‘Impulse’ event strives for unity

Every Monday night, University of Southern Mississippi students meet at Shoemaker Fountain to participate in an event that is rapidly gaining momentum. After just seven weeks, it has become a sensation among its followers as it continues to top 100 members. The event is known as Impulse.

“Impulse is a movement of students who collectively worship Jesus Christ at the fountain every Monday night,” said cofounder of Impulse Blake Houston. The event, which started by word of mouth and Facebook, has continued to gain more members as weeks pass. Impulse is inter-denominational.

Impulse began at USM on Sept. 3 and has had a weekly session since. USM has many religious organizations, such as Baptist Student Union, Wesley Foundation, Catholic Student Association and others, but Houston wanted to create an opportunity where all organizations could come together to “unite together under one banner: Jesus Christ.”

Last summer, Houston worked at Pine Cove, a Christian summer camp in Texas, and learned of a college organization at Texas A&M University called Breakaway, a non-denominational weekly Bible study that attracts almost 11,000 students. Houston said he had a desire to create a USM version of Breakaway.

“I thought about how Southern Miss had a lot of religious campus organizations,” Houston said. “I felt led to start something that would unite these groups and believers together to worship Christ in the midst of campus as one body.”

After returning to Southern Miss for the fall semester, Houston sought out another college student to help kick start the movement. Blake Moore, a sophomore and cofounder of Impulse, helps Houston and other members organize Monday night events, lead worship and spread the word of the event

“Impulse is an amazing community of believers who are welcoming to anyone, believer or non-believer,” Moore said. “It’s a great way to meet students, network with others and, more importantly, worship the creator of the universe.”

According to the founders, people can worship through song, scripture reading, individual prayer, group prayer, fellowship and spoken words. Houston said the event has three goals: to see Christ proclaimed on the campus of Southern Miss, to unite believers in worship under a single banner and bring about a community of students who are passionate about loving and serving others and to encourage all students to return to their organization and look for opportunities to exalt Christ and to serve others.

Impulse is open to all students, faculty, staff and residents of Hattiesburg and local communities. It does not currently have a designated philanthropy but encourages members to serve others in any capacity.

“The ultimate vision for Impulse is to create a means to establish a community of believers on this campus,” Moore said.

Houston said he has high hopes for the future of Impulse.

“Who knows...we may even be meeting in the Reed Green Coliseum in a few years,” Houston said.