By Michael Freeman, Managing Editor
Returning students may not notice many changes to Chapel. That’s because not many alterations were made because of the positive feedback from last year’s Chapel program.
“The two surveys that we had data from in fall of 2007 and the spring of 2008 gave us good validation that what was going on in Chapel was a good thing,” said Mark Lewis, assistant dean for Spiritual Life and Chapel Programs. “But everything is always up for evaluation and consideration.”
One aspect of Chapel that received evaluation and change during the summer was the card reader program. To aid in the flow of traffic in and out of Chapel, new card readers were installed on the handrails inside Moody Coliseum. The old card readers, which were located at the base of the stairs wells entering Moody, were deactivated. Currently, 23 card readers are active, one more than was active last year.
“We really want to avoid the backup as much as possible,” Lewis said. “I’ve noticed consistently that by five minutes after Chapel is concluded, the floor readers are virtually empty. But the ones that still have the longest lines are on either side of Section F. And not that we can commit to get everybody out in five minutes, but it’s a worthy goal.”
The Spiritual Life and Student Ministries department has been considering adding more card readers in Moody within the next few weeks, Lewis said.
Another change the department has considered is forming a Chapel Advisory team, which will consist of faculty, staff and student leaders. Once the team is formed, it will meet monthly to discuss themes and problems in Chapel, and seek out solutions by taking ACU students’ suggestions and researching other schools’ Chapel programs.
“It’s one more way of punctuating the point that Chapel doesn’t belong to this office,” Lewis said. “It belongs to the university. And we want it to be communicated in every way possible, and this is an important part of that.”
The number of Chapel credits for this semester will remain the same; about 70 credits will be offered. However, 23 Chapel credits will be available during the Lectureship Summit from Sept. 21-24.
“We wanted to help bring the students back,” said Brady Bryce, director of Ministry Events. “We want to let them have a voice, and let this be their event in much the same way that Homecoming and Sing Song are student events.”
The university will sponsor five Chapel forums after the Lectureship Summit and throughout the remainder of the semester. Campus Conversations and small group Chapels that were developed last year also will occur this year. The schedule and topics of the forums and Campus Conversations can be viewed on the Spiritual Life tab on the myACU Web site.
“Our purpose of Chapel is not just to do Chapel,” Lewis said. “We want it to be purposeful. We want it to bless the students and the faculty and staff that come. We want it to be a part of the bigger effort to form Christ in all of us.”
