HPU CHAPEL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE: FINDING COMMON GROUND.

No matter their faith, HPU students celebrate in many ways. They write, sing, volunteer, eat, play flag football and console one another.

Here are some of their stories.

GOD IN THE TRIAD

In his head, as clear as a cloudless day, Justin Frederick said he heard a voice say: "Remember always that I love you. Remember always that I'm with you."

That moment came during a weeklong pilgrimage he and seven other HPU students took last fall. They visited churches and outreach programs in three cities surrounding campus--High Point, Greensboro and Winston-Salem.

Known as God in the Triad, the pilgrimage helped Frederick dive deeper in his faith. At a church's flower labyrinth, Frederick felt that happen.

"I can describe how the pilgrimage affected me with one word--transformation," says Frederick, a pre-pharmacy sophomore from Norwalk, Connecticut. "I'm a changed young man."

BOARD OF STEWARDS

They're the backbone of HPU's Chapel and Religious Life Office.

The 25 members of HPU's Board of Stewards help host Wednesday night chapel, volunteer around High Point and help distribute the chapel's weekly offerings to a local nonprofit. Last fall, they created Christmas for at least 150 local kids.

But they also pray for each other. Like Maddie Stoltzfus, a senior from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, majoring in human relations.

After she joined the board as a sophomore, her mom had a bad car accident. Her fellow board members prayed for her mom to recover. She did.

"They held my heart," Stoltzfus says. "They're my safe place."

JEWISH LIFE

HPU has at least 150 Jewish students on campus, or 3 percent of the university's population.

Some belong to Hillel, the world's largest Jewish campus organization. Some don't. Still, they all find the common ground of tradition in various Jewish events organized on campus. They come together to celebrate.

Like Hanukkah, the eight-day celebration honoring the rededication centuries ago of the Second Temple of Jerusalem.

Jordan Renter loves it. She's the HPU president of Hillel, a junior from Atlanta, Georgia, majoring in exercise science. Every December, Kenter gets to teach others about her religion and share good food.

Moreover, she remembers tradition. For her, that's important.

COLLEGE LIFE

They sing, create skits and even hold a doughnut-eating contest on the Kester International Promenade.

But members of College Life also share their thoughts about God. They're a non-denominational group with at least 85 members, and they use...