Optional chapel Fridays at 10

You’re on track with convo, and it’s too early for a nap, so at 10 a.m. on a Friday, you amble over to Massey to sit in the courtyard and just be. As you walk up to the courtyard, you hear something.

Music flows from the Neely Dining Hall. The glass doors are wide open and a handful of students are congregated inside Some stand and sing, following the words on the projector screen. Others sway with the guitar and vocals. The lights are dimmed; Neely has the feel of an indie coffee shop, but without the coffee and the plush furniture. Instead, chairs are lined up in neat rows from the stage to the back of the room, as if the planners expected them to be filled. As the vocal/guitar duo sings, you take one of the empty seats but remain standing, respectfully.

Chapel has returned to Belmont.

“It’s a chance for faculty, staff, students in the middle of the morning to worship, to fellowship, to feel that sense of unity and connectedness under Christ,” said Guy Chmieleski, Belmont university minister. He oversees the chapel services.

It’s not required for students to attend. It is a voluntary worship service held Friday mornings at 10, one of the slots always open for convocations.
Belmont did away with required chapel and replaced it with the current convocation program in 1994. According to Chmieleski, the students had become very resentful of the idea of being forced to go to chapel. He also said most speakers thought of Belmont’s chapel services as the worst speaking gig in Nashville and requested that Belmont not ask them to return due to typically disrespectful audiences.

“It is a bad idea in itself—forced worship,” Chmieleski added.

Belmont, long affiliated with the Baptist church, was accepting students from different religious backgrounds. The board realized that because of the growing diversity, they couldn’t “force” students to go to chapel, a Christian event. That was when the board decided to get rid of chapel, which had been required with the aim of putting students in a setting that could lead to spiritual and personal growth.

“The program’s history dates back to the former chapel program, in which students were required to attend weekly services,” according to Belmont’s Web site.

When Belmont eliminated chapel, the new convocation program was established. It was built so that the students, while still having to learn outside of the classroom, were not confined to participate in Christian denominational services.

Chapel as a voluntary event was in discussion in 2007, according to Chmieleski. There wasn’t any opposition to the return of chapel for Belmont, considering it’s solely a student’s decision to skip or attend.

“[Chapel] is for members of the campus community as a whole – faculty, staff and students – to come together in the midst of the academic day to pause, to worship, to fellowship [and] be together,” Chmieleski said.

The weekly speakers are teachers, staff and students who believe they have something compelling to share that will benefit not only them and those who hear it, but, through action, those who hear it can benefit others and cultivate a better college community.

Students find the chapel services to be very convenient. Kathleen Wells, senior, loves that the chapel hour is the same as convo hour because she doesn’t have class during that time or work after class.

“It’s a good place to hang out with people that I know,” Wells said. “I get to start the day off fresh with worship, and it starts my weekend off really well.”
The fellowship and worship is what brings Alyson McHargue to chapel services.

“It’s awesome worship and a great way to meet with God,” McHargue said. “I love being with fellow Christ-followers and learning more about his word.”

Chapel started Sept. 4 and is slowly growing in numbers. However, that’s not so important to Chmieleski. Eastern University, a Christian college in St. Davids, Penn., got rid of mandatory chapel and replaced it as voluntary. The numbers started out small, but then it grew to about 1,000 students weekly, according to Chmieleski.

His hope is that Belmont’s chapel services will bring students not because they have to but because they want to.

“[I hope] because God is doing something, it just draws students to it,” Chmieleski said. “It will become a very real significant time for our campus community.”