Throughout the semester, Yahweh Night celebrates cultural differences through expressive Christian worship, which culminates in a night of dance, song and spoken word featuring African diasporic and Latinx styles of Christian worship among others. Yahweh Night is a Contracted Independent Organization with over 80 student members who each member comes to Yahweh Night with a different culture and relationship with God.
The organization works to celebrate the diversity of its members and uses the medium of art to build community. According to Juliana Dawdy, co-President of Yahweh Night and fourth-year College student, art can be a powerful medium of worship.
“We believe that God is very intentional, in that He is somebody who created us. When He gives us gifts, talents and desires, and there’s ways to worship Him [with those], there’s something special about doing that,” Dawdy said. “Engaging your body through singing or dancing is unique in the way that it can connect you with God.”
Yahweh Night was founded in 2018, by Class of 2020 alumni Temi Akinola and Ezinne Ogubanna. Akinola and Ogubanna felt as though the University and greater Charlottesville community lacked an organization which honored their Nigerian Christian identities, and they wanted to create a cultural outlet for all University students feeling the same way. The following year, Class of 2021 alumna and Yahweh Night member Grace Medrano highlighted a need for Latinx-inspired worship in Yahweh Night. The organization then began to represent Latinx cultures in its worship, such as worship songs sung in Spanish.
Dylan Myaing, violinist for Yahweh Night and fourth-year Education student, noted that while these songs are sung in different languages that are not necessarily understood by all members, this language barrier does not hinder connection between its members — rather, it strengthens it.
“Music is so good at being a conduit for religious worship,” Myaing said. “Music is universal. Even if there are a lot of people who don't speak some of the languages we're performing in, [they] can still feel the message being expressed through music. It kind of transcends that language barrier.”
Many of Yahweh Night’s members are students of color who grew up worshipping in a language other than English. Members have hailed from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Congo, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Mexico, Venezuela, Honduras and more. The organization has performed songs in English, Spanish, German, Korean, Arabic, Mandarin and Yoruba.
In preparation for the end-of-semester event, the executive team begins each semester by deciding on a piece of scripture that will serve as the theme for the Night. The theme of fall 2024’s Yahweh Night was “Let the Children Come,” inspired by Romans 8:14-17.
At the beginning of the semester, members sign up to dance, sing or play an instrument during this event. There is no audition process to perform a song or dance — Yahweh Night is more interested in creating a safe space to nurture talent than it is in excluding based on perceived skill. If there is a culture yet to be represented in Yahweh Night, any member is encouraged by the executive team to pitch a song or dance and teach the other members how to pronounce words in the song’s language.
Each Yahweh Night also features a spoken word piece — a short, slam poetry-esque piece that correlates to the theme of the night — and a word of encouragement. Unlike the other forms of artistic worship, the opportunity to perform spoken word and the word of encouragement is a more selective endeavor. Members apply to perform the spoken word or word of encouragement, and Yahweh Night’s executive team chooses one person for each based on how well their message fits the night’s theme.
Talented instrumentalists also support the night’s performances. The instrumentalists are responsible for accompanying the worship songs, facilitating transitions between performances and creating an inviting atmosphere in the church. Piano, bass, drums, violin, viola and saxophone have all been featured at previous Yahweh Nights.
Israel Olukanni, music director and fourth-year Engineering student works with singers and dancers to put together instrumental arrangements that are sonically cohesive and align with the theme of the night.
Olukanni shared how he approaches music direction, including deciding how the instrumentalists should collaborate with the night’s performances.
“A lot of it is improvisation. I give [the instrumentalists] a general framework of what should be the [music’s] direction. I sit with the music and try to hear things that maybe God is saying to me or maybe God is wanting to hear,” Olukanni said.
Although much of the musicians’ work is improvisation, they still meet with the performers on a weekly basis throughout the semester. Myaing detailed what each practice looks like for the instrumentalists and also noted how instrumentalists’ roles are simultaneously structured and spontaneous.
“[Each week], singers and musicians will start with a little bit of worship and then go into running the songs. Singers will workshop as they sing, and musicians will [improvise] in the back, trying to find what sounds good,” Myaing said. “It's very free form.”
With new performances, languages and instrumentals and a new word of encouragement each semester, no two Yahweh Nights are the same. But, one consistency throughout the organization’s years is that each Yahweh Night always closes with a medley of African worship, paying homage to the organization’s original mission.
Myaing said that members and attendees feel energy and joy towards the end of the night when they sing the African praises.
“[The] praise is a very upbeat way to end. It's cool to see how a whole congregation will stand up and start singing, dancing and worshipping,” Myaing said. “It's really cool to see all of the work that got put into it, the impact that it has on the people that came, and to know that you were a part of that.”
Yahweh Night presents University students with a unique opportunity to find a culturally inclusive community that aligns with the Christian faith. The organization nurtures community, artistic talent and spiritual connections to God.
Videos of Yahweh Night’s past performances are available on the organization’s YouTube page.
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