Senior Jillian Brown has a love for singing, and has been able to take her love for singing and combine it with her love for God to be able to be a part of not only a hobby but a passion. This has given Brown multiple opportunities to continue doing what she loves and incorporating religion, with also her love for leading others.
Brown has been attending Berkley Hills Church where her dad is the Pastor. And has been inspired from growing up in her church and watching her dad, as well as the Worship team. Her church has taught her to love people unconditionally, and offer love as much as possible.
“[We believe] that we are called to love others and love God and love people. Our mission [is] to tell people about Jesus, to love them well, despite any differences in what we believe in despite really anything we just believe that people are created by Jesus,” Brown said.
Brown is a performer of the worship team at Berkley at least once a month, and participates in the form of her singing or playing guitar. Brown is also a worship intern at her youth group. Part of this job is leading her group three times a month.
“I get to build the team of who is singing that week, pick the songs and pick the [vocal] keys that we’re singing, and figure out what the transitions are gonna look like,” Brown said.
Brown loves sharing her knowledge when it comes to religion and music, and being able to help lead others to experience God through worship.
“Singing is something that is for some people and for some people it’s not, but for the people that experience God through worship, I just love that I get to lead them in that time it really is when im on stage leading that is so freeing and gives me peace, and that’s how I know im doing something right,” Brown said.
Brown has been a member of Enlightened Students and Claim Your Campus (CYC), Enlightened Students is a ministry that has a goal of uniting students in their high school to put on student-led prayer and worship nights in various places across the Midwest. They come together and have a worship team which is all student led.
These are two groups that are partnered together, and this has given Brown a chance to help others find their path with God.
“It touched over 500 people, even though it was virtual this past summer. I [also] went on tour with the Enlightened, and we traveled to six different cities, and we put on Enlightened events in different states,” Brown said.
Having one of the events held virtually was challenging for Brown to do as it was harder to build a connection with people virtually but was still able to put together a successful virtual event with the help of her Enlightened coach.
“It was a lot harder. I would’ve preferred to do it in person and be able to interact with people. I had to record a majority of what we had planned for the event,” Brown said.
Brown is also involved in singing here at the high school. Growing up, her dream was to always be a part of Varsity Voices, and by her sophomore year, Brown got accepted to be a part of the group.
“In regards to school, that would be my biggest accomplishment. When I was growing up it was my dream to be in Varsity Voices and then when I got the news that I got into Varsity Voices that was a fun moment for me to be able to experience that,” Brown said.
After high school, Brown doesn’t have a set plan, but does eventually hope to become a worship leader, which would entail taking online classes and working at a church in the area.
“The past three years my love for music has grown because I have a passion for it. Instead of just singing for fun I do it because it makes me feel fulfilled, and it brings me a lot of joy,” Brown said.
