Kingdom Culture creates space for students to belong, worship, and celebrate culture at Bethel

Kingdom Culture creates space for students to connect through faith, community, and the cultures that shape them. These Christ-centered communities bring students together through worship, Bible studies, cultural celebrations, service projects, and student-led events. 

Led by Caleb Climaco ’26, Kingdom Culture is a student-led branch of Bethel Student Government that partners with the Office of Inclusive Excellence. Its subgroups include Voz Latinx, Poder, Asian Student Alliance, Acasă, Black Student Union. Together, these groups create opportunities for students to worship and see how different languages, backgrounds, and traditions can point toward the same God.

“For us, it’s really important to keep our eyes first on Christ,” Climaco says. “We want students to experience what it’s like to praise the Lord in different contexts.”

That conviction shaped Climaco’s decision to lead. As he connected with multicultural student groups at Bethel, he saw students gathering around shared backgrounds, stories, and traditions. He also saw an opportunity to make Christ the clear center of that community.

“I saw the need to have Christ and faith be a part of that celebration, to have it be our first culture, and then integrate our backgrounds into it,” Climaco says. “That’s why I took up the role of director, and then eventually the executive director.”

Tiara Lamb ’27, director of Acasă, says Kingdom Culture helps students honor culture and ethnicity as part of God’s creation.

“We are Christ’s image-bearers, so part of His image is the ethnicity and culture that He has given to us,” Lamb says. “What better way to respond to God’s good gift than by stewarding His creation of culture and ethnicity for Kingdom purpose? Kingdom Culture is exactly the place where students are invited, in community, to honor the culture and ethnicity God has given to them.”

Climaco says Kingdom Culture helps students understand that unity in Christ does not erase culture—it gives culture a shared center.

“That’s what we want people to recognize: to praise the Lord with different nations and different tongues, and to realize that it’s all for God,” Climaco says. “We come from different contexts and different backgrounds, but that diversity unites us.”

Amanda Peterson, Kingdom Culture advisor and director of inclusive excellence, sees students leading that work with intention.

“I see our students as the primary architects of a more holistic Bethel,” Peterson says. “They do not just talk about the Kingdom of Heaven; they build it here through intentionality and radical hospitality.”

That mission has grown steadily during Climaco’s time in leadership. As Kingdom Culture began putting Christ first in a more intentional way, Climaco says students stepped forward to lead, serve, and build the community.

“When we started doing this a couple years ago, the Lord really began to work in our communities and our people. Leaders emerged exactly when we needed them,” Climaco says.

One example was a Hispanic Bible study led by Climaco’s brother, where students gathered for Scripture, prayer, and connection. Over time, that community helped launch Hispanic worship nights that grew to include students, families, local churches, and guests from across Bethel—eventually moving into Benson Great Hall.

“With every event, the Hispanic worship nights kept growing” Climaco says. “More musicians, more families, and more churches came. Now we’re in Benson Great Hall, Bethel’s biggest stage, worshiping the Lord together with people from Bethel and beyond, not just Spanish speakers.”

Peterson says that growing community is part of Kingdom Culture’s purpose.

“The purpose of Kingdom Culture is to provide a foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven,” Peterson says. “Our events are bridges, not barriers. We are committed to the idea of unity without uniformity. God celebrates the diversity of many tongues and tribes, and so do we.”

The work has also moved beyond worship. In the fall, Hispanic Bible study leaders formed a service projects group. When January brought challenges connected to immigration concerns in the community, students were ready to respond. They coordinated support, gathered volunteers, and served beyond Poder.

“In that moment, people didn’t see it as something only for one group,” Climaco says. "They saw it as our God-given community. We wanted to support each other, be together, and be united. I thought that was beautiful.”

Leading Kingdom Culture has also shaped Climaco’s own faith. He says the role taught him to trust God with work he could not fully control or predict. When he stepped into leadership, he did not know what impact he would make. He simply wanted to be faithful. “I feel like it’s given me a stronger faith to see how much trust we can put in the Lord,” Climaco says. “I don’t think anyone feels prepared, but I came in saying, ‘Lord, do Your will. Do what You do best.’ And He’s been faithful.”

Now, as Climaco looks ahead, he’s thinking about what it means to pass the work to the next group of leaders.  

“I want them to keep building community, togetherness, and unity,” Climaco says.

This community is already reaching beyond campus. Kingdom Culture students have led worship nights at churches, connected with youth groups, and supported students outside Bethel.  

As he prepares for life after graduation, Climaco says Kingdom Culture has helped him see how God can use his experience in new places. He is graduating with a computer engineering degree and pursuing programming, engineering, or a related field. He also wants to keep serving his church and investing in the community that shaped him.

“I want to use what I’ve learned here, the experience I’ve gained, to help my community, the one I’ve been part of since I was two,” Climaco says. “Maybe I didn’t know how to help before, but now we can grow.”

For students who want to get involved, Climaco says there are many ways to connect. Kingdom Culture has student leaders across campus, social media accounts for subgroups, Bible studies, worship opportunities, and spaces like the Cultural Connection Center and the Office of Inclusive Excellence.  

As he reflects on his time at Bethel, Climaco hopes students will seek out the kind of community that formed him.

“I love to encourage students to find a community, find people who will push them closer to Christ,” he says. “Encourage people to love like Jesus loves.”

For Climaco, Kingdom Culture has been a place to lead, worship, serve, and grow. But it has also been a place to belong.

“I found so many great things here: faith, friends, and a lot of what I want to do in the future,” Climaco says. “But most importantly, I found the Lord and I found a family.”

Join a Christ-centered community where you can celebrate culture, explore identity, and build meaningful connections.

Kingdom Culture supports students as they grow in their understanding of identity, foster cross-cultural connection, and celebrate the richness of God’s creation under Christ.

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