CoLA chapels drive spiritual development between students and faculty

Departmental chapels allow for interest-specific devotional times

October 14, 2019 - The College of Liberal Arts has a wide range of chapels happening during the year through the diverse departments. The departmental chapels allow students time for spiritual reflection with their peers and mentors. These niche chapels allow for spiritual thoughts through the lens of each department’s interests and future career fields. 

The Communication Department is involved in two different chapels. First, faculty members lead senior communication majors each week in a time of devotion. Second, the department is the producer of Thursday’s Taking Sides Chapel. This is where two students are given an opportunity to publicly debate a topic of religious, social or political interest. Taking Sides is currently the second most attended chapel on campus with almost 200 attendees. 

Chair of the Communication Department Brian Simmons believes these chapel experiences set OC apart from other universities. 

"Departmental chapels extend the academic relationships that faculty have with students to spiritual relationships,” said Simmons. “Students get to hear the same people who are teaching them about communication talk about the Christian faith.”

OC’s School of Education’s chapel occurs on Thursdays at 11 a.m. in DAH. Education chapel consists of faculty devotionals, guest speakers and the opportunity for peer mentoring. 

The Department of Art and Design chapel occurs in the on-campus art gallery on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. Students can expect art-related themes that align with the realm of faith. All students are welcome to join this chapel experience. 

OC’s Department of Language and Literature chapel is completely student-organized. This chapel is an alternating language chapel, one week in Spanish and the next in English. The theme of the chapel is “voices of the department.” This theme gives students the opportunity to submit beliefs and stories to be featured in the chapel. 

Chair of the Department of Language and Literature Gail Nash encouraged students to get involved in this chapel.

“I encourage students to go to be involved with the faculty and students in the department,” said Nash. “And because it’s student-organized, I believe it becomes meaningful.”

The OC Department of Music’s departmental chapel is also student-led and organized. Music majors and other attendees have the opportunity to sign up to lead within the chapel. This could be leading worship, reading a verse or providing a devotional thought. 

The Good Place Chapel kicked off the departmental chapel for the political science program. Based on the NBC show, students get the opportunity to talk about contemporary political and historic events in relation to their faith. The chapel often covers current events happening within the same week. 

The College of Liberal Arts faculty strives to mentor their students, not just academically but spiritually. Departmental chapels are just one of the ways that OC incorporates spiritual development into the academic journey for its students. Students are encouraged to be involved because this is one of the unique opportunities that set OC apart from most universities.