Over 1500 students and alumni tuned in to the first live-stream of Chapel Wednesday during the COVID-19 outbreak.

“I think it was great decision to continue to do chapel even with everything going on,” Jaelyn William, freshman biology major from Mesquite, said. “Because for a lot of the students chapel is where they feel like they grow the most spiritually on campus so I think it will help us continue to grow spiritually just like we are continuing to grow mentally by finishing the rest of our classes for the semester online.”

Cyrus Eaton, dean of spiritual formation, said continuing to gather even over live-stream allows students to grow in friendship with God. He said he hopes live-streaming Chapel will allow students a small sense of normality in the changing world.

“We are doing our best to work with students, faculty, and staff who are local,” Eaton said. “But we’ve also received help from those who are out of town.”

The Chapel office has worked with ACUTV as well as students and faculty members to make the changes necessary for live-stream.

Our hope is to make this moment feel as personal as possible,” Eaton said. “Instead of filming in an empty coliseum, we are using the ACUTV studio to prepare our live Chapel experience. The technology they have allows us to do things we can’t do anywhere else.”

Eaton said with the setup and multiple camera angles that the studio is meant to feel more like a living room rather than a traditional classroom gym.

In addition, the Chapel office has also been putting out daily devotionals and encouragement during the week. This includes prayer guides and videos. Eaton said he hopes the content will help the ACU community stay connected.

“I plan to mark my calendar and set time aside every Wednesday to be able to watch the Chapel that will be streamed,” Williams said. “In times like this when everything seems so unfamiliar and unbalanced, I believe it is good to have chapel so we can rely on that to provide us with that sense of stability we need to be able to successfully finish the school year.”

The next Chapel live-stream is planned for April 1 at 11 a.m.