Riverside, Calif., April, 2000--For those looking for a spiritual jump-start, there is "First Service." For those looking to hear God speak in a relevant syntax, there is "First Service." For the underchurched, the overwhelmed, or those just looking for a little fellowship on a Friday night, there is "First Service."

In February, the Friday-night vespers service at La Sierra University celebrated its first-year anniversary. The Feb. 25 event was like all prior "First Service" gatherings - prayer centered, music filled and community oriented. More than 500 people crowded the La Sierra University Church. As he peered out from the platform, La Sierra graduate student Jackie James couldn't help but smile.

"I suppose the Lord wanted to show us that we were on the right track," said James, First Service director and an associate to the campus chaplain. "And tonight, He sent a lot of saints to prove it."

The service's popularity is not just measured by the eager throngs who have re-energized La Sierra's vespers. James said the real affirmation has come in the form of changed lives. "So many people have come up to us and have said: 'This service has changed my spiritual walk for the better.' And that's what this is all about," he said.

"This" is a church service focusing on college students and young adults hoping to find a relevant place for worship. In January 1999, James and his colleague, La Sierra Chaplain Sam Leonor, led discussions about the type of vespers service that would meet worship needs for students and younger adults in the communities surrounding Riverside and Loma Linda.

The music? Make it contemporary and praise oriented. The atmosphere? Decidedly casual. Preaching? Let's hear from our peers and emphasize the basics - sort of a "Christianity 101" with a Gen X attitude. On Feb. 25, it all came together for the first time. And it was not your grandfather's vespers service.

With its electric guitar riffs and the drum kit backbeat, "First Service" sometimes feels like a youth rally. "It's not a secret that we chose music to reach an intended audience," James said. Guitars and drums can be a potential minefield in some churches, he concedes. "But it's not about the music. The issue is whether the people who are coming here are meeting Christ."

Steve Hemengway, a junior religious studies major from Kalamazoo, Mich., works on the service's student-led planning committee and sings in the praise choir. "For me, 'First Service' was a turning point. When it started up, I was looking for that spark in my spiritual walk and I've found it here. Fellowship with friends and with God - that's what we've all been looking for."

Throughout the year attendance has consistently topped 350 people, a significant increase from prior campus vespers services. Sermon titles can be as lively as the music. A recent sermon by James - "What Jesus Would Say to Jerry Springer?" - shows that "First Service" is not afraid to tangle with pop culture. But more often than not, emphasis falls on basics of a life-transforming Gospel. "Come to Jesus," "A New Way to Live," "Making Life Work Better."

But no matter what the message, neither standard Christian assumptions nor shopworn Adventist-ese are common here. "If we're reaching out to the underchurched and disenfranchised Adventists, we have to speak a language that they understand," James said.

And give them a context for their faith to grow. And provide a service that opens Sabbath at La Sierra like it's never been opened before. That's "First Service."

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