Chapel changes

Other changes implemented by Campus Ministries include a Wednesday evening worship series called "808." The name was designed both to signify the time of the gatherings and to grab attention, making students wonder about the seemingly arbitrary number. Brian Martin Burkholder acknowledged that Luke 8:8 has become a formative passage for the team in exploring what will happen during the services.

The services are one way to address the complaint that the traditional chapel style of worship "is not for me." Led by students, 808 will provide a variety of worship styles. These run through a cycle from Black Gospel/Latino to Hymn Sing to Taize Service to Christian Rock. Burkholder said that all of these were things that were not happening otherwise on campus, but which students were calling for. For example, the Christian Rock service will represent harder rock than that provided in Sunday night Celebration.

Chapel at EMU is changing. Following a faculty-staff conference last May, a group of administrators and campus pastors decided to reduce weekly chapels to twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays, freeing the Monday period for other activities.

According to Brian Martin Burkholder, director of Campus Ministries, these changes are part of an ongoing process. This will be "a year of study, dialogue, discernment, and exploration to set the direction of chapels in the coming years." A chapel task force, chaired by Laura Yoder, will continue the dialogue begun last spring and will further study the issues raised in a Campus Ministries proposal to set the direction of chapel in years to come.

The proposal was begun last spring, and Campus Ministries presented it in April to Ken L. Nafziger, vice president for Student Life. The proposal raised issues about the role of chapel and its effectiveness, asking questions such as: What is the role of chapel? Should it be required? Is 10 a.m. really the best time?

One issue of particular interest involved the expectations for chapel attendance. The expectations in the Student Handbook state that "all offices and departments other than essential services are closed during chapel period in order to allow the community to attend and support chapel." At the same time, faculty meetings were held twice a month on Fridays during chapel periods, posing a conflict of interest.

Average chapel attendance last spring was 128, according to the May minutes of the University Forum.

"Clearly we see that the majority of students and faculty are opting out. Why?" Burkholder asked. He explained that with the low attendance not enough people are coming to make chapel a significant community gathering.

The proposal then went from Nafziger to Provost Beryl Brubaker, who took it to the academic council. Burkholder noted that Brubaker was especially concerned about the issues raised and emphasized the importance of making changes. The agenda for the faculty-staff conference was adjusted to include discussion on chapel. Brubaker and the campus pastors, along with Marie Morris, undergraduate academic dean, and Nafziger then used the feedback from that discussion to decide on changes for this year.

The problem of the scheduling conflicts with faculty meetings was addressed by providing blocks of common planning time. Now, 99 percent of students and faculty have third period free on Mondays.

The changes may also have an effect on chapel attendance numbers, first by encouraging the faculty to set an example for student attendance and also by dividing the attendance into two time slots rather than three.

While the immediate changes were not intended to solve all the questions raised in the proposal, Burkholder seriously doubts that the chapel schedule will go back to the way it was. Rather, he sees this year's changes as a sort of interim step in a larger process.

"The changes reflect a genuine need and signify that administrators and faculty really do believe that during chapel offices and services should be closed and no meetings scheduled," he said.

Burkholder "wasn't comfortable continuing [with chapel as it was] . . . and pretending it has a more significant role than it does." The goal is to have a chapel program that connects with students and to make changes that will allow the connection to happen.

The Chapel Task Force, which will pursue issues raised in the proposal throughout the semester, held its first meeting this past Monday. Faculty members include Laura Yoder, chair, Ken J. Nafziger, Moira Rogers, J.B. Landis, Loretta Helmuth, Brian Martin Burkholder, Byron Peachey, and Julie Haushalter.

Student representatives will also be invited to join the group, and Yoder said they also intend to hold focus groups to get a broader input.

Although the task force is still in the process of developing its goals, Yoder felt confident in saying that "every member of the group sees this as a way to 're-vision' chapel."

Burkholder sees these as exciting times, full of possibilities. He hopes that the larger EMU community will continue to participate actively in the discussion and exploration that has already begun.