Campus News

Ex­pla­na­tion Be­hind the Chapel Change

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MISHAWAKA, IND.— Every­one knows about the re­cent change in chapel life, but not every­one knows why. The rea­sons be­hind the change, ac­cord­ing to Dr. Shawn Holt­gren, all lead to the ques­tion, “What is ul­ti­mately best for our stu­dents?”  

Small groups pro­vide a way for stu­dents to be per­son­ally chal­lenged in their walk with God. There is a good va­ri­ety of small group op­tions avail­able to stu­dents, and it stems from the de­sire for stu­dents to grow more spir­i­tu­ally. This dif­fers from what one can nor­mally get out of chapel.  

This change has been considered for many years, and has discussed and prayed about by many faculty members and even some students. It is an experiment, and there will definitely be surveys and questionnaires sent out to the student body throughout the course of the year, as there have been already. At the end of the year the results of the transition will be evaluated and contemplated for the future.   Nothing is set-in-stone, and there may be slight tweaks and changes in the near future, depending on the current progress in chapel life and small groups.   “There is something unique about a small group experience where we can go deeper and there is more opportunity for discussion, dialogue, and intimacy,” said Holtgren, “We are not eliminating a chapel, we are creating an opportunity.”   They are hoping for 2 results from this transition:   1) That students are appreciating the variety of options, locations, and times that they can get out of this change, and 2)That there is an effectiveness seen working in students’ lives that was not there before.   This is not the first time Bethel has had a transition like this put into motion. Hopefully, this will produce great results and create a stronger and more spiritually invested community here at Bethel.