The wish of a 100-year-old Mattoon resident to see a fully attended Sunday service was fulfilled at the “Let’s Pack the House” event hosted by the Apostolic Christians in Today’s Society campus ministry.

Annie England, whose 100th birthday was April 6, said she was very pleased with attendance at the service.

“The service was much too long for me having to sit for almost three hours, but it was a great joy to see a full house and it is my hope that everyone comes back,” England said.

Otis Seawood, a senior family and consumer sciences major and vice president of ACTS, said England inspired him to come up with the idea for the service.

“When Annie England turned 100, I remember her saying that it was her dream to see a completely packed service before she dies and I thought of how cool it would be to pack the place,” Seawood said. “We wanted to have a lot of students come in and show how God has blessed them through their talents, which I think was a huge success.”

During the service, songs were sung, praise dances were performed, poetry was recited and people raised their arms in prayer.

England said her favorite part of the “Let’s Pack the House” service was the singing.

“I really enjoyed the beautiful old-time songs because not many churches sing them anymore,” England said.

Andrew Robinson, a communication studies professor and the pastor of ACTS, said he has known England for more than 14 years and they wanted to tie a time of celebration for the students with England’s dream.

“The only open seats I saw were in the balcony so Annie was thrilled,” Robinson said. “We filled the house for her and it was a great blessing for all of us for the talent, praise and celebration present.”

Robinson said the service was beneficial to everyone who attended because it was a time to relax and enjoy the end of the year, and it was a way to help their own emotional and personal outreach to God where they felt a spiritual closeness.

“There was definitely an atmosphere of camaraderie,” Robinson said. “People really felt the strength of unity through brotherhood and sisterhood.”

During the service, awards of appreciation were presented to Janice Collins, a journalism professor; Mona Davenport, the director of the Minority Affairs Office; Quiana Stone, a resident director of Carman Hall; and Seawood, who has been an executive member of ACTS for three years.

Awards of appreciation were also presented to Alpha Phi Alpha, the Unity Gospel Choir, the Black Student Union and Kappa Alpha Psi.

At the end of the service on Sunday, those attending prayed for all of the graduating seniors and then they prayed for all students to do well during finals week.

“It was a wonderful, positive, encouraging environment for all of the students, faculty and staff that were there, and it was a great way to culminate the year with excitement and rejoicing,” Robinson said.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or rjroders@eiu.edu.