One of the Four Cornerstones upon which Azusa Pacific is built is Community, and perhaps no student embodies that Cornerstone better than Luke Rockney ’27, a business management and Honors humanities double major.
Rockney first visited campus with his high school and fell in love with the university. During a second visit, with his parents, Rockney found himself in the Hartwig Prayer Chapel, where he felt a sense of peace and belonging. “My prayer during the college application process was asking that God would open the doors He wanted me to walk through, and He opened the door to APU vastly wider than any other,” Rockney said. “By the grace and goodness of God, I knew that He wanted me here for a reason.”
Over the past two years, Rockney has seen why God opened the door to APU. Rockney has become heavily involved on campus, growing personally, academically, and spiritually. At the beginning of his sophomore year, he was invited to join a discipleship group led by President Adam J. Morris, PhD. “It’s a great group of guys, and the president is a man of such strong faith and a wonderful mentor to all of us,” Rockney said.
The group read two books last year: Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table and Conversational Evangelism, both of which Rockney said were powerful and informational when it came to cultivating his faith in the context of newfound college independence.
To further grow in his faith and get connected on campus, Rockney brought his experience as a worship leader to the Liturgical Chapel band. He has played guitar and been involved in leading worship since middle school, so being able to continue a personal passion while helping others connect with God is a meaningful experience.
Last year, I focused on how to allow worship to happen both within me and through me. Performance is not the heart of worshipping, but God has given me the opportunity to worship while also leading others, and that mindset feels authentic and God-inspired to me.
Rockney is excited to grow spiritually alongside his bandmates and peers as a coleader on the Response Chapel band this school year. He and a group of other students also regularly hold worship nights around campus, one of the most notable of which occurred during the Eaton Fire in January. Rockney was asked by his friends to help lead worship, and for seven hours students filed in and out of the Cougar Dome to worship and to pray for those affected by the fire.
Rockney also gives tours to prospective students in his job as an admissions intern, in part because of his positive experience the first time he toured APU. “I remember how so many people stopped to say hi to my tour guide,” he said. “It was telling of APU’s close-knit community, and I want to be that person who shows prospective students how much love there is in this community.”
In the spirit of community, Rockney said his tight-knit friend group has elevated his college experience in a way he never could have expected. “Coming to APU, I prayed that I would find people that would build me up and bring me closer to God, and that has been true of my friends from day one,” he said. “We have a lot of fun together and lift each other up while holding each other accountable to walking alongside Jesus.”
Rockney’s experience in the small community of the Honors College has been another big part of his transformational time at APU. He said that having the opportunity to learn through deep discussions with friends in Honors College colloquies has been impactful: “I’ve learned so much in Honors, and there’s no better place to be than with such a close group of people who stick together in and out of the classroom.”
Rockney said that a unique and powerful aspect of the Honors College is how it encourages students to respect the Sabbath. While balancing school, work, and extracurriculars can be a challenge, he has found solace in integrating rest into his schedule. “The past couple of semesters have been about including rest in my cycle,” he said. “My relationships with God, friends, and church have been better since I started taking the Sabbath to rest. I’m able to better focus on God, spend time in the Word, and be present in church and with others without worrying about upcoming homework assignments.”
Rockney’s business classes have paired well with his Honors classes, his job, and his extracurriculars, as they all focus in some way on human connection. “I love learning about people in my business classes,” he said. “Business is about figuring out how to work with people to promote something, and I’ve enjoyed the variety of courses I’ve taken, since we are given an overall view of business but are then able to hone in on what we’re interested in.”
Rockney is halfway done with his undergraduate experience at APU, and he’s excited for what the future holds—after graduation, he plans to pursue a master’s degree and then go to work in the business field, and he also hopes to continue leading worship. All told, he’s an exemplary testament to the transformational experience so many students have at APU.