After Nashville received heavy snow Friday, icy roads surrounding Lipscomb’s campus persuaded student churchgoers to stay a bit closer to campus Sunday and attend Granny White Church of Christ.

Located directly behind Lipscomb Academy, Granny White Church of Christ opened its doors to students and regular congregation members for a morning service they could attend on foot rather than by car.

“Even though I don’t usually go there, it felt very familial,” junior Hannah Feiten said.

While Granny White always offers liturgical services at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sundays, one student said he prefers the more modern atmosphere at Ethos Church.

“It’s mostly different because of the instrumental music,” said  junior Alec McDowell, who regularly attends Ethos. “It was the same sort of message but just a different type of service this Sunday.”

Twelve Lipscomb students started Ethos Church eight years ago at the home of a pastor. Today Ethos serves thousands of Nashvillians each Sunday at the Cannery Ballroom in downtown Nashville, Marathon Music Works in East Nashville and The Ruby in Hillsboro Village near Vanderbilt.

While some students missed Ethos, others said they felt right at home at Granny White.

Junior Kelli Messmer, who usually attends Brentwood Hills Church of Christ, said the service at Granny White was almost identical to her usual Sunday experience.

“This one just had more students this time, because they couldn’t travel so well,” Messmer said.

One long-time Granny White member said the congregation hopes a Sunday like this will encourage more college students to attend in the future.

“We have quite a few young couples and singles, but we don’t have a whole lot of college students, sadly,” Nancy Murphy said. “We would love to have more, because that’s how you continue to grow the church.”

Murphy said the college crowd took the place of young families who usually attend the morning service, but stayed home because of the snow and road conditions.

Granny White Church of Christ was not holding a 6 p.m. service Sunday due to icy road conditions. Both Ethos and Granny White plan to return to normal schedules next week, weather pending.

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