Kerux: a portfolio of Calvin Theological Seminary - Volume 42.2 - 03 Oct 2007

A Call to Worship

by Andrew Zomerman, Guest Writer

At CTS we are privileged to be pastors and church leaders in training. Why is it then that so many of us do not lead by example? Every Wednesday and Friday morning there is time set aside for us to gather communally for worship. There are no classes, no meetings, and donuts are even provided afterwards. These are great times for us to take a few minutes from our busy lives, slow down, and worship. Each chapel is different, some with prayer, some with a message, some with singing and some with liturgies. The format is always changing, but the goal is always the same: chapel provides an opportunity for us to worship God together.

I have heard plenty of excuses offered as to why some of us do not attend chapel services. Some are more legitimate than others. For example, if you don’t have class on those mornings, driving in for chapel might be too much to ask. Some students don’t care for the worship style, others simply need a half hour to go for a quiet walk during their otherwise hectic school day. For many of us, however, chapel time is simply a time to procrastinate or plan work. My question is: How much work will you get done in that 20 to 25 minutes that could be spent in worship? My guess, if you are in the student center, is probably not much at all.

Some of us pick and choose the chapels we'll attend. That too is troubling. In a year or two we will be calling the congregations we serve to fight this consumerist impulse towards voluntarism in North America. We will be better pastors if we can master that very impulse in ourselves and simply make a commitment to go to chapel--every time chapel is offered.

I simply want to encourage and challenge the CTS community, faculty, staff and students, to use chapel time for its intended purpose: worshipping out God together. Part of our seminary training is learning to find balance between piety and academics, our drive to work and our need to worship. Commit to chapel and see if you don’t notice the difference as you adjust your priorities and begin enter fully into a worshiping community.

If you don’t like how chapel is done feel free to contact Dr. Kelderman, or better yet come out to a chapel planning committee meeting and offer input as to how we can make it better. Come, now is the time to worship.