Every Monday and Friday at 11 a.m., ACU students gather in Moody Coliseum for big Chapel. These Chapels involve corporate worship during both days and listening to a speaker on Mondays.

For more interactive settings, students rely on small group Chapels, where they can form relationships with a smaller community.

ACU is now offering a big Chapel offering in Boone Family Theatre on Wednesdays that will combine a large group setting with the interactive features of small group Chapels.

Avory Rosenquist, campus minister at ACU, said this new chapel will feature guest speakers from local churches and ministers.

“We also value … that students are connected to churches, and so we wanted to make sure that we held up that end of our bargain,” Rosenquist said. “[The purpose] is to elevate more voices and diversify who and what students are hearing.”

She said this Chapel offering will have more interactive elements, like breakout groups, icebreakers and handouts.

Rosenquist said, “If [students] are not a fan of big production and loud instrumental worship, there’s a big chapel offering that is more suited to their needs.”

Jaden Rief, senior multimedia major from Kerrville, said this change comes as a welcome addition to Monday and Friday Chapels.

She said many students just listen to the speakers during Monday Chapel passively, so having a more interactive Chapel would keep students engaged.

“To have that other interactive part, I think would be great,” Rief said. “You’re not just sitting there listening to somebody talk. You’re actually able to discuss what’s happening.”

Alex Humphreys, junior English major from Mansfield, said she thinks this new Chapel will make completing Chapel credits easier for students.

“There’s more opportunities for students who aren’t fully connected into small groups,” Humphreys said. “It makes it more accessible.”

She said having a big Chapel on Wednesdays gives students more flexibility to choose which small group Chapels they can go to.

“If I go Monday, Wednesday, Friday, that gives me more leeway to, if I’m sick or if I just need to go study, I can do that,” Humphreys said.

Besides having a different Chapel option, this Wednesday Chapel will give students the ability to hear from different churches, something Rief said she appreciated.

“It also gives you a chance to explore the different denominations as well,” Rief said, adding this also helps students find a local church without hopping churches each Sunday.

“If someone can’t travel around to the different churches in Abilene, they can still try them out here, and they can still figure out their church fit here,” Rief said.

Both Rief and Humphreys said they were going to attend the new Chapel.

“This new one … I would be more excited for,” Rief said, “I definitely would be going to that one.”