I’m a senior here, about to start working on my fifth year. I was here during the time that most people currently call the “good days” of Chapel. I remember during those times that there were just as many upset letters pouring into the Optimist every week complaining about Chapel issues, all of them with a similar theme.

Some students seemed to want Chapel to become more personal and worship-centered.

Other students screamed that Chapel should not be mandatory. I personally remember getting upset over the lack of respect given to Chapel by other students talking or leaving early. We all wanted different things fixed. It seems to me that Chapel has been trying to go in that direction, and now we have a whole new group of faults to find with it.

Chapel suffers from two main problems. First, it’s very dangerous to do anything every day, even something you enjoy. I remember as a kid saying that I could eat pizza every day. Now that I have that chance, I see how wrong I was. No matter how great Chapel gets, simply doing it everyday takes some of the luster off of a good-sounding thing.

The second major problem with the idea of Chapel is that no matter how hard you try and make it a group worship environment, when you get down to it, worship is a personal thing done in a room with other people. When we try and change worship to fit our own individual preferences, then we mess them up for some one else. It’s a catch-22, just one of those things that will never be perfect.

Chapel will never be perfect, ever. We should keep trying to make it better, but not to the point of bickering inside of a loving community. True worship happens when we let go of what we want Chapel to be and let God take control. It belongs to Him anyway.

Bradley Campbell
senior psychology major from Abilene