Shiloh Salutes Neighboring NSU During Annual Day

NORFOLK

Sunday (Feb. 19)  is NSU Day at Shiloh Baptist Church, beginning at 10:45 a.m.

“This is always a high energy-packed day when students, faculty, and administrators join us in celebrating the great relationship between our church and the university,” said the Rev. Keith I. Jones.

While Shiloh—at 745 Park Ave. across for the university’s L. Douglas Wilder’s Performing Arts Center – has had a relationship with the Norfolk State since it’s inception, NSU Day under Rev. Jones, an NSU alum, has reached a whole new level.

This year, Dr. Tony Atwater, NSU’s 5th president, will be the featured speaker for the third annual observance. Rev. Jones said that he knows that “Dr. Atwater will bring words to crystallize the importance of the church’s support of higher education in the 21st Century.” NSU’s Dance Theatre will ministry through movement, and members of NSU’s Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia will minister in song. Also, Norfolk State students and alums will be involved in the service.

NSU Day is being observed at a time when Shiloh and Rev. Jones are ratcheting up its embrace of Norfolk State, where the pastor was student body president. Currently, he’s a senior fellow for the NSU Honors College and a director of the NSU Foundation, the university’s major fundraising and investment body.

In honor of their 28th wedding anniversary this month, Rev. Jones recently began the Dr. Carla T. Jones Endowment at NSU with a $28,000 presentation. Dr. Carla Jones, who received her master’s degree from Norfolk State, “has spent her life encouraging students,” Rev. Jones said. “She is so very dedicated to academic preparation, NSU students and to serving God at Shiloh.” The endowment  will provide scholarships to students who display need, citizenship, and commitment to NSU, with preference to students who are Shiloh members.

Increasingly, Shiloh is strengthening its NSU connection: It initiated an Adopt-A-Student program, has a yearly Welcome to NSU worship for incoming freshmen, and provides pastoral care for students in crisis. Students sing in the choirs, help with Sunday School classes and attend Bible study. Indeed, the pastor’s secretary is a recent NSU grad who worshiped at Shiloh wile attending Norfolk State.

For more information about NSU Day or Shiloh Baptist, call 757-625-4367.