MILFORD – Eggs, pancakes, bacon, and sausage – a normal breakfast for the students of the University of New Haven. Yet on Saturday, Feb. 6, five of UNH’s students decided to skip on the usual Bartels breakfast options and headed to Cornerstone Christian Center in Milford, CT for their monthly Men’s Breakfast. At 9:00 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month, men from the greater New Haven area gather together for a free breakfast, a time of worship, and an inspirational and encouraging message from one of the church’s male leaders.
After a filling breakfast and a time of passionate worship through song, Pastor Alfred D. Watts, the senior pastor of Cornerstone Christian Center, spoke about having faith in God even in difficult and trying times. Many men shared stories of their faith in Jesus and claim that God has worked miracles in their lives, including accounts of actual physical healings as a result of prayer. While many approach this subject with skepticism and hesitation, the men of this local congregation are unwavering in their faith.
Jonathan Voss, Nathan Wacker, Quincy Valentine, Travis Young, and Stephen James Johnson, all University of New Haven students and members of the university’s Ambassadors for Christ ministry, attended the event and even assisted in its leadership. Valentine, a sophomore Music and Sound Recording major, and Johnson, a senior Psychology and Criminal Justice major, led the music at the event with Gospel recording artist Craig Amaker of New Haven. “It is a great experience to be a part of a church that’s open to the school [University of New Haven],” says Valentine, who plays keyboards for a variety of Christian ministries through New Haven and New York.
Johnson and Valentine are part of a newly emerging ministry entitled “The Movement,” founded by Johnson and Young. According to The Movement’s newly released mission statement, the ministry seeks “to revive the millennial generation through passionate, relevant, and engaging ministry.” Stephen James Johnson, the ministry’s spokesperson, claims that a majority of Christendom has become “lukewarm,” a term Christians use to describe believers who are noncommittal in their faith. The Movement purposes itself in revitalizing such Christians. “God wants to do great and mighty things in the lives of those who call upon the name of Jesus,” says Johnson.
Cornerstone Christian Center, which holds its Sunday services at 10:00 a.m. at Jonathan Law High School, located on 20 Tisdale Avenue in Milford, has hosted many university students for religious services over the past six years. Members of the church include university alumni, many of which work in the criminal justice system in Connecticut.
Ambassadors for Christ, the Christian ministry at the UNH campus, holds its services weekly on Wednesday evenings in the Bartels Student Center in Meeting Rooms A&B at 8:30p.m. Students can email [email protected] for more information.
