About 88 small group chapels will begin next week. Students will have the opportunity to become involved with groups that offer prayer time, worship and fellowship.
Small groups will meet at 11 a.m. on Thursdays, although a few will meet on Wednesdays, according to ACU’s website. Some small groups will be for members only, like those for some sports teams, special interest clubs and some social clubs. Many will be open for all interested students to explore.
A few small groups, such as the International Students’ Association, the Black Students’ Association or Hispanos Unidos, offer students a chance to get a taste of a new culture or dive deeper into their own . Language chapels in French and Spanish will also be open.
Some small group chapels will focus on devotional time and worship, such as Immersed, In the Word and Experiencing God. Others may examine Christianity’s application, like I AM SECOND, Let God be God and Neighbor for Neighbor.
Students will also be able to discuss difficult topics at some of the small groups. Jeanene Reese, associate professor of Bible, will lead three small groups this semester, all open exclusively to Bible students. Her Tuesday small group will be a Bible tutor class for students with troubling questions or who need more help in understanding the Bible, Reese said.
Reese has lead small group chapels for over 20 years and said small groups have allowed her to get to know her students more personally. Small groups provide a more intimate and informal setting that helps students talk about issues that would not come out in the classroom.
“You get that kind of one-on-one time with faculty that can sometimes be helpful in your spiritual life,” Reese said.
Bible students interested in being a part of the tutoring chapel must sign up for it at the chapel office, Reese said.
A new chapel called Fusion will allow small groups from different Churches of Christ to meet together each Wednesday, said Frances Green, one of the group’s sponsors. Green, a campus minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ, will go on a retreat Friday with about 100 students to fellowship and get to know each other.
About 40 students in Fusion are small group leaders in their own churches, Green said. The small group is open to all students, but it was born out of the desires of these small groups to serve and encourage each other throughout the semester, Green said.
“We all believe in growth happening through small groups,” Green said.
Fusion is brainstorming ideas for collectively reaching out to the community with the participating churches, Reese said.
For a full listing of small group chapels and their locations, students can go to acu.edu/campusoffices/chapel/sgc.
