Summer Community on the Kuyper Campus

As a child, Kuyper President Patricia Harris loved collecting postcards and souvenirs on family road trips—mementos that helped her remember the joy of those summers. Speaking at this year’s first summer chapel service on June 3, she connected that idea to our spiritual lives.

“As we begin summer, I started thinking about souvenirs and I wondered what souvenirs we have from our lives that tell our story,” she said.

Summer chapel services offer a weekly opportunity for faculty, staff and students still on campus to come together for spiritual refreshment. Led by a different campus office each week, services include Scripture, singing, reflection and prayer. Afterward, the community heads outside for Summer Synergy—lunch, laughter and a fun group activity organized by that week’s host.

The President’s Office kicked off this summer’s series. In her message, Harris shared a few symbolic “souvenirs” of her journey with God.

“I chose a map to show that God’s directing my journey, a book to show that God inspired my calling, a song to show that God taught me how to live and walk by faith and a mountain to show that God helped me by His grace accomplish my goals,” she said.

As the season unfolds, Harris invited the community to reflect on their own journeys.

“As you go different places this summer, think about where you’ve been in your past and what it might be that you would put in your time capsule,” she said. “What tells your life story and how can you share that story with others?”