Students from Penn State Berks’ Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) group attended a retreat from November 4 to the 6. They were joined by CSF members of Penn State Altoona, Schuylkill, and University Park. The retreat took place at Camp Mount Luther in Mifflinburg, Pa.
While at the retreat the students got to experience fun icebreaker games, inspiring worship, thoughtful teachings, small group discussion, and prayer time. In short, it was a time to get away from the stress of classes and have a chance to refuel.
Dr. Dinelle Frankland, professor of Worship and Interim Academic Dean at the Seminary of Lincoln Christian University in Lincoln, IL, was the guest speaker, who also led the group of students in worship. Dinelle provided the students with three teaching sessions.
After talking to the students of CSF that attended the retreat, it is clear that they all found Dinelle to be smart and well-educated, which made her the perfect candidate to be the guest speaker. She dealt with the group’s uniqueness well and responded to their questions and comments on a professional level. She didn’t find any question or comment to be off base or wrong and treated the students with the same amount of respect that she expected to get from them.
Raquel Echevarria, Berks Sophomore, formed a connection with Dinelle. She said, “I loved the speaker. She was smart and I learned a lot from her. She really helped me put my life into perspective. I got the chance to talk with her outside of her speaking to us. She was real funny and cool, which helped me take her more seriously. The most important thing I learned from Dinelle was that when you worship it is important to keep your mind completely focused on God. If not, God is not listening. That really helps when I worship because my mind sometimes tends to wander, unintentionally.”
Dinelle’s first teaching session took place on Friday night. The topic of this session was “Responding to the Creator.” Since this session took place later in the evening, afterwards the students had a chance to meet and greet with their peers from other Penn State campuses.
The second teaching session took place on Saturday morning. The topic Dinelle covered for this session was “Responding to the Redeemer.” After this session was completed, attendees were split into groups to pray and discuss the message. The students stayed with these same groups all weekend, so they had a chance to develop a spiritual connection with the people in their group.
The final teaching session took place Saturday night and focused on “How to Respond to the Master.”
Overall, the students enjoyed having Dinelle as the guest speaker and worship leader.
Berks sophomore Hannah McConnell said, “I like Dinelle…I feel she treated God with proper sovereignty and honor.”
Josh Detweiler, also a sophomore, agreed with Hannah. “I thought Dinelle was awesome and a really great speaker. She had a lot to say in only one weekend. I wish I could have heard more from her. She was able to make me think and contemplate how I worship.”
Dr. Dinelle Frankland, on behalf of all the students of CSF, we thank you for traveling from Illinois to be our guest speaker. We will never forget the lessons you taught us. May God bless you always!
Christian Student Fellowship meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. in the Lion’s Den.