Only One-Tenth of Student Population Attending Chapel

"Chapel attendance is low, but that's always been a problem, I think it's due mainly to student apathy," commented senior Sarah Bernier. Although current chapel attendance is at roughly 10 percent of the student body according to statistics by Campus Ministries, this phenomenon is not new to EMU. According to Brian Martin Burkholder, campus pastor, despite some fluctuations in attendance numbers, low chapel attendance has been a problem the entire four years he has been here.

Chapel attendance suffered the greatest drop in 2003 when all chapel requirements were dropped and students were "expected" to attend chapel. Prior to this, since 1995, students were expected to attend two-thirds of the chapels, but enforcement was based on an honors system. Since the removal of chapel requirements, administration, campus ministries, and students have been exploring ways to increase chapel attendance through a less rigid accountability structure.

In the Fall of 2005, the weekly number of chapels decreased from three to two. The two main reasons for this change was concern by campus pastors about faculty meetings during chapel time, and the hope that fewer chapels might result in higher attendance. According to Jon Keener, a senior who is involved with the Campus Ministries Council, "It seems that there was a small spike in chapel attendance when we switched from three to two, but now it has basically gone back to the same attendance level as when I was a freshman."

Last year, based on campus pastors' and others' concerns about low chapel attendance, the Chapel Taskforce was formed. The committee, comprised of faculty, campus pastors, and students, met in the Fall of 2005 and presented their findings in the Spring of 2006. Their findings were presented in a list of nine recommendations, many of which attempt to enhance the structure and programming of chapel. Some of the recommendations, such as a once a semester all campus worship service, have been implemented while others, renovating Lehman auditorium and changing the timing and length of chapel, have not been decided upon. One recommendation, broadcasting selected chapels on WEMC, has been updated to the possibility of broadcasting selected chapels, those with a significant guest speaker, on a pod cast.

One issue on which the Chapel Taskforce could not come to a consensus was a fair and useful accountability structure to encourage chapel attendance. While most people on the taskforce agreed that mandatory chapel attendance is not a viable or desirable method, finding a good alternative proved difficult. One idea which has gathered some support includes linking academic requirements with the attendance of chapel or other events. With this system, two of students' credit hours would be met by their attendance of selected chapels, coffee house discussions, or other campus activities. Despite all the evaluations and modifications to chapel in an attempt to draw students, attendance remains low. According to Brian, "none of this [modifications to chapel] has had a dramatic or lasting impact on attendance numbers."

According to campus ministries statistics, average chapel attendance for this school year was 221 in the Fall and 177 in the Spring. Though this is a fairly low average, numbers for individual chapels fluctuate greatly, with the highest being 563 in attendance for Archbishop Elias Chacour's lecture, and only 108 present for the Thanksgiving hymn sing. One trend that appears fairly uniformly throughout the years is a decline in attendance between Fall and Spring. According to Jon, the reason for this is "freshman, the largest group to attend chapel, go at the beginning of the year to see their friends and for social reasons. By second semester some of them stop going and attendance drops."