gaertner said. She said the content is very practical and hands-on in hopes that it will teach students tangible tools for implementing their faith into their lives every day. Gaertner participated in the first Friday night program in the fall of 2021.
“We talked about heavy-hitter topics –– authority and salvation and repentance –– a lot of big topics that I wasn’t used to grappling with,” Gaertner said, “It’s very practical takeaways, where we can just learn the better language and the heart posture.”
Gaertner said, unlike in a regular church service, students can raise their hands and ask questions in the middle of the prepared talk, and the group will dive into the answers.
“They have all these questions, and they’re just bubbling over with all this excitement,” Gaertner said. “And so, a lot of times, because of that, we go on tangents, but no one would have it any other way.”
Senior Talia Grogan said Friday Night Light has helped people develop a deeper understanding of who God is and what His word says, seeing His faithfulness and goodness. She said the program will stretch people, but will be worth it in the end.
“What it looks like is encouraging people in their worth and their value and fighting alongside people in what they’re struggling with,” Grogan said. “Championing people to be who they were created to be in the image of God and learning how to receive infinite love from the Creator of the Universe.”
Anderson and others feel God’s voice is much clearer and she feels more equipped to differentiate it from her own perspective, Anderson said. She said it’s a distinct feeling rather than an audible sound.
The program teaches students that God is calling people to goodness and a voice that expresses something other than that idea is not from God, Grogan said.
“When I have certain thoughts, it’s so obvious that it’s not from Him now because it doesn’t line up with him being good,” Grogan said.
The Impact
The program offers not just nine weeks, but rather a lifetime of learning, Grogan said.
“I feel like I haven’t even been able to grasp the depth of all that stuff,” Grogan said, “It’s something that I’m gonna keep having revelations in for years.”
Grogan said the people who participated in the program have a bond that connects them. She said everyone witnesses God’s transformative power not only in their own lives, but also in each other’s.
“It felt like everyone knew each other,” Grogan said. “I like explaining it like Jesus is all of our mutual friend. So, when you’re in an environment where it’s all these people who know and love Jesus, it’s like, that’s something you share.”
When people share testimonies, there is a mutual excitement and shared trust among the group. People are excited for one another’s testimonies and, whether or not they spend time together outside of Friday nights, the group shares a deep trust, Anderson said.
“The whole time I was talking, there were just people beaming at me, and they’re so excited to hear what God has been doing in my life,” Anderson said.
The Future of Friday Night Light
Gaertner said the future of Friday Night Light is up in the air. She said the gathering will return this fall, but they will evaluate semester to semester.
“This was kind of a trial to see how it was received,” Gaertner said. “And it’s feeling like it was received really well, and the students are really hungry for it.”
Friday Night Light will begin Sept. 20.
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