HPU Hosts 53rd Annual Christmas Prayer Breakfast
HPU President Nido Qubein welcomed approximately 1,500 members who attended the 53rd Annual Christmas Prayer Breakfast inside the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center and the thousands of viewers watching the event on livestream. Click here to watch the program.
HIGH POINT, N.C., Dec. 6, 2024 – High Point University rang in the holiday season by hosting approximately 1,500 community members today for the 53rd Annual Christmas Prayer Breakfast. The annual tradition brought Christmas music and inspirational messages to the large audience that filled the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center and the thousands of viewers who watched the event on livestream.
HPU President Nido Qubein welcomed the audience and noted that people braved freezing temperatures this morning to celebrate the holiday season together on HPU’s campus. Many community members and leaders attended today’s event.
“More than 1,000 people have shown up to give God the glory today,” Qubein said. “God’s hand is on this work. At a time in America when so many institutions are wary of mentioning the name of God, or mentioning Jesus Christ by name, l hope you know that the moment you walked in this arena and conference center, the first thing you saw was God, family, country and the American flag. This school is bold, faithful, courageous and unapologetic about who we are and what we stand for.”
Qubein introduced the Rev. Susan Sparks, who is a former trial attorney turned comedian and Baptist minister. A North Carolina native, she was installed in May 2007 as Madison Avenue Baptist Church’s 15th senior minister and the first woman in the New York church’s 176-year history to hold that title. She used amusing anecdotes and heartbreaking experiences to deliver her powerful message that humor can bring people together and provide grace during a difficult time in a person’s life.
“Laughter’s a lifeboat, a holy place where we can find respite,” Sparks said. “All of us are going to find ourselves in a place of pain in our lives. No matter how much pain you may feel, you have two choices at that moment and they’re very simple. You stay in that place of negativity and pain, and you take everyone in the room down with you. Or you find one tiny thing to be grateful for, and what happens? A little miracle, because your heart fills in that moment and everybody in that room goes up with you.
“What I wish for all of us this morning is that we leave here committed to dig deep to find our joy and to use it to not only heal ourselves but to heal every person we encounter in every room we walk into. I am convinced that together we can truly laugh our way to grace.”
The audience laughed and applauded throughout her message and rose for standing ovations after hearing Wintley Phipps, a pastor and world-renowned vocal artist, who delivered powerful renditions of “Oh Holy Night,” “Let There Be Peace on Earth” and “Amen.” The HPU Chapel Choir and the North Carolina Brass Band also provided holiday-themed music.
HPU’s Christmas Prayer Breakfast is supported by Fence Builders, Inc., Johnson’s Modern Electric, River Landing at Sandy Ridge, Smith & Jennings, Inc. and the Haggai Prayer Breakfast Fund.