College of Theology

The Canyon Worship Songwriters Showcase drew a large crowd to the Canyon 49 Grill on Monday night, and with good reason. The 13 songs featured a lot of new faces, a lot of different genres, a lot of worship and, notably, a lot of engagement by those in attendance. It evoked reminders of how much the program has grown in four years and how it continues to evolve.

The growth of the Center for Worship Arts program at GCU is being felt in churches in Arizona and beyond. Aaron Bolton and Mallory Denson are just two of the students who have graduated and gone on to worship ministry careers at local churches. “We’re thrilled,” said Dr. Jason Hiles, Dean of the College of Theology.

“There’s real science going on … there’s real innovation,” Provost Dr. Hank Radda said during Wednesday’s Undergraduate Learning Community and Research Symposium. Student presenters spoke to the audience about everything from the Desert Owl Population Improvement Project to the Bible Virtual Reality Project and one team’s attempt to help nonprofits digitize their paper surveys.

The GCU Recording Studio usually is a busy place, and part of the reason is the relationship that has been built with the high school community. Concert bands, choirs, jazz bands and other musical groups have gotten an opportunity to come to the studio and make professional-sounding recordings, and Valley Christian Schools took it to the next level by turning it into a video.

GCU Computer Science students are adding a modern twist to the Bible by using virtual reality to bring some of its most famous stories to life.

Graduates of the online program at Grand Canyon University always have inspirational stories to tell, and this year they were equally inspired by keynote speaker Gian-Paul Gonzalez’s talk — and by the celebration that is a GCU commencement ceremony.

If the graduates at fall commencement didn’t know about ninth-grade world history teacher and New York Giants chaplain Gian-Paul Gonzalez before they got to GCU Arena, they sure do now. Gonzalez’s keynote addresses at the five ceremonies were a hit every time, and in addition to all the standing ovations he also was descended upon by a sea of thankful listeners when he came out to watch the “tunnel walk” after the Saturday morning ceremony.

Photos by David Kadlubowski GCU News Bureau Student artists from the Canyon Worship 2018 album performed their songs Tuesday night at Harvest Bible Chapel West Valley.  

Canyon Worship West, the first concert by students whose work appeared on the Canyon Worship 2018 album, drew an appreciative crowd Tuesday at Harvest Bible Chapel West Valley. “These guys came into this church, set up three hours before, and walked in like they’d been playing here for 10 years,” said Genaro “Gin” Giurgiu, the church’s Director of Worship.

Increasingly, students at Grand Canyon University are adding minors. These extra concentrated courses give students deeper knowledge in a branch of their major, an increased skill set, a complement to their major, or a completely different academic area to explore.