Recalling Tradition
BY Mason Fridley ’23
3 MIN. READ
THE STORY OF HOW 10:07 BEGAN
Every Tuesday at 10:07 p.m., Anderson University students gather in the Fair Commons Apartments lobby to sing, worship, and praise Jesus. 10:07 has no programming and no professional AU staff managing the function. These students come together as a community of Christians, committing themselves to an hour of undivided attention to each other and their savior. This expression of Christian kinship is not only beautiful but a wonderful example of what healthy Christian fellowship looks like.
The AU tradition of 10:07 began more than 20 years ago with a group of students who wanted to bring a time of uninterrupted worship to campus. However, 10:07 didn’t begin as an on-campus worship event. The program actually spurred from a Sunday night service hosted at Park Place Church of God. Park Place had begun a young adults ministry called Open Door, which was made up of mostly AU students, and the goal was to provide a place for college students to get off campus, eat a meal, and hear some good news.
In 2000, a group of students who attended Open Door decided they wanted a more “unplugged” experience. So this group created an acoustic worship set in the Dunn Hall lobby on Tuesday nights and began worshiping at 10:07.
10:07 was an instant hit. “We started out the first night with 30 or 40 people, and then the next week it was 50 or 60. In about three months, we were squeezing 110 people into the lobby, and we had to move to a bigger space,” shared Collin Moneymaker ’02, one of the original 10:07 band members.
Moneymaker also shared why he felt 10:07 was beneficial on campus. “Prayer and worship were a big focus of people’s lives, and having a time in the middle of the week to step away from classwork, sports, and other activities was really nice for a lot of people. It gave people time to refocus and re-engage,” he said.
Plenty can change in 20 years, but the heart of 10:07 remains. The quiet time and space to connect with the AU Christian community is paramount, and 10:07 has been a tool that helps cultivate that community. Thanks to Moneymaker and the rest of the original team, AU has a great tradition that has helped thousands of students connect and engage with God during the school year in a way that is beautiful and unique.
Anderson University is on a mission to educate students for lives of faith and service, offering more than 60 undergraduate majors, 30 three-year degrees, 20 NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports, alongside adult and graduate programs. The private, liberal arts institution is fully accredited and recognized among top colleges for its business, computer science, cybersecurity, dance, engineering, nursing, and teacher education programs. Anderson University was established in 1917 in Anderson, Indiana, by the Church of God.