HPU to Host 54th Annual Christmas Prayer Breakfast
HIGH POINT, N.C., Nov. 26, 2025 – High Point University invites the community to celebrate the Christmas season at the 54th Annual Christmas Prayer Breakfast. This is one of HPU’s timeless holiday traditions, and this year’s event will start at 8 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, in the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center.
The prayer breakfast is free and open to the public. Guests will receive complimentary food, an inspiring message from featured speaker Rev. Dr. Tom Tewell and holiday-themed music provided by world-renowned vocal artist Wintley Phipps. Please register to attend at www.highpoint.edu/happy-holidays/prayer-breakfast/.
Tewell has served as a pastor for 45 years, including at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, where he served during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. After leading the 5,000-member Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, he became a pastor to pastors and a preacher in residence at the San Marino Community Church outside Los Angeles, California. He has received numerous awards for his social justice ministry, particularly with New York’s homeless population. He knew the homeless individuals who slept on the steps of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church by name. He later founded Macedonian Ministry, a leadership development program for pastors that is now known as the Ministry Collaborative. It has touched the lives of 1,200 pastors from 24 denominations across the United States and Scotland.
Phipps is the founder and president of the U.S. Dream Academy, Inc., a national after-school program that aims to break the cycle of intergenerational incarceration by giving children the skills and vision to explore their potential to lead productive lives. Since 1998, the U.S. Dream Academy has served nearly 12,000 children living in neighborhoods with high rates of incarceration. In addition to being a vocal artist, he is a pastor, motivational speaker and education activist.
Event parking and shuttle service will be available in the Qubein Center parking lot located at 1315 N. University Parkway. The entrance to the parking lot is accessible via the entrance on University Parkway.
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.