For freshmen, sophomores and juniors, Senior Chapel remains a mystery only to be discovered on the first Monday night of their senior year. It is a long time to wait, but seniors this year have the opportunity to finally experience it.
Senior business administration major Aranda Koch hopes to be able to attend every week.
“It’s basically a room full of people that we’ve journeyed through APU together with,” Koch said. “Right now we’re all at the same place in our lives and we’re all excited about what’s next. Sharing those things makes the room a special and sacred place.”
This year’s senior chapel is not an overall change of direction from previous years. The graduate assistant of Chapel Programs Kaley Lindquist describes it as more of a vision change than a directional one.
“Our goal is to make it a unique chapel experience rather than just another chapel where students can get credit,” Lindquist said. “So what we’re trying to do is create an environment of seniors who are worshiping together in a more intimate way than they can in other chapel settings.”
Senior Chapel is currently studying John 14, the farewell discourse of Jesus.
“What we’re focusing on is when Jesus prepared the disciples for when he had to physically leave them,” Lindquist said. “We feel like Jesus is also preparing the senior class for when they have to be physically absent from APU, but that he’s not abandoning them.”
Last year, the messages during senior chapel were based from Ecclesiastics. This year, while the specific focus of the chapels will vary, in a sense, it will remain the same. Pastor Khristi Adams is enthusiastic about the upcoming year of senior chapels.
“The students are transitioning and there is going to need to be something that speaks to that transition,” Adams said. “It may not be in-your-face or cliché, but in some way we will let them know that we understand what they’re going through and we care about it.”
Natalie Root is one of the three undergraduate interns for senior chapel. Part of her job is to assist in making the new vision a reality and help form Senior Chapel into something the seniors genuinely look forward to attending every Monday evening.
“Something new that we’ve never had before now is our own Senior Chapel worship band led by two seniors, Megan O’Brien and Brad Smit,” Root said. “We’ve gotten a huge response back from having that. Last week the energy was unreal.”
At the heart of the chapel, the officials, students and interns responsible for assisting with senior chapel want it to be a gathering of friends and classmates as much as it is a chapel service.
APU alumna Melanie Reeves, who graduated May 2012 with a degree in communication studies, loved going to senior chapel.
“It was the one time a week I was able to see so many of my friends that I had attended college with for years, and catch up on life,” Reeves said. “It was such a nice end to my Mondays that I attended every single week. Even if my schedule didn’t allow for it, I made it work.”
Senior sociology major Sophia Horton attended the first senior chapel on Sept. 10, and tweeted about it afterward saying: “Senior Chapel is a reunion I can’t wait to have every week.”
It is this kind of takeaway that keeps the excitement for Monday nights high.
“They’re still getting chapel credit, but we want them to have a good time.” Lindquist said.
Although freshmen, sophomores and juniors are not able to attend yet, they have a very unique experience to look forward to in their senior year.
“We want their last year to be one that almost mirrors their first year but in a more seasoned and mature way,” Adams said. “We want them to come in expecting and knowing that they’re not going to get a sense of disconnect here. They’re going to get the community that they came to APU expecting. They’re going to get that here in senior chapel.”
The Clause
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013
